101 Fairy Lane

IF: Theory (Little Red Riding Hood con't)

The huntsman heard Little Red Riding Hood's terror stricken screams and ran to help her. He took his trusty ax with him because he wasn't sure what horrors awaited him. Run, huntsman, run!

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Media: Mechanical pencil illustration on tracing paper, sepia filters and colored in Photoshop. I used the multiple option in the layers for some interesting effects. Lately I've been experimenting with the Texturizer filter as well.  :-)

Now in theory he's supposed to be a grapefruit headed huntsman because his damsel in distress is a lemonhead. Perhaps he should have been called a woodsman instead? With an ax as opposed to a bow/arrow it seems like he's much more likely to be chopping down trees. Somehow huntsman sounds more dashing. Why is it that these fairy tales have someone close enough to save Little Red Riding Hood? In theory the damsels in distress are always saved by a strong hero. But in real life that's not often the case. These are the versions that are more child friendly because we all know that often the huntsman doesn't arrive in time. And sometimes the huntsman saves the damsel only for her to discover that he's just another type of threat. I much prefer when the damsels aren't in distress, but are smart enough not to get into trouble in the first place. Here's my first rough sketch of our hero. And the story begins here. I decided to start drawing the lemonheads because I have them on my banner on my craft blog, Lemon Tree Tales. It was time for them to "come to life".

Rough sketch of the huntsman

My brother Ronnie said that I should post one of the sketches before I do any cleaning up or re-drawing. So here's my quick sketch of the huntsman. Can you tell that he's going to be a grapefruit head? As you can see I didn't leave enough room on the paper to complete his feet. I'm also not happy with his hands yet. Since he's running his left arm really should be drawn behind him, but then you wouldn't see much of it at all. I'll fix it so his left hand is fisted more. Plus his right thumb would be behind the ax handle a bit more ... probably won't even see it so I'll erase that. But you can see where I've been playing with where his legs and knees should fall. Hmm, I like his mouth but it's angled down to the right too much. Finally his eyes need to be less sleepy. He is after all an angry man with an ax out to save a damsel in distress. Those eyes might need to have a bit of white around the tops of them too. At any rate this shows how I like to sketch things out ... all very scratchy and rough.

Little Red Riding Hood, 7

'Grandmama, what big teeth you have,' whispered Little Red Riding Hood with a worried look on her sweet face.

'All the better to eat you with!' roared the squirrel as it sprang out of the bed garbed in grandmama's best nightgown.

Little Red Riding Hood screamed as loudly as she could and ran around the cottage.

Little Red Riding Hood, 6

Something didn't seem quite right with grandmama today. Perhaps she was ill?

'What big eyes you have grandmama,' exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood.

'All the better to see you with my child.'

'What big ears you have grandmama.'

'All the better to hear you my child,' came the reply.

Little Red Riding Hood, 5

When Little Red Riding Hood arrived at grandmama's house, she knocked on the door and came in when she heard a voice.

'I've brought you a basket of soup and herbs grandmama. And look, I picked these flowers in the woods,' exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood.

'That's sweet dearie. Why don't you come a little closer to your grannie so that I can get a better look.'

Little Red Riding Hood, 4

Little Red Riding Hood skipped along the path until she came to the end of the woods. Beyond the next hill was her grandmama's house. She couldn't wait to get there and give her the pretty bouquet that she had picked in the woods.

Little Red Riding Hood, 3

Little Red Riding Hood was merrily skipping along the path when she spied some beautiful flowers. 'Ooh, wouldn't grandmama love to have a bouquet to brighten her house?' she thought as she set down her basket to pick the flowers.

Just then a rather large squirrel asked her what she was doing. Instead of listening to her mama's warning she told the squirrel that she was on her way to her grandmama's house at the end of the woods. The squirrel told her that she shouldn't pause too long and then he scampered off.

Little Red Riding Hood, 2

Off through the woods went Little Red Riding Hood. Not long after she left her mama's house, the woods became very dark and dense with trees and shrubbery. She had best stay along the path.