One second year brief was to illustrate an alternate version of the Brother Grimm fairy tale, The Willful Child. Above is my take on the fable, whereby a disobedient boy would not go to bed on his mothers request, only to suffer dire consequences. My version is rather surreal, though no more than the original fairy tale.

THE WILLFUL CHILD

Once upon a time there was a child who was willful and would not do what her mother wished. For this reason, God had no pleasure in her, and let her become ill. No doctor could do her any good, and in a short time the child lay on her deathbed. When she had been lowered into her grave, and the earth was spread over her, all at once her little arm came out again and reached upward. And when they had pushed it back in the ground and spread fresh earth over it, it was all to no purpose, for the arm always came out again. Then the mother herself was obliged to go to the grave and strike the arm with a rod. When she had done that, the arm was drawn in, and at last the child had to rest beneath the ground.

Second year also included a trip to Edinburgh Zoo, an opportunity to sketch, paint and scribble all sorts of animals. Here's just a few. Maybe you can tell I adore big cats. :P

Thought I would include the editorial piece I illustrated in second year here! The image is to accompany an article about Russia and the rise of it's oligarchs.

So I've decided to revamp my old blog under the URL www.gemmavalentineillustrates.blogspot.com. I felt the old blog was a bit shambolic, and didn't justify all the styles of work I am capable of. For this reason, I'm including work from the last 3 years for art college (that's work from 2nd year to 4th year). If you are interested in purchasing any of the above work, please don't hesitate to get in contact at gemmavalentine@live.com!! Hope you like! :) xoxo