Illustration series for Rumpelstiltskin, a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century.
Made with graphite, watercolours and coloured pencils.
Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak to the king, and in order to make himself appear important he said to him, "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold."
The little man seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three turns, and the reel was full of gold!
A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, "Now give me what you promised."
"To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,
the next I'll have the young queen's child.
Ha, glad am I that no one knew
that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled."
Below you will find some images of the creation process.
Here are the final drawings before applying colour.
Some thumbnail sketches.
Final sketches.
Colour tests.
More colour tests!
