How Dare You – Part 2
It’s time for a full reveal of my Folio Book Illustration Award 2025 submission:
Ta-da!
By the way I still don’t know if I’ve been longlisted or not. I’m not even sure when I’m supposed to hear back. I don’t really have high hopes if I’m honest. Which is not to say I’m not happy with what I created, I am. But last time I participated the quality level of the longlist selection was extremely high. If it’s the same this year, I don’t think I stand much of a chance. That’s okay though, it gave me the motivation to try something new and have fun with it.
If you missed last month’s post, you can read it here. This month I’m breaking down the inspiration behind the border of the illustration, which is really just an excuse to talk about my love of tapestries.
I wanted a frame around the illustration because a) I like a frame and b) I wanted to use it for storytelling. Parallel to this, I had late medieval Europe/early Renaissance era (1300 to 1500 AD) in mind for what the characters would be wearing. So, when I came across images of tapestries spanning that period, I had found my inspiration!
I did a lot of research to find references for the illustration. Like, A LOT. About five hours total, to find the right clothes for the time, the right house, the right flowers and plants. Oh, and what ‘rampion (or rapunzel)’ actually is/looks like. So, the flower you see at each corner is, to the best of my googling abilities, a rapunzel flower. As are the plants on either vertical side of the frame.
The pregnant lady in the oval at the top is the Wife—let’s remember the characters are never named in the story, except Rapunzel. The Wife, as I was saying, is looking longingly at the rampions because she’s got a craving for them. A craving so bad she will let herself die if she can’t eat the damn plant. Which is why the Husband ends up trying to steal rampions from the Witch’s garden.
I still can’t believe I spent ages looking for the right image of a half-timbered frame houses, only to show next to nothing of it in my illustration.
In exchange for not hurting the Husband physically, we assume, the Witch asks for the couple’s first born. You know, a light punishment. I placed the incoming baby at the bottom of the frame, to show what’s at stake.
Now I only had to find something to put inside the ovals on the left and right borders. For reasons I’ll go into in Part 3, involving part of the plot and a whole backstory I created for the Witch, I wanted to include a fertility symbol. After more research, yet again, I went for this spiral. Though I’m still not 100% sure I trust my internet sources on its authenticity.
Finally, just for fun and to break the rigidity of the frame, I let the Witch’s arm overlap with it. She is magical after all, so she probably has the power to step outside of her world.
Tune in next month, for the final part of my process. I might also know the longlist results by then!
Judith xx
Monthly inspiration
For people who don’t know much about textiles, tapestry is a type of weaving done on various types of loom.
There are also different types of tapestries, but I’ll just mention wall hangings. They are bigger and more impressive. I’m in awe of the skills and patience it takes to make them!
This photo is from the Wikipedia entry for tapestry. LOOK AT HOW MANY THREADS ARE NEEDED! It must take ages to create.
I won’t show you all the tapestries I love, because there are too many of them. Let’s just look at these three from the series The Lady and the Unicorn (French: La Dame à la licorne). They were created in the style of mille-fleurs (“thousand flowers”) and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs (“cartoons”) drawn in Paris around 1500. The set is on display in the Musée de Cluny in Paris.
Five of the tapestries are commonly interpreted as depicting the five senses—taste, hearing, sight, smell, and touch. The sixth displays the words “À Mon Seul Désir”, meaning “To My Only Desire.” It alludes to courtly love, a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasised nobility and chivalry.
Below are Hearing, À mon seul désir and Touch. The details are stunning, especially in the dresses.
You can follow my illustration and graphic design work here.