Branwen de Bretagne
Creating our own children's stories was an enormous project my junior year in Frenc class. My story was a hackneyed and trite little yarn about a mousemaid who, after giving shelter to an old gypsy one stormy night, learns about a lost treasure guarded by an evil snake. The mouse, Branwen, heads out on a quest to find the treasure, and on the way meets a bird named Aline, in search of the same. They team up, trick the snake and find the treasure, and in a jeweled casket on top of fabulous riches, they find a piece of paper that says, "Friendship is the best treasure." Awwwww....
Here are a few selected pages.
Title Page. The knotwork required hours of patience with a ruler.
The Stormy Night. Brawen is visited by an old gypsy mouse one night. The rocking chair and the rug aren't great, but I really like how the fireplace came out.
The Celtic Knot. The gypsy tells Branwen that the path to the treasure is marked by this sign. As a result, I included this image in every picture in the book except for the Title Page. This was an interesting exercise in drawing a piece of paper.
The Gypsy Departs. Branwen prepares to look for the treasure herself.
Des Collines. Branwen follows the carved symbols over a variety of terrains.
The Snake. This was fun to draw - going for realism while retaining the Celtic flavor. I tend to sympathize with the snake - I mean, it's his treasure, right? I do go out of my way, however, to explain in the story that he's an evil snake who stole the treasure from a mouse king. I should have given him fangs. He's too cute to look evil.
I just realized I didn't include any pictures of the bird. I'll probably post a few more here later.