oO, so gorgous. Only thing I'm not abord with is Cinderella's hair, which is too orderly imho.
Also very creative monster/witch designs! I wonder where he got the idea to portray Rapunzel's witch with a pipe. I feel reminded of Hans Törfsoden, but I don't think the illustrator was familiar with that fairy tale. Maybe the pipe is supposed to allure to a snake's tongue or maybe a fire-breathing dragon?
Ha that's so true, and probably goes for any version of Cinderella!
And the pipe is an interesting choice, especially since it wasn't until relatively recently that the dangers of smoking became as well known. Maybe since pipes were (I think) associated with males, it makes a female witch seem unnatural? In addition to the fact that her pipe doesn't just smoke, it has literal flames coming out of it!
I think old women were sometimes portrayed in stories as smoking pipes, once they had aged beyond the "rules" of polite society, but it was still considered a sort of rowdy thing to do. Anyway, thanks for posting this, Kristin. I had never heard of this artist before, and I've whisked off a couple of his BATB images (properly credited to him and this blog) for my Pinterest page for my upcoming novel. Thanks!
How interesting! And glad you can use the pictures for inspiration-it's a shame so many wonderful fairy tale illustrations aren't more well known! I only discovered Laite recently myself
I grew up with Laite's illustrations as The Blue Book of Fairy Tales was one of my first and favorite books. His beautiful work inspired my imagination and ignited my interest in art.
I found this blog when looking up the artist. He also illustrated a book called Birthday Pizza for young readers. The art is beautiful, and it’s a wonderful portrayal of the urban lives of Native Americans in the 1970.
I had this book as a child and it still remains as one of my favourite books. The illustrations were magical for me as a child and they remain magical to this day. What a walk down memory road.
oO, so gorgous. Only thing I'm not abord with is Cinderella's hair, which is too orderly imho.
ReplyDeleteAlso very creative monster/witch designs! I wonder where he got the idea to portray Rapunzel's witch with a pipe. I feel reminded of Hans Törfsoden, but I don't think the illustrator was familiar with that fairy tale. Maybe the pipe is supposed to allure to a snake's tongue or maybe a fire-breathing dragon?
Ha that's so true, and probably goes for any version of Cinderella!
DeleteAnd the pipe is an interesting choice, especially since it wasn't until relatively recently that the dangers of smoking became as well known. Maybe since pipes were (I think) associated with males, it makes a female witch seem unnatural? In addition to the fact that her pipe doesn't just smoke, it has literal flames coming out of it!
I think old women were sometimes portrayed in stories as smoking pipes, once they had aged beyond the "rules" of polite society, but it was still considered a sort of rowdy thing to do. Anyway, thanks for posting this, Kristin. I had never heard of this artist before, and I've whisked off a couple of his BATB images (properly credited to him and this blog) for my Pinterest page for my upcoming novel. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! And glad you can use the pictures for inspiration-it's a shame so many wonderful fairy tale illustrations aren't more well known! I only discovered Laite recently myself
DeleteI grew up with Laite's illustrations as The Blue Book of Fairy Tales was one of my first and favorite books. His beautiful work inspired my imagination and ignited my interest in art.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog when looking up the artist. He also illustrated a book called Birthday Pizza for young readers. The art is beautiful, and it’s a wonderful portrayal of the urban lives of Native Americans in the 1970.
ReplyDeleteI had this book as a child and it still remains as one of my favourite books. The illustrations were magical for me as a child and they remain magical to this day. What a walk down memory road.
ReplyDeleteHow can I find the book with Gordon Laite illustrations?
ReplyDelete