Surrealism 1: 7 Ravens Art 1

Names: Seven Ravens (dark); Seven Ravens (light)

Made in: Originally drawn in 2013, Redrawn digitally in 2016

Description:
“She walked on and on -- far, far to the end of the world. She came to the sun, but it was too hot and terrible, and ate little children. She hurried away, and ran to the moon, but it was much too cold, and also frightening and wicked, and when it saw the child, it said, "I smell, smell human flesh."

I was given an assignment in an art class; Sophomore year of high school. It was fairly simple: to draw your interpretation of a scene from a fairytale of your choosing. Having never been much for Disney or how they edit original legends to make them pg, I turned to the Grimm's Fairytales for inspiration. Therein, I found the fairytale named Seven Ravens.

This tale opens with the premature birth of a female baby. Being a godly man, he sent his sons to get water for an emergency baptism after her birth, but they got lost on the way. Angered, he wished for all his sons to be turned into ravens, which promptly came true as the ravens flew off.

The daughter grew up for a time having no idea she had brothers, but one day she overheard townspeople talking about her beauty, yet saying she was the cause for her family's plight. She confronted her parents about it, and they told her the truth. Also, that the incident wasn't her direct fault. Despite this reassurance, guilt ate at her day after day until the one that she was driven to do something about it.

One night, she stole out to find and help her brothers in any way she could, bringing with her nothing but a ring from her parents, a loaf of bread, a jug of water, and a small stool to sit on. On her adventure, she comes across monstrous versions of the sun and moon, that appear to be carnivorous. This is where the quote above is from, and this art is an interpretation of when she comes across the moon that smells her flesh.

She ran away from the sun and the moon, and finally found a kindness in the stars, which each sat on its own small chair. When the Morning Star arose, it gave the young girl a chicken bone, saying it was a key to the glass mountain, which was where her brothers were. She wrapped the bone in cloth and put it away for when she got to the glass mountain. When she got to the glass mountain, she opened the cloth, only to find it empty; she had lost it somewhere along the way. She didn't know what to do and was desperate; she felt so close to what she was meaning to find. She saw no other option but to cut off her own finger and try to use it as the key, and so she did. Fortunately, it was successful and the door opened.

Once inside, a small dwarf came in (presumably the ravens' butler) asked her politely what she was doing there. She, of course, replied that she was looking for her brothers, who were seven ravens. The butler dwarf informed her that they weren't there at the time, but she was free to wait until they return. The butler brought in dinner on raven-sized dinnerware. The sister was hungry and thirsty from the trip, and ate and drank just a small bit from each plate and cup.
The ravens got home, and noticed a human had eaten and drank from their dinner. They then noticed their parent's ring that the young girl had accidentally left on the table. The ravens rejoiced at the thought of their sister being there, because that would render them free of their curse. Excitedly, the sister stepped out from behind a wall having overheard them come in, and all the brothers turned back into humans and they all made their way home happily.

After high school, I liked the original art I did so much that I wanted to redraw it digitally, which is this art. Having read this story again for the first time since high school, I think I want to draw more art inspired by this fairytale, so stay tuned for some more creepy and cool stuff. Drawn digitally on an iPad using Autodesk.

Source of Quote: Die Sieben Raben, Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales), final edition (1857), no. 25., Translated by D. L. Ashliman.