The series of Russian fairytales of the forest-dwelling cannibal, the Baba Yaga, occupied a major part of bedtime stories and daydreaming when I was young. But what would happen if I committed these illustrations of my own childhood imagination to paper, with an adult hand?

These two images, based on memorable scenes in one Baba Yaga story -- that of a young girl who wanders unknowingly into the cannibal's lair -- are explorations of this question.

 

Both illustrations are watercolor and india ink, and measure 42" x 26". On 300-gram Somerset paper.