#east of the sun and west of the moon

Hi there!! I’ve been working on a retelling of the tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”. Here are the first characters I’ve designed for it, Ellinor (the protagonist) and the troll princess. 

In the original tale, the troll princess was meant to be an ugly princess with a big nose, as a way to make worse the fate of the prince, but I think that it doesn’t matter how pretty she is, the prince is not going to accept someone by force.

And well, my troll princess is not very smart, she’s kind of clumsy and gets easily distracted, specially if it is about jewels and treasures (I added this after discovering that some trolls love gold and some details of the story). She is kind, but always tries to please her mother.

Ellinor is a bit fragile, kindhearted, clever and gets easily scared, but she is very brave, and faces her fears, usually tries to pretend she’s not scared. She’ll travel to save the prince from the curse. I still have a long way to go with her, but I’ll get there!!

These might not be the final designs, but I’m having a lot of fun in this journey! n.n  

The Moon Queen

Hilda and Prince Arend(polar bear) color block-ins

I’m not an animator(tho I sometimes wanna sneak into Calarts) 

but I still try hard to make my characters “acting”

I think I did tons of sketches of their interactions.. now time for painting @.@

Nielsen (Kay).- Asbjörnsen (P.C.) & Jorgen I. Moe. East of the Sun and West of the Moon, pictorial title and 25 tipped-in colour plates by Kay Nielsen, 1920

Dreweatts, Children’s and  Illustrated Books, London, Oct 27th

verenadrawsthings:

The mighty bear king, waiting for someone to break his curse (or maybe he just enjoys being a bear, who knows)✨

manyworldspress:

“Sir Olaf in a kingdom of wraiths and ghosts.” Kay Nielsen, illustration (with detail) for InPowder and Crinoline, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1913). Personal photo of the original watercolor painting, on display in “Kay Nielsen’s Enchanted Vision: The Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection,” exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, January 19, 2020.

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Our shop: https://bookshop.org/shop/manyworldspress

manyworldspress:

“So the man gave him a pair of snowshoes.” Kay Nielsen, plate from “The Three Princesses of Whiteland,” in East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North (London, 1914). Reproduced, from the first printing, in Taschen’s centennial edition (April 2020).

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Our shop: https://bookshop.org/shop/manyworldspress

Lunchtime Scribble. Kind of want to go back to this idea again….

The Widow’s Son

Kay Nielsen with an introduction by Keith Nicholson, 1975

East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
Commission

the-evil-clergyman:

East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, from Through Fairy Halls of My Bookhouse by Donn P. Crane (1925)

Taschen have published an absolutely glorious reprint of East of the Sun and West of the Moon illustrated by Kay Nielsen. It’s a gorgeous and incredibly high-quality volume, and I give it my highest recommendation - if you love fairy-tale art and illustration, it’s simply unmissable. The best part is the introduction, which is packed full of rare Nielsen illustration spanning his whole career.

Seriously, go and buy this. Once I get my camera working I plan on taking photos of the interior to show you why this is a must have. It’s easily one of the best books in my collection.