CROSS STITCH DESIGNS

'ALADDIN' Design Diary

A poor, Chinese teenager and his recently widowed mother. A mysterious African magician. A beautiful, young Princess and her father, the Sultan. It was a good thing that re-reading the story followed my decision to create a cross-stitch design based on 'Aladdin'... I'd forgotten what a richly, cross-cultural tale it is.

Aladdin's father was severely disappointed by his son's unwillingness to settle down, accept the responsibilities that come with adulthood and become an apprentice in his tailor shop.

Please click on Aladdin (and the other thumbnail pictures) to continue your exploration of this design diary.

Aladdin meets a new 'friend' (THE AFRICAN MAGICIAN) who reveals a flight of stairs leading down into the earth. The magician orders him to enter that magical world and bring back a lighted lamp.

Aladdin passes walls that can kill at a single touch; mounds of silver and gold and trees with glittering, multi-coloured fruit (actually made of precious gems).

Since Aladdin grew up in China, I thought it would be fun if the genie looked like a character from a Chinese play. Some elements of the character on the left (ponytail, earring, painted face) can still be seen in the final genie but he was given a make-over.

BEFORE and... (PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURE)

Aladdin went to great lengths to capture the hand of the Sultan's beautiful daughter.

Choosing a young woman who projected beauty and mystery took a while...

The Sultan provided Aladdin with much of his motivation and I really wanted to include an illustration of this character.

Placing his 'jewelled' head above the 'jewelled' genie and behind the 'jewelled' lattice, that partially hid his 'jewelled' daughter, created a new problem.

This rough scan of an earlier version of 'Aladdin' (combined with a little imagination) gives some idea of the "jewellery problem".

It also illustrates a couple of other issues...

After fixing the spelling mistake, I was quite satisfied with the rayon-highlighted "Aladdin" lettering and...

moving it below the Aladdin figure drew attention back to the main character.

Thank you very much for exploring "Aladdin" with me. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Lynne

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE MORE DETAILS ABOUT STITCHING THIS DESIGN, PLEASE CLICK... click here.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE OTHER STORYBOOK DESIGNS, PLEASE CLICK... 'Once Upon a Time' Designs.