Rapunzel

I just got back from the SCBWI Florida Mid-Year Workshop and thought I'd post some character sketches I made for the occasion. This is my version of Rapunzel. You'll notice that I gave her a sidekick, her dog Malcolm. Don't worry about him when it comes time to flee the tower- if you look at the last picture closely, you'll see that Rapunzel has a plan! Here's a portrait of them both:

This is an experiment in crewel embroidery. Some of you may remember my poor octopus (see the previous post), who is currently languishing in a drawer due to a lack of black thread. Here I imagine her to be a kind of amateur naturalist. I think you would be interested in nature if you were trapped in a tower and had nothing to do but look out the window all day.

Nothing to do, that is, but serenade Malcolm:

And write in her journal in bed:

Finally, here's my tie-in to this week's Illustration Friday topic, "secret": Rapunzel plots her escape! Click on the picture so you can see all her covert plans up close!