The objective of this project was to create three pieces based off a single story or fairy tale of our choice. I chose the story of Hansel and Gretel because I believed it would make interesting illustration options. I used photoshop to design three key points from this fairy tale in photographic illustrations.

For my first project, I chose to illustrate the scene where Hansel and Gretel are walking through the woods in search of shelter or food after being kicked out of their home by their parents. Hansel holds a basket of bread, because he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way home in the story. 

First, I added an image of a forest to set as the background of the piece. Then, I added an image of two children that I would use as the subjects of the piece (Hansel and Gretel). I flipped the image horizontally and separated the two children to make it seem as though Hansel was following Gretel. Then, I added a touchup layer in which I used the clone stamp to make the leaves and bushes overlap their feet to add a 3-Dimensional aspect. Finally, I layer masked in a photo of a bread basket for Hansel to carry. The image was very vibrant in contrast to the muted tone of the kids and the forest, so I added the Color Overlay effect and selected the color of Hansel's jacket for the bread basket. This color overlay made the basket fit the tone and color scheme of the piece better, rather than having it stick out like a sore-thumb.

Next, I incorporated an image of a vintage/run down sign. Although this sign is not present in the original story, I thought it was add some irony and foreshadowing. First, I used a clone stamp to stamp out the original labels on the sign. Then, I typed my own labels that corresponded better to the storyline and setting. The names of these labels are depicted above in the screenshot of my layers. Finally, I used the Color Overlay effect to tone down the saturation and vibrancy of the original sign to match it with the rest of the piece.

For my second project, I chose to design the scene from the fairy tale in which Hansel and Gretel initially arrive at the witch's house made of sweets. I wanted to depict the look of shock on the children's' faces, as well as the eery change in setting in which a cute home sits in the middle of a spooky forrest. 

First, I added an image of a spooky forrest that I thought would suffice as an illustrative background. Then, I found an additional photo of the same kids I used in the first project in a different pose. At first I was going to use different subjects, but I thought that the two of them holding hands and looking backwards would symbolize their skepticism upon seeing the witch's house. Holding hands shows that they trust each other and rely on each other for comfort. Then, I added a color overlay to the subjects in order to make them less vibrant in comparison to the black and white toned background. Then, I added a curve specifically to the Hansel and Gretel layer to lower the saturation and add some darkness.

Next, I began making the witch's house out of different foods/sweets using the images shown above. I used an upside down strawberry for the house, a cone for the roof, a chocolate wafer for the chimney (and a faint image of smoke coming out of it) and a lollipop just for fun! Then, I added a cupcake outside the house as a bush, and a candy cane as a light post. I also added a door, window, and pathway to give it a more realistic approach. I layer masked all of these images so they would cohesively flow. I also added a curve on all of the images so that the lighting would match that of the background. Finally, I added drop shadows on the candy cane and cupcake for extra dimension.

For my final piece of this project, I decided to design the climax of the fairy tale where Hansel pushes the witch into the oven, and Hansel stands back in horror. 

First, I added an image of a medieval kitchen with a glow of a warm fire. Since the oven in the picture was closed, I decided to use a layer mask to add in my own fire. Then, I added my own smoke using the black brush tool. Next, I added in an image of a young girl kicking an old woman, and I created a layer mask to make it appear as if Hansel is kicking the Witch into the oven. Then, I added curves to the layer with both of the subjects on them, as well as the color overlay effect so that they would correspond to the warm tones of the background better.

For the final step, I decided to add an image of Hansel's reaction to the incident. In the fairy tale, Hansel is imprisoned by the witch during the scene where Gretel pushes her into the oven, but I wanted to take a different approach. Instead, I had Hansel staring up at the witch in horror with his arms flailing. In this project, I used different subjects to represent Hansel and Gretel, so I decided to make his outfit look more medieval. I added an image of a young boy wearing a German outfit, and I added perspective to the outfit to make it face the same direction as Hansel. Then, I layer masked the boy out, and duplicated the layer to add perspective to the hat. This way, I could use the image of the boy I wanted while simultaneously incorporating a more accurate outfit. I added a curve and a color overlay to Hansel as well.