East of the Sun and West of the Moon

"Oh dear," said her mother; "it may well be a troll you are sleeping with! But now I'll give you some good advice how to see him. I'll give you a candle stub, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light it while he is asleep, but be careful not to drop any tallow on him."

This is an illustration based on the story, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" in my vision. It is a Norwegian folk tale.

I kept the color palette restricted to blues. I find I rely on the color purple way too much in illustrations so I had to hold back on this. As always I manage to get in a strong light source so the candlelight was fun to experiment with. I wanted to play with warm and cool colors with this story in particular since the two live in a cold ice castle and become fond of each other throughout their stay. The tapestry on the wall reflects some key elements in the story, as does the giant silver crown on the bedpost.

It has been around a year since I've last done a fairy tale illustration. Fitting enough this story deals with a year as well. I've been craving to do another and finally found the time for this. I'm planning my next one now!

Painter/Photoshop
12 hours
© Jessa Sininger