more little fox...

Some more drawings of Little Fox pestering his dad and making notes on what Trolls look like.Im working on the next DPS for this, as well as the illustration 'A raft of otters'.

'Can you stand on one leg..'quote is from 'Hanen og reven' ('The cock and the fox')

Trollhunter: double page spread (almost) complete!

Over the past week I've been busy working on a page of 'Troll Hunter' (working title), which is an idea for a children's picture book about a fox who goes searching for a troll. It is based on texts in Norske folkeeventyr - my chosen FMP text.

As part of my research I watched the Norwegian movie 'Trollhunter'(2010) directed by André Øvredal. Despite dismissing the film in the past, believing it to be another 'Cloverfield', I found it rather enjoyable. The film itself is heavily based on Norske Folkeeventyr, and makes several references to the stories of the book. The trolls are portrayed as creatures who are part of the land, rather than just lumber-some giants, which is something I wish to explore.

This piece has taken a lot longer than I expected, due to having to re-draw lines in and trying to balance the colours and details. Im aware the differences in colour are subtle, and will most probably need adjusting for print. While they look fine on my screen, Im not sure they do for everyone else. Backgrounds have always been an issue for me, so using snow as white space is slowly making me more confident in attempting more ambitious scenes.
Edit: The final piece just needs fox to be actually looking at something...most probably a troll footprint, or something troll related.

Onto the next scene; based on 'The bear and fox who made a bet'

original sketch:

Close up:

All this snow today has inspired me to start planning backgrounds for a double page spread, of my fox character who goes troll hunting. I'll upload backgrounds when I have a few more done. This is possibly how fox will look (and how I felt walking back to the studio earlier...)

FMP & Editorial

For my final major project I'm focusing on Norwegian Folklore,using 'Norske Folkeeventyr' by Asbjørnsen and Moe. The unusual tales have a lot of varied characters and situations- making it an ideal starting point. In comparison to other cultures, the Norwegian tales seem a little more surreal, with characters regularly talking to the wind or inanimate objects for help. I'm still researching and reading through stories, but will be moving onto illustrations for it tomorrow.

I'm also working on doing one editorial illustration each week; as well as working on competition entries. This weeks editorial is for 'A question of small talk'. I feel it works best as a G2 cover; The Guardians weekday supplement.