Alexander Petrov creates his animations in a home-made way, scribbling on layered panes of glass with oil pastels.
He paints with his fingers, small brushes, rags — anything handy to help him push and smear his pigments — and wipe them away when it’s time to re-paint for the next shot.
In a process evocative of sand-painting
He prefers transparent colors so as not to block the light shining up through his glass ‘canvases.’ So that his scenes glow.
Right up there with Petrov’s bravura brush (and pastel work) are his director’s storytelling chops. He keeps us guessing, startling us with rude, fascinating surprises — as life often does.
The Mermaid is based on a story by Alexander Pushkin. With its themes of sexual love, betrayal, guilt, and murderous vengeance, it’s not a children’s animation. Oh, wait — I forgot about Snow White and the other Grimm Brothers’ tales.
In Slavic folklore, the rusalki were the ghosts of young women who had drowned themselves after being abandoned by their lovers. They haunted glades and lakes and sometimes lured young men to their deaths.
The only dialogue is the prayers and blessings uttered in Russian by the older monk and the nonsense singing and laughter of the rusalka. The film is basically wordless.
But oh, what sounds! Water and wind, the bell of a village church, ice cracking on the frozen river and a flute’s sad song that underscores the wildness of the woods and the loneliness of the shores.
Petrov uses plenty of references — still and video — for his pictures, as you’ll see in the Russian documentary on him (in the following post.) He taps friends and neighbors to play the story characters, in the time-honored tradition of illustrators from Howard Pyle to Norman Rockwell.
He immerses us in characters, setting, and ‘telling’ physical details and puts his art squarely in the service of a suspenseful narrative.
Although he’s worked some in Canada and for Japanese producers, he likes to stay close to his home in Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow. Alexander Petrov has twice won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short — in 1990 for The Cow from a story by Andrei Platonov and in 1999 for his IMAX adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
Don’t go near the water in June
Yes, the rusalki reflect the mermaids of Celtic mythology and the Mediterranean-based sirens. But the Russians might take their legends more seriously. Early June was Rusalka Week in the old country.
“At this time they were supposed to have left their watery depths in order to swing on branches of birch and willow trees by night. Swimming during this week was strictly forbidden, lest mermaids would drag a swimmer down to the river floor.” — Wikipedia
Paint your own spooky stories, folk fables, and tall tales
Is it time to spin your own mermaid yarn?
The online Make Your Splashes – Make Your Marks! course can help you craft better illustrations for your story. Learn more about the great self-paced lessons and learning community here.
Sharon especially loves decorating a home in wooden furniture and believes that nothing
gives a home as warm and cozy a touch as all-wood
furniture and decor. Always have a focal point for your art, around which
the images will be displayed. As far as art for childrens room is concerned there are many types, wall painting is one of them.