Illustration Friday - Lost

Hansel and Gretel  is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children save their lives by outwitting her.

After moving to Norway, I found out that many people here still carry the names "Hans" and "Grethe" which are proper adult versions of the names of the protagonists. Makes me feel closer to the origins of the story and wonder if there were witches living in the Scandinavian pine forests of today.

Hansel and Gretel about to get very lost when their trail of crumbs get eaten by the birds.

I love Norwegian strawberries (some locals claim they are the best in the world due to the long summer days thus receiving plenty of sunlight to nourish them). Thought they might look good as lollipop. I have some wild strawberries growing in my backyard :)

I like my edible (gingerbread) house which I spent a lot of time colouring in Photoshop CS5.

Had fun doing this and hope you like it too! :) Illustrated with HB pencil and coloured in Adobe Photoshop.

 x

pixy

P.S. Do you know that HB pencils in Norway are darker than HB pencils in Singapore? Their HB is almost equivalent to 2B in Singapore and it is the norm to use HB here. In Singapore, I grew up in a society where 2B pencils (darker and softer) are more commonly used.