The Sea Witch

11x14", pencil

"Every moment the witch threw something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound was like the weeping of a crocodile. When at last the magic draught was ready, it looked like the clearest water. 'There it is for you,' said the witch."

-"The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen

An interior drawing for my thesis.

My first idea for the sea witch was to make her a crusty old woman.

But as I continued to develop my drawings, I saw that my old witch wasn't really helping with the teen romance style I was going for in this story. So instead, I changed her into a sort of gothic teen witch.

The drawing continued to evolve with feedback from my critique class. I redesigned the witch's tail, added the pile of bones, more snakes, some bubbles, and most importantly changed the position of her hands, to keep the focus on the magic vial.