Summary
The following research is based on the importance of how the visual arts shape an effective way to explain motifs made in fairy tales. An important place to start in understanding this topic is taking a look at artists who used fairy tale motifs as guidance for their work. M.K Čiurlionis, a well-known Lithuanian artist, became very popular for his use of fairy tales as the prime basis for his paintings. One of his famous collections The Prince’s Journey is made of 3 paintings all using the portrayal of clouds to establish a light vs dark contrast among the knight and the dragon. To understand artist’s thought process while using fairy tales as a foundation for their work such as Čiurlionis’, the article “Fairy tales and illustration: the visual reinterpretation of stories” by Gabriela Quiroz explains how the illustrations often reflect a certain feeling coming from an artist, which they want a viewer to see and feel since each artist has the power narrate their own image. Many art pieces became a way for artists to express things they could not understand, with the help of fairy tales it allowed a place to leave out questions and opened a realm for imagination.
Furthermore, the “Art Matters podcast: The magic of fairy tales in art” explains the rise in popularity in regards to fairy tales after many artists created illustrations for the tales. Fairy tales became very popular in the Victorian period since children began to receive more attention from society. The books were described as “ highly beautiful art books” insisting that art became a primary focus rather than the storytelling aspect. In addition, from an early age many of us have already been introduced to visual motifs without knowing it. Fairy tale illustrations are very important to youth as stated in “The Importance And Place Of Illustrated Fairy Tale Books In Art Education For Preschool Children”. It states that if done correctly the images stimulate a child's imagination which becomes a helpful insight into ideologies behind basic motifs. Most of the research conducted has given a better understanding of how the visual arts help us express fairy tales and motifs. By viewing artists who particularly based their work on motifs such as M.K Čiurlionis, I have a better sense of how to approach my photo collage (final project) with the plan to create a story with the photos under guidance of the good vs evil motif.

Items