My favorite folklore stories

Well, this past few months have been eventful. Juggling school and painting is hard and will drive you absolutely insane, but I did it, so I rule. Anyway, the second series I made is based on Scandinavian stories that I love. I've been reading these stories and books since I was about 12, and they have a way of sucking you in. Here are the demon creations!



Nøkken
Acrylic on canvas
28" x 20"
2011

This painting is about water trolls called nøkkens, and they're pretty mean. They prey on anyone depressed or lingering by a lake. They also like to shape shift to trick their victim into believing that they're king beings, like a lady or a horse. Then... They face their doom.



The Treasure Bringer
Acrylic on canvas
20" x 28"
2011

This one's about a poor farmer who sells his soul for a helper on his crops. The kratt will either bring you riches and happiness for life, or turn on you and make the rest of your days miserable. That's what happened to our farmer who, unfortunately, freaked out and abandoned the kratt just as he finished creating it. As much as he tried destroying it, it wouldn't die. Which only caused the farmer's death in the end.



For Long Springsday
Acrylic on canvas
20" x 16"
2011

This one's pretty inappropriate, let's just start off. A girl is told to save the family's meat for the spring time. A vagabond overhears the mother tell the girl, "You have no sense or reason!" When he comes back, the mother isn't to be found. The girl is naive and doesn't realize that she's talking to a bad man. So, she gives him their food. And even after he's already taken all of that... He finds a way to sexually take advantage of the girl, and she never realizes what's happening. I had a hard time figuring out how to make this damn thing safe to look at. But hey, it worked.



The Human Soul Coming Out as a Fly
Acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
2011

This one's actually pretty sweet. There's lots of variations of this story with different animals. As one person is sleeping, the person they're with notices a small animal coming out of their friend. That animal goes on a small adventure and finds its way back to their human. That person then wakes up to tell about an adventure they went on in their dream, which was really them as that small animal. A fly isn't cute or anything, but there you go.

Coming up with the concept for the series was fun, but executing the whole thing was nerve wrecking. I drove myself mad, I was close enough to becoming the Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask! And while I'm not completely happy with everything, I'm glad everything's finished and looks presentable. Deadlines really kill your motivation to make things pretty. But I actually wanna paint something new now? OH GOD!

Just enjoy, everyone.