The Little Mermaid - Tears of a Mermaid

Based off a sketch I did last summer.   Mainly decided to color the portrait part of the sketch since that was probably the part that really illustrated it the most I think.

Her design is still based off of Disney's The Little Mermaid, but the concept behind the picture is from a line in the original fairy tale.

"When the sisters rose , arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more." The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

When I first read the story last summer I remember feeling heartbroken just from reading that line! The idea is that it was only on your 15th birthday that you were allowed to go to the surface and see the world above the sea. And since Ariel was the youngest she would always get left behind by her older sisters and just stand there watching them and wishing she could go since she hadn't turned 15 yet. And it says in the book that she wanted to cry but mermaids have no tears...so for them all they can do is suffer more.

I always feel so much better after I have cried about something that is bothering me...as opposed to bottling up inside. But the thought that she's not even able to cry about the things that are bothering her really struck me.

If you have not read the original story, it really is a great read! Very different from the happy Disney version, but very beautifully written, and very sad! 

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