Written by There’s a rather curious tale known as The Frog Prince. Versions of the story have appeared in folklore and one of the more commonly known is Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s version. In this telling of the story a spoiled princess loses a golden ball, a frog helps her retrieve it, she makes a promise to be a companion to the frog, tries to break it, then is told by the king she shouldn’t be such a jerk and break her promises. It all ends rather alarmingly with her throwing the frog against the wall in desperation and he magically transforms back into a prince. Oddly, in all of the original written versions of this tale, there’s never a mention of any kiss breaking the spell, though the violent ending was thankfully later replaced with having the frog spend three nights on the princess’s pillow. Despite it never being a part of the story, somewhere along the way the idea that the princess kissed the frog to break the spell became commonplace. That’s the fun of folk tales. And it also prompted the phrase, “sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.”
I’ve always been fascinated with folk tales, mostly because the story we often know today is so different from the original. This is probably good in the case of The Frog Prince as there’s even a Scottish version where the princess takes an axe and chops off the frog’s head. The weird part here is that it immediately says “behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince” and we have only the word handsome to assume he even still had a head. Seems the modern retelling of a kiss is probably the best bet in the end. And just the idea of kissing a few frogs to find a prince is a fun concept. In fact, I often feel like that’s the case with my daily paintings. Some turn out really well and others are just so-so, but I keep right on going, frog after frog, until that one that breaks through and feels a bit more exceptional. And like a good folk tale, I learn a little something with each painting and each story along the way.
In truth, sometimes I learn a lot more from my less successful illustrations. Things I take to heart and do differently the next time. And for that, I rather love those little bloopers that I have along the way. They teach me so much! Oh sure, I’ve had some watercolor paintings that I really did want to throw against the wall like that princess in the original fairytale, but I never do. Instead, I post them, whatever came out and ramble on here with whatever comes out next. By the way, I do rather like how my frog turned out today. The first frog I ever painted was an Aprils Fools Day optical illusion that was more of trick than a true study of a frog. But, as you know, I like to have a ton of fun along this journey! To me, it’s all a lovely game of trial and error and one I always find so rewarding. There’s no pressure when I know I’ll find that prince of a painting every few weeks. Until then, you’ll always find me, unashamedly and happily kissing a frog.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Da Vinci Yellow, Leaf Green, Terra Cotta, and Cobalt Blue. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. |
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I love frogs. I have some in my ponds every summer. Yours is very nice.
Thanks so much, Lisa! 😃💕Aww… I love that you have ponds! I live in the city and love the sounds of frogs in a pond.
Your frog is beyond awesome! I love reading annotated fairytales. You learn more about the way people thought when the stories were first told, and realize that the way we think now, it’s almost like we’re a different species. In some ways, we’ve improved immensely. Others not so much.
Thanks, Sandra! 😃💕haha! I totally agree! It’s so fun to see how people thought by then and how society was. It does seem totally different, but yeah, in some ways, I’m not sure the advancements were always improvements.
That’s a prince of a frog Charlie!! I agree with you about painting something every day and learning from the not so good paintings as well as the “good” ones.
Thanks, Mary! 😃💕Glad you see a prince in this little frog! Yeah… when I look back at my paintings, I’m no longer sure which I thought were the “good” ones at the time. hehe I just keep right on making more so it never seems to matter anyway!
Great painting! I kissed a frog 40 years ago and he ended up being my wonderful husband!
Thanks, Sharon!! 😃💕 That’s lovely! And I promise not to tell him you just compared him to a frog! lol
That’s pretty cool that you don’t get upset about art that doesn’t work out to your expectations and instead learn something worthwhile from your errors.
And your frog is one handsome prince. Though I don’t like touching them. I married my frog prince – coming up on 46 years of marriage – yikes! Him I like touching. (OK, family blog.)
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Yeah… I didn’t like to touch actual frogs even as a kid. And yay to 46 years of marriage… I imagine that’s largely due to the fact that you do actually like touching him. 😉
He’s great Charlie
Thanks so much, Rod! Glad you liked him! 😃💕
Wonderful frog,and though I have never thrown any of my frogs against the wall,I sure have crumpled and ripped some up, so if they were actually frogs I would be making a horrible mess,maybe from now on I will neatly fold them and lay them in the trash..as always Charlie loved your words…❤️
Aww thanks, Pamela! 😃💕 Yes… neatly fold and love each and every one of them! They’re all precious for what they teach us! I decided early on never to crumple them, but to proudly display them all here. Even my wash tests! https://doodlewash.com/wash-test/ – now when I look I can a little seahorse there!
He’s cute! I’m always amused watching the frogs in the pond – we get so many! They sit there glaring as if to say, “what are you looking at?” I’m not sure they’d be too pleased if I tried to get a prince out of them, and quite honestly I’m wondering if there are other ways myself! Thank goodness I’m no princess 😉
Thanks, Jacob! 😃💕 haha! mental image now of you running around kissing angry frogs! Love it! Yeah… probably good you’re no princess… it sounds like too much work anyway. 😉
there’s such life in his eyes…I love the expressive face…looks as if he just got caught
in some mischief…
Thanks so much! 😃💕 hehe… yay! I was hoping he came across as hiding a secret.