I’m enrolled in “Year of the Fairy Tale”, a year-long online drawing class taught by Carla Sonheim. The third fairy tale we worked on was The Princess and the Pea, and one of the optional assignments was to illustrate an alternative version of the story. Each participant could replace the pea by… something else: the result is an e-zine available as a pdf on Carla’s blog, featuring the princess and the fox, the blueberry, the snoring prince, the hedgehog, the taxi cab, the tea pot, the strawberry, the treehouse, the kangaroo, you name it, maybe you’ll find it among the 137 pages of delightful craziness!
The first word that came to my mind was broccoli, so here she is: The Princess and The Broccoli.
Look where the broccoli texture comes from, it’s the 113th index card I drew for The 365 Drawing Experiment!
And this is drawing n°138, by the way. As you can see, there’s a lot of cross-pollination going on between my different projects.
In spite of the questionable lesson offered to the young reader by The Princess and The Pea — gee, that princess, what a spoiled brat! — I can see why this short fairy tale is so well loved: it’s all in the mattresses, isn’t it? They are so fun to imagine! Or draw. Or sew. It is not the first time I’m inspired by this story: in 2010, I created a Fairy Tale jewelry collection, with Princess and the Pea rings featuring tiny silky mattresses. The possibilities are limitless.
Do you like The Princess and The Pea? What word would you have chosen?
Beth (SunnyGal Studio)
May 29, 2014 -
those drawings are beautiful. there is a full size book inside you ! I love the style of these. and have always loved that princess and the pea story. great.
Verte Adélie
May 30, 2014 -
Thank you so much for that very, very sweet comment, Beth!
karen
Jul 14, 2014 -
I love this! The cross-pollination of work, the fairy tale (I love that one because of the musical Once Upon a Mattress) and your gorgeous illustrations!
Sarah Shotts
Jul 21, 2014 -
So happy to discover you through Creative Live. I adore your artistic style and am happy to be following along your artistic adventures. :)