Red Riding Hood tells the Wolf she is going to Granny’s
Chris and I decided to post thoughts about the artwork and prompt after we finish our artwork. Here are some of my thoughts.
Little Red Riding Hood
Week #1 The Big Picture: Illustrate the story … Little Red Riding Hood, its theme or significance. I have chosen to illustrate the story. One of the things that her mother had said to Little Red Riding Hood before she left for Granny’s house is …”Don’t talk to strangers”. Little Red not only speaks to the wolf but she tells him where she is going. That is what I illustrated.
Since this is an old tale, I decided to include the illuminated letter “R” which was used in old times to beautify hand written manuscripts. I wanted to give the piece a “Once Upon a Time Feel.” Little Red Riding Hood is instructed to take a basket of goodies to her grandmother who is not feeling well. Granny lives in the forest. The forest is a scary place. The trees are tall and dense and they block out much of the sunlight. You cannot see what is up ahead. There are wild and dangerous creatures living among the trees. Red’s mother tells her to stay on the path. This is another admonishment little Red fails to heed … she does not listen to advice.
Originally, this fairy tale was a cautionary one. There were packs of wolves that did attack and kill people. The forest could be dangerous. People did get lost and disappear. Predatory animals do pry on the weak, the young and the very old.
The story however has many other meanings. The big bad wolf could represent a man who takes advantage of younger women. Red Riding Hood could be a woman who brings out the beast in men. Granny is frail and helpless. The woodsman is the good guy, the hero who saves the day.
What came up for me was …How am I like Little Red Riding Hood … naive and unconscious? How do my actions affect others? Do I listen to good advice? My focus was on “Red’s” red riding hood cape. I spent time creating the cape, I wanted it to be very red … sexy? I wanted the forest to be dense and the path to be curved. I wanted the wolf to surprise Red by appearing out of nowhere.
I started out with one idea and ended up with something different. I was going to paint the background and the trees but used collage instead. I got excited when different parts of the piece came together. I had to remind myself to stay positive through what I call the uglies. I reminded myself not to compare my work to others or to what I imagined the piece SHOULD look like. I like my work to evolve. In the end, I told myself, “This is my answer today for Little Red Riding Hood the Big Picture. There are lots of answers and I may have another one tomorrow. I then called this piece done.
That’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll have more to say later. Michelle
Two Twitch A Tale 
Fun blog site…great idea ! Liked the artwork a lot….have recently fallen head over heels for collage, myself!
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I love the map! What a great idea. Also you did a fab job on the forest. That bamboo really works well- did you cut it out from a printed paper? I really liked the dense undergrowth beneath and sky above. I wanted my hood very red too- I read somewhere the red cape represents menstruation- the beginning of womanhood.
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Actually I found a magazine photo of a small stand of trees, took it to the copy shop and made several copies. Then I cut the trees up and used them to collage the forest.
The Red Cape as you suggest could represent menstruation, being of age, ripe and fertile. It also could be fire, hot, spicy as in “Hot Momma”. It also implies energetic, emotions, a girl with a spirited nature.
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