Rapunzel, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, is a story about a beautiful girl who gets kidnapped from her parents as a baby and raised by an evil sorceress. She is locked up in a tower her whole life until one day a prince hears her singing in her tower and immediately falls in love with her. Eventually he climbs the tower and they get married. After much tribulation they have two children together and end up living happily ever after. Zelinsky uses a unique technique of oil paint, realist artistic style, and space to tell this adaptation of the Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel. This visual crafting of the story won the Caldecott Medal in 1998 for its stunning use of artistic elements.
According to Dictionary.com, technique is the manner in which an artist applies the technical skills of a particular art. The technique used in this version of Rapunzel is the use of oil paint. Zelinsky deliberately used oil paint to create the feeling of Renaissance Italy. The landscaping and architecture all suggest 15th century Italy. Zelinsky uses very rich colors almost reminding the readers of the renaissance painting of “The Holy Family”, by Michelangelo. Zelinsky also uses oil paint to add warmth to the story and accent the elements of family. He highlighted the Italian countryside drawing from Renaissance styled paintings that always call attention to the flow of drapery, and of light falling on nature such as leaves, and trees. Zelinsky recognizes Rapunzel’s high society heritage and enhances the formal style of the book by using oil paint to add sophistication to the images of the book. The use of oil paint in the book also makes the pictures look very realistic for a more natural effect.
Artistic style is the style an artist chooses to portray their images in a story. Zelinsky chose realism and a realistic representation of the art to make the images look lifelike and the story more believable, even though it is a fairytale. Artists usually choose realism to portray stories with a more serious theme. Even though Rapunzel has a happy ending, there are many struggles in getting there much like there is in real life. Zelinsky uses full color, but he keeps to very natural colors to stay within the realism element. Keeping with the Italian Renaissance theme, realism inspired this type of art along with classical Greek and Roman paintings. Using very rich colors, architectural detail, and accenting elaborate clothing, Zelinsky attempts to recreate the 15th century Italy. To represent the protagonist and antagonist of the story, Zelinsky painted Rapunzel in a soft lilac color that usually symbolizes the first emotions of love, or youthful innocence and this does not change until the ending of the story when that innocence is taken from Rapunzel through events in the story. The evil sorceress is painted in black and dark green, which symbolizes darkness and envy. This is a reflection of the sorceress’ evil spirit.
Lastly, space is a very important element in how a story is illustrated and the point the artist is trying to make to the reader. The images in this story take up the whole page to accent the length and beauty of the long tower that Rapunzel is kept in, which is a crucial and significant part of the story. There is hardly any empty space in the pictures of the story adding to the realistic effect. When there is no extra space in a picture it divides the readers attention and causes an uneasy feeling because the reader is not sure what to focus on in the picture. This is done purposefully in some images in this book such as, when the prince is lost in the forest; he is not the main focus of the page adding to the lost and confused feeling. Also, he is positioned on the left side of the page symbolizing that he is out of place. This is very different from when him and Rapunzel fall in love and are the main focus of the page symbolizing a sense of calm, and unity. This is also the same element represented in the last page of the story when Rapunzel and her family are reunited and they are the main focus of the page with few distractions such as the cat and the background of their home. They are positioned in the center of the page to create a sense of harmony and wholeness to add to the family values in the story.
This version of Rapunzel almost breaks free of the female stereotypes usually present in fairytales. The women in this story are represented as very strong individuals, but also very greedy. It is Rapunzel’s mothers greed that gets her child taken away from her, and the sorceress’ greed that makes her take Rapunzel from her parents to have as her own. However, even though Rapunzel finds a prince, gets married, and lives happily ever after, she is illustrated as being a very strong woman. She is forced out of her tower by the sorceress and has her two children by herself in the forest and raises them alone until the prince finds them one year later. She also saves the prince with her tears and makes him not blind again, which is a change from the usual prince saving the damsel in distress. However, the prince does save his family in the end and takes them back to his palace to live happily ever after. Zelniksy’s realist artistic elements of this book contribute to the realistic elements of the story and were a perfect way to illustrate the story and add to the theme.
Bibliography
Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. New York, NY: Penguin Grou, 1997. Print.
According to Dictionary.com, technique is the manner in which an artist applies the technical skills of a particular art. The technique used in this version of Rapunzel is the use of oil paint. Zelinsky deliberately used oil paint to create the feeling of Renaissance Italy. The landscaping and architecture all suggest 15th century Italy. Zelinsky uses very rich colors almost reminding the readers of the renaissance painting of “The Holy Family”, by Michelangelo. Zelinsky also uses oil paint to add warmth to the story and accent the elements of family. He highlighted the Italian countryside drawing from Renaissance styled paintings that always call attention to the flow of drapery, and of light falling on nature such as leaves, and trees. Zelinsky recognizes Rapunzel’s high society heritage and enhances the formal style of the book by using oil paint to add sophistication to the images of the book. The use of oil paint in the book also makes the pictures look very realistic for a more natural effect.
Artistic style is the style an artist chooses to portray their images in a story. Zelinsky chose realism and a realistic representation of the art to make the images look lifelike and the story more believable, even though it is a fairytale. Artists usually choose realism to portray stories with a more serious theme. Even though Rapunzel has a happy ending, there are many struggles in getting there much like there is in real life. Zelinsky uses full color, but he keeps to very natural colors to stay within the realism element. Keeping with the Italian Renaissance theme, realism inspired this type of art along with classical Greek and Roman paintings. Using very rich colors, architectural detail, and accenting elaborate clothing, Zelinsky attempts to recreate the 15th century Italy. To represent the protagonist and antagonist of the story, Zelinsky painted Rapunzel in a soft lilac color that usually symbolizes the first emotions of love, or youthful innocence and this does not change until the ending of the story when that innocence is taken from Rapunzel through events in the story. The evil sorceress is painted in black and dark green, which symbolizes darkness and envy. This is a reflection of the sorceress’ evil spirit.
Lastly, space is a very important element in how a story is illustrated and the point the artist is trying to make to the reader. The images in this story take up the whole page to accent the length and beauty of the long tower that Rapunzel is kept in, which is a crucial and significant part of the story. There is hardly any empty space in the pictures of the story adding to the realistic effect. When there is no extra space in a picture it divides the readers attention and causes an uneasy feeling because the reader is not sure what to focus on in the picture. This is done purposefully in some images in this book such as, when the prince is lost in the forest; he is not the main focus of the page adding to the lost and confused feeling. Also, he is positioned on the left side of the page symbolizing that he is out of place. This is very different from when him and Rapunzel fall in love and are the main focus of the page symbolizing a sense of calm, and unity. This is also the same element represented in the last page of the story when Rapunzel and her family are reunited and they are the main focus of the page with few distractions such as the cat and the background of their home. They are positioned in the center of the page to create a sense of harmony and wholeness to add to the family values in the story.
This version of Rapunzel almost breaks free of the female stereotypes usually present in fairytales. The women in this story are represented as very strong individuals, but also very greedy. It is Rapunzel’s mothers greed that gets her child taken away from her, and the sorceress’ greed that makes her take Rapunzel from her parents to have as her own. However, even though Rapunzel finds a prince, gets married, and lives happily ever after, she is illustrated as being a very strong woman. She is forced out of her tower by the sorceress and has her two children by herself in the forest and raises them alone until the prince finds them one year later. She also saves the prince with her tears and makes him not blind again, which is a change from the usual prince saving the damsel in distress. However, the prince does save his family in the end and takes them back to his palace to live happily ever after. Zelniksy’s realist artistic elements of this book contribute to the realistic elements of the story and were a perfect way to illustrate the story and add to the theme.
Bibliography
Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. New York, NY: Penguin Grou, 1997. Print.