Luca und das grüne Amulett
When Luca’s sister disappears without a trace one night, an adventurous journey begins for Luca. Her fall into the underground cave beneath her house reveals an unknown world full of magical creatures and dangerous tests of courage to the little girl. Her faithful companion the firefly shows her the way until Luca finally…
But read for yourself!
An enchanting book for young adults about depression and suicide about the process of parting, overcoming fear and discovering one’s own strength and courage.
Lucas Map
This map that Luca painted after her adventure opens up a whole world that exists unseen, parallel to the reality at the surface. It metaphorically reflects Luca’s inner life and the issues she faces, even though she is still too young to understand them all.
Explanation of terms:
Mycosis – parasitic infectious disease caused by fungi
Dylarama – drug called „Dylar“, which is supposed to take away one’s fear of death,
Explanation of terms:
Mycosis – parasitic infectious disease caused by fungi
Dylarama – drug called „Dylar“, which is supposed to take away one’s fear of death,
from the book „White Noise“ by Don DeLillo
Rafflesia – The carrion-smelling plants are parasites whose flower decomposes
Rafflesia – The carrion-smelling plants are parasites whose flower decomposes
into black slime after only a few days
Allseer – Allusion to the all-seeing eye of God, but also to Orwell’s „1984“
Rogaland – A province of Norway with the Preikestolen, one of the highest rock plateaus in Europe.
Claude’s Willow – Allusion to the painting „Weeping Willow“ by Claude Monet, which deals with the victims of the First World War.
Styx– River of the underworld from Greek mythology.
Allseer – Allusion to the all-seeing eye of God, but also to Orwell’s „1984“
Rogaland – A province of Norway with the Preikestolen, one of the highest rock plateaus in Europe.
Claude’s Willow – Allusion to the painting „Weeping Willow“ by Claude Monet, which deals with the victims of the First World War.
Styx– River of the underworld from Greek mythology.
Border between the world of the living and the realm of the dead, Hades.
Underworld – the kingdom of the dead
Underworld – the kingdom of the dead
Making-of
My original plan was to watercolor the pencil drawings later, but after my first failed attempt, I decided to go with digital coloring.
I had learned a lot about composition, color, consistency and lighting moods in the meantime. Even though I will never be able to draw a Caravaggio, I had developed further. Even now you can see which pictures were created earlier and which illustrations were created later. There are also pictures I had to deleted altogether. I had to admit to myself that my illustrative skills are not good enough to reproduce the scene as I had it in my mind.
My role as a mother has also been incorporated into the paintings. The scenes in which the image of the loving mother is depicted, I could not have drawn without my daughter.
Flora & Fauna
The story is a strange amalgamation of fantasy and reality. The world that opens up to Luca is a naive, simplified, but also symbolic and metaphorical view of the events.
Many of the metaphors that open up before the reader are borrowed from (pop) culture and intentionally recall stories that are familiar. Thus, references to the stories of Lewis Carroll and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry can be found, but also Japanese influence from Studio Ghibli and the crazy worlds of Haruki Murakami. There are also references to Monet’s water lilies and a lot of plants that are symbolically charged.
Many of the metaphors that open up before the reader are borrowed from (pop) culture and intentionally recall stories that are familiar. Thus, references to the stories of Lewis Carroll and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry can be found, but also Japanese influence from Studio Ghibli and the crazy worlds of Haruki Murakami. There are also references to Monet’s water lilies and a lot of plants that are symbolically charged.
Pattern
