This illustration is a part of a collection of five different illustrated stories revolving around myths, legends or folktales from different parts of the world. Serving as my Senior Exhibition Showcase in April 2024, the goal of this assignment was to bring attention to lesser known tales from other places, often over looked or deprived of mainstream attention. The name of the Collection, “The Not Quite Human Collection” services as a hint to the plot of each tale.
Traditional illustration/ Sketch
Illustrated Poster, Digital Portrait, Project design
How Mosquitoes came to be and the Tlingit Tribe, this myth revolves around a cannibalistic giant who terrorized the tribes in and near Alaska and possibly into Canada. Generally, The Tlingit is said to have their roots in Alaska, more specifically the Pacific Northwest Coast. For the story’s sake, we will use this idea for the setting of this event. The legend states that a long time ago there was a man-eating giant who enjoyed indulging in eating humans fairly regularly, alarming the people in the area. This giant was pretty passionate about his desire revolving around consuming a human’s body, especially eating with gusto and excitement if the body is fresh. The giant had a love for soft flesh, drinking blood, and especially the heart. The cannibal became such a threat that the people were forced to act, because if they didn’t there would be no one left at the rate it was going. One man claimed to have a way to kill this beast, and so he visited a common hunting place of the giant and played dead.
Soon enough the plan worked and the giant, being so blinded by his excitement, fell for the trick and took his fresh meal home in such an enthusiastic state. Once in the home the cannibal saw there was no fire wood for his meal so he left to retrieve some. Meanwhile, the human stole one of the knives left behind and threatened the cannibal’s son who just happened to walk in at that moment. Because the heart of the giant wasn’t where a human heart would be, the man demanded that the son tell him where the heart of the giant was actually located. The son revealed that his father’s heart was in his left heel, which the man swiftly stabbed once the giant reentered the home. The giant dropped dead, scarily enough he could still speak even though he was dead and he stated, “Even though you killed me, I’m going to keep on eating you and all humans forever!” This sent the human into a rage, he screamed “That’s what you think! I’ll make sure you never eat anyone again!” He then proceeded to dismember the cannibal’s body and then chopped each piece into smaller pieces before burning everything. Unfortunately, there was some truth in what the giant said because once his ashes caught in the wind and the embers sparked it turned into mosquitoes which instantly started to suck his blood, but luckily that was all he could do instead of eating him whole.