I Try To Illustrate Popular Children’s Fairy Tales Differently

Fairy tales, children’s books and the wonders of the imagination have always been an endless source of inspiration for me. As an illustrator, I wanted to bring my own slant on the well know fairy tales we all grew up to love.

After days of research and reading, what struck me most about these “children’s” stories was how dark the original texts were before they were adapted for children’s publishing, or for cinema.

My take on Red Riding Hood, in particular, aimed to bring back a little of that sinister intent from the original fairy tales by showing the scene from the wolfs perspective.

My main focus for Goldilocks & the Three Bears was to highlight the feeling and expression, in an amusing way, that one would have at finding a little girl sleeping in your bed – after breaking into your house and eating your food.

The Fairy Tale Princess print series was intended to capture the essence of the original stories published by the Brothers Grimm and Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont. I wanted the pieces to have similar compositions in order to bring them together as one body of work. I came up with the notion of depicting a poignant scene from each story inside the flowing hair of each of the princesses, allowing a narrative aspect to each illustration.

More info: markbirdillustration.com