I was inspired by the scenery around the Punta Nariga lighthouse and took some pictures of the surroundings. This one rock formation kind of reminded me of a humanlike shape with detached tailfins, hunched up by the rocks. So, it got me thinking about the tragic story of the little mermaid and more specifically about the moment she transformed.

Be careful what you wish for

The mermaid was giving up her voice, comfort, family, identity, life, and any certainty of the future – by her own will – in exchange for a chance at love. So, as the tail became legs and the fins fell off, there must have been a deeply conflicting sense of joy mixed with the irreversible painful loss of her former self.

An excruciating process

I drew the mermaid and scenery separately. Experimented with different methods of bringing texture to the scenery, one of which was to draw directly on top of an overexposed monochrome print. Then I combined different elements in photoshop and tinkered with them forever. Most of that was not enjoyable, too many changes and unnecessarily ambitious expectations.

Pencil and markers on paper, 30x20cm.