The Little Mermaid

Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always more sorrowful than before.

~The Little Mermaid ~ Hans Christian Anderson

I have been an absolute sucker for the unbearably romantic and sad original mermaid story, by Hans Christian Anderson, since I was four. My aunt used to read me the story from her book of fairy tales whenever I visited. I also remember getting the 1978 Japanese anime movie, featuring Marina the mermaid, from the video store often. Of course, like anyone with a heart, I bawled my eyes out when the little mermaid couldn't bear to slay her love and his new bride, and so dove into the water and turned into sea foam while her sisters called out her name in the hopes that she would return to the sea (not as foam).

I was eight when Ariel hit the big screen, and I still remember the panicy feeling of knowing the movie was nearly over and expecting Ariel to die and turn into sea foam. Silly eight-year-old me... didn't I know that Disney doesn't kill their animated characters?

Oh wait.. yes they do. I made the mistake of letting Gracie watch the Disney version of The Little Match girl. Uh, yeah... the girl dies. I didn't think she was going to. I really didn't think Disney killed little orphan kids.

But they do. Gracie was devastated and I felt like I deserved the Bad Mom of the Year award, as I watched her just sit there and cry her little eyes out. Whoops. I have yet to introduce her the real story of the little mermaid, despite the annoyance I felt when Gracie said, as she looked at my finished illustration, "That's not the Little Mermaid. Ariel has red hair. And where is Flounder?"

*sigh*

So here is my little mermaid illustration. I wanted to have a collage background for this one. You have to be very up close and personal with this picture to see the sheet music underneath the sky, and the text in the rocks that the mermaid sits upon. But it is very textured and lovely. Not to mention, I added an illustration from a vintage book of fairy tales, featuring a mermaid and her prince.

I'm pretty annoyed that my scanner (which hates the color blue) didn't pick up all the lovely blue-violet around miss mermaid. The print is much lovelier in person, than it it on the computer. Trust me.

After yesterday's public humiliation, I figured my muse was going to abandon me completely. Luckily, calling her out was just what she needed to get her act together.

Thanks, Muse. You rock.

Enjoy!
xoxo,