2023 Children's Book Illustration: Introduction (Class at Rhode Island School of Design)
Assignment: To create an 8.5x11 illustration of a Fractured Fairy Tale story that we were to create. I created Donkarella.
Donkarella
Donkarella is a fractured fairytale based on Cinderella. Like Cinderella, Donkarella is considered “other” and is excluded from the royal stable ground society. Donkarella’s pony step-sisters are pretty on the outside, but cruel on the inside, and ridicule Donkarella for her lowly station at the stables. Instead of searching for Prince Charming, these ponies are vying for the an elevated position in the kingdom by becoming the little princess’ “Royal Pony.” The royals search for the perfect pony for the little princess to ride. Donkarella wants her chance to be chosen as the princess’ pony. Upon wishing on a star, she is visited by her Fairy Goose Mother (take on mother goose) who gives Donkarella a disguise to hide her identity as well as a pair of supersonic horse shoes.
When the princess rides Donkarella she is taken on the magical ride of her life—soaring through the clouds. The rest of the storyline follows pretty closely to the original fairytale.
Donkarella
Donkarella is a fractured fairytale based on Cinderella. Like Cinderella, Donkarella is considered “other” and is excluded from the royal stable ground society. Donkarella’s pony step-sisters are pretty on the outside, but cruel on the inside, and ridicule Donkarella for her lowly station at the stables. Instead of searching for Prince Charming, these ponies are vying for the an elevated position in the kingdom by becoming the little princess’ “Royal Pony.” The royals search for the perfect pony for the little princess to ride. Donkarella wants her chance to be chosen as the princess’ pony. Upon wishing on a star, she is visited by her Fairy Goose Mother (take on mother goose) who gives Donkarella a disguise to hide her identity as well as a pair of supersonic horse shoes.
When the princess rides Donkarella she is taken on the magical ride of her life—soaring through the clouds. The rest of the storyline follows pretty closely to the original fairytale.
Initial Sketches
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Options 1, 2 and 3 shows Donkarella working hard and being excluded from the pony stepsisters on the stable grounds. The fence is a both a physical, and symbolic barrier between Donkarella and the ponies. Although the ponies are beautiful to look at, their facial and body expressions show that they can be cruel, aloof, and believe themselves better than Donkarella. They are also physically higher in the composition symbolizing their higher status in the kingdom.
Option 4 is a version from the step-sister ponies vantage point. They are mean-talking outside the stable building, probably about Donkarella. Donkarella sees them as she works and knows that she is excluded from their world. On one of the stalls is the name Javotte which is the name of one of the step sisters in Charles Perrault’s - Cinderella, a nod to the original fairytale. One thing that has always bothered me about Cinderella is that the stepsisters are portrayed as physically ugly in contrast to Cinderella’s physical beauty. I wanted to break the trope of physical beauty = good and bad= ugly by casting a scruffy Donkarella as the protagonist. |