Candlelight Sonata: Reprisal

Sharpie and Prismacolor Marker on 14"x17" Bristol. Completed February 10, 2009.

Fanart for fanfiction called "Candlelight" by Gecko Osco on Fanfiction.net.

"Candlelight" recounts the story of the old Norwegian tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," in tandem with the cast from Gundam Wing. The plot focuses around trust and betrayal, and the repentance that follows. In the Norwegian folktale, a young woman betrothed to a Prince, entangled in a curse, betrays the Prince as he comes to her one night. The Prince, having been transformed into a White Bear during the day, can not show his face to the woman at night for the length of one full year. Incited by the distrustful words of her mother, the woman lights a candle one night, illuminating the Prince's face. For her act of betrayal the Prince is forced to live in the castle that lies east of the sun and west of the moon, doomed to marry the Troll Princess. The young woman begins her repentant search for the Prince, asking many where such a castle would be. Finally, after seeking the advice from three old women, and three of the four Great Winds, the woman arrives before the North Wind, who is able to blow her to where the Prince is behind held. Devising a plan, after the Troll Princess' ploys to keep the two apart, the Prince announces that he will only marry the one who can wash the three spots of wax from his shirt that the young woman had dripped upon him the night of her betrayal. The trolls, being crude and selfish, can not wash the stains away. When the young woman tries, the shirt becomes white as snow. The two are married and remain happily so to the end of their days.

Featuring Trowa as the cursed prince, I drew him caught within the various spells, one being the mask he must use to hide his face from his betrothed – Quatre – and the other, his animal form of the White Bear, who Quatre must never be told is him. In the upper left corner, the Troll Princess, or Dorothy Catalonia, peers at him over her shoulder, her hair casting about as if a spider’s web. In each of the four corners, the personifications of the Great Winds face away from Trowa, as if to reinforce his imprisonment. From top left, the East Wind, top right, the West Wind, bottom right, the South Wind, and finally the bottom left containing the North Wind. Because the young woman went to the weakest wind first and ended with the strongest, I chose to depict the East Wind as youngest, and therefore less strong than his other brothers. The oldest in appearance is the North Wind, who has just enough strength to send the young woman to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon. This is simply a throw back to the Norwegian folktale, as Gecko Osco’s story contains many things, but as of yet does not contain any personifications of the Great Winds. She does, however, use the names of the Gundams for a very similar purpose, although not every detail can remain in perfect unison with the old tale. The designs around the border were meant to be suggestive of Norwegian Viking design, basing my research upon that area around 800 – 1100 common era. They did not come out as desired, however, but remain, nonetheless, as energetic reinforcement for a somewhat poster-like orchestration.