The Little Mermaid

This is my visual retelling of "The Little Mermaid" utilizing the original unabridged text as written by Hans Christian Andersen. It was my goal to capture all of the horror, sadness, beauty and joy expressed in the original text. 

Illustrations were created for my Illustration MFA thesis at University of Hartford using acrylic paint, acrylic ink, colored pencil and collaged pieces of cut fabric. Full page illustrations are 12x15."  These were exhibited at the Joseloff Gallery in Hartford, CT in July, 2015. 

Page 4- The Garden

Each little princess had her own garden, where she could plant the flowers she liked... The youngest had planted red flowers in hers: she wanted it to look like the sun; it was round and the crimson flowers did glow as though they were so many little suns.

Page 18- The Sea Witch

“But you will have to pay me, too," grinned the witch. "And I want no small payment… I want the most precious thing you have to pay for my potion. It contains my own blood, so that it can be as sharp as a double-edged sword."

Page 20- Exsanguination

“Stick out your little tongue, and let me cut it off in payment, and you shall have the potion".... At last the potion was finished. It
looked as clear and pure as water. “Here it is,” said the witch, and cut out the little mermaid’s tongue. Now she was mute, she could
neither speak nor sing.

Page 21- The Potion

“If any of the polyps should try to grab you, on your way back through my forest,” said the witch, “you need only spill one drop of the potion on it and its arms and fingers will splinter into a thousand pieces. But the little mermaid didn’t have to do that. Fearfully, the polyps drew away when they saw what she was carrying in her hands; the potion sparkled as though it were a star.

Page 22- Bifurcation

The sun had not yet risen when she reached the prince’s castle and sat down on the lowest step of the great marble stairs. The moon was still shining clearly. The little mermaid drank the potion and it felt as if a sword were piercing her little body. She fainted and lay as though she were dead.

Page 28- The Dance

Never had she danced so beautifully; the sharp knives cut her feet, but she did not feel it, for the pain in her heart was far greater... A dreamless, eternal night awaited her, for she had no soul and had not been able to win one. Until midnight all was gaiety aboard the ship, and the mermaid danced and laughed with the thought of death in her heart.

Page 30- The Children of the Air

She threw herself into the sea and felt her body changing into foam. The sun rose out of the sea, its rays felt warm and soft on the deathly cold foam. But the little mermaid did not feel death, she saw the sun, and up above her floated hundreds of airy, transparent forms.