The Book I used - “Italian Folktales, selected and retold by ITALO CALVINO”
Websites I used for symbolism research;
http://www.three-musketeers.net/mike/colors.html#green
http://www.weddingbokay.com/symbolism.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081103151911AAsN2hT
http://painting.about.com/cs/inspiration/a/symbolsflowers.htm
So far I’m very happy with the outcome. I especially like the illustration for ‘the snake’.
I found it very difficult to get into the project at first but as soon as I found the route I wanted to take with it I began to enjoy it more. I’m happy I decided to illustrate the short stories from the book Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino because I used the same book in second year for our Fairytale and Folklore project. I loved the book but wasn’t particularly good at the use of symbolism and semiotics, and I feel with this project Ive achieved something new or improved on this.
If i was to do anything different i think i may have chosen a selection of different Folktale books rather than sticking to one. Although there are hundreds of short stories allot of them seem very similar to each other, as it was the same story being told in many different ways. Non the less i still enjoyed the book.
I think as always I could have done more development work and perhaps pushed my ideas further. however I don’t think that they are finished yet and I will continue to experiment with them and perhaps change them slightly, specially the “Crack, Crook and Hook” illustration I’m not entirely sure if I’m fond of it. I don’t think the composition is as interesting as the other three,
Crack Crook and Hook drawing
i added in playing cards to possibly symbolise the tricks they play on each other, also the lightbulb on the floor representing crack and crook being out of ideas and finaly scars on crack and crooks head suggesting thier brains had been removed because they dont seem to understand in the story that hook is the craftiest!
Really rough thumbnail, Hook is the Magpie with the crown on because he is successful, and the rope wrapped round them shows that hook has control!
I like the idea of the two out smarted magpies wearing a dunce hat, showing that they are incabably of lerning. This is true to the story because they dint know when to stop trying to out wit Hook
The main theme in this story is theft and competition!
I think illustrating the men as magpies is a good symbolism for the theft.
Although I wanted to focus on the animal characters in the stories, this story still interested me even tho its about 3 men.
The story is about 3 thieves named Crack, Crook and Hook. In the story they are constantly trying to out wit each other to work out who is the craftiest. After out witting each other by stealing from behind their back and trying to out smart each other by stealing the item of the one who just stole off the other. In the end Hook out smarts them each time and decides to make it on his own. He becomes rich and starts a business.
The other two still wish to out wit him but in doing so Hook out smarts them again.
Crack and Crook cannot accept that Hook is the craftiest.
I chose this story because a magpie is mentioned in it briefly. I’m not basing the drawing on that magpie but it gave me the idea to illustrate the men as magpies, because magpies are notorious thieves, and are know to steal shiny things off people.
