In many myths, there is the idea of a beautiful, usually sexual, woman, that will bring men to the brink of death. In Greek myth, it was the Sirens. Of course, there is the Succubus demon mentioned in Christian texts. This is my modern take on the Succubus. I imagine she would wear combat boots and decorative bodysuits.
Fairies in British traditions, and many others, are often compared to butterflies, moths and other small winged insects. This is my rendition of a fairy that is inspired by butterflies. There is no specific species in mind, I just used the shapes of butterfly wings in general to create this character. I also really love the free butterfly stamp I found online for Procreate!
This week’s illustration/character designs are more based upon a metaphysical myth: Twin Flames. Similar to the concept of soulmates, Twin Flames are often described as a phenomenon where one soul splits into two bodies on Earth. Their meeting or coupling is meant to bring about profound change within each other, as they are so similar they are forced to reckon with their own faults. Because of this, they very often do not pursue long-term relationships, rather they serve as a push in another direction to become better people and learn from their mistakes. Because of their heavenly origin, I decided to make them look like two gods that are somewhat melded with nature phenomena, like water, light and the earth. 
As everyone knows, Hansel and Gretel were almost eaten by the antagonist of their story, a witch who lived in a house made of candy. In my work this week I wanted to create an image of the witch character. However, I feel like the witch would have to look friendly, or possibly uses a magical spell to appear that way for a short time to better lure the kids. Here is my interpretation of the candy witch in an anime style:
The tale of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm initially depicts Snow White as being a child. However, the story is quite dark when the evil queen/stepmother tries to murder Snow White three times and finally succeeded on the fourth try with the famed poisoned apple. Many depictions of Snow White, including the Disney movie adaptation, show Snow White as being much older than the original tale, usually as a teen. I wanted to create a Snow White that was younger in appearance, so I made her face very large and round. I was inspired by the chibi style in Japanese anime/manga, and also by Strawberry Shortcake. 
A little different post this week! This one definitely follows more what I was doing last winter where it is more illustration based than character design based, but I was inspired to make something that looks like an old children’s book! This illustration is based on the original story of Rapunzel, where a man and woman are struggling to have a baby and the only thing that can cure the woman’s depression is a plant inside the next-door neighbor’s garden – the plant rampion, or rapunzel. This leads to the man jumping the fence and stealing the plant for his wife. The witch that lived there is vengeful, and demands their child as repayment for the theft – and her name is Rapunzel, after the plant that was stolen.
