SILK SCARVES
OTESANEK
ONCE UPON THE TIME ...
there lived a man and a woman in a cottage at the edge of a village. They wished for a child very much, yet were still not blessed with one. One day in the forest, the man dug out a little stump that looked like a baby. He used his axe to sculp it a little bit, so it was round and smooth. At home, he told his wife: "Here’s a baby, his name is Otesánek. You can care for him if you wish. " Woman wrapped the child in a blanket and sang him a lullaby. Suddenly, the boy started to move around, shaking his head. Then he yelled: "Mummy, I’m hungry! " Woman happily cooked some porridge for her baby. Otesánek ate it all and immediately screamed: "Mummy, I’m hungry! " So the woman brought him a cup of milk. Not even that was enough for Otesánek. He rose from his blanket and swallowed a loaf of bread whole. Mother couldn’t believe her eyes: "Child, didn’t you have enough? " "I did not, mummy, and now I shall eat you too! " Before mother could do anything, he opened his mouth and ate her, just like he said. And when father returned home, Otesánek ate him as well. However, the more he ate, the hungrier he got. There was nothing left in the cottage, so he went to the village to find something. He met a wench, bringing a cart full of clover back from the field. "I ate porridge from the pan, I ate a cup of milk, I ate a loaf of bread, I ate mum, I ate dad and now I will eat you too! " Otesánek said. He moved closer and wench, cart, even clover disappered in his stomach. It still wasn’t enough. So he went and ate a peasant with a waggon, swineherd with all his pigs, sheperd with whole herd and his dog, Voříšek. He could barely walk, he was so full. He arrived at the field, where grandma was working and taking care of some cabbage. Otesánek didn’t hesitate, he started pulling heads of cabbage from the ground and swallowing them. Then he jumped at grandma, wishing to eat her too. But grandma was quick, she dodged him and hit Otesánek with a hoe in his stomach, cutting him open.
Dog Voříšek jumped out first, followed by shepherd with his sheep, then swineherd and his pigs, peasant with a waggon, even wench with a cart and clover and finally, out came the man and the woman with a loaf of bread in their arms. They all wholeheartdly thanked grandma and were happy they were all saved.
Based on a fairy tale by Karel Jaromír Erben
VIKTOR SVOBODA, AUTHOR OF THE ILLUSTRATION
VIKTOR ABOUT HIMSELF
"I studied animation at Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín. I finished my masters by making a cartoon adventure movie called The Episode 11, where main heroes lead an eternal fight against evil robots. Beside the animation, I make illustrations for magazines (for example for short stories of different authors in Forbes NEXT) and books (detective series for children Tajná dvojka by Klára Smolíková and Jiří W. Procházka). Sometimes I draw comics, but I talk about it more than I actually do it, because it is the most time-consuming drawing discipline (for example magazine Bublifuk, again by Klára Smolíková). My art is heavily influenced by comics and I hope people can see that. One of my biggest ‚wishes come true‘ is publishing of my work in Aargh! magazine, to which I also got the opportunity to create a cover of its 17th issue. This magazine taught me about comics since 2002, when I first got my hands on it (Aargh! magazine is published roughly once a year). Drawn animation, that is my ‚way of the ninja‘. I draw more and more on computer and because of that I enjoy working with a pen and a brush whenever possible. There is only one possible way forward. My friend Karel Osoha once said that I draw branches and hair over and over again. And since Otesánek is a boy made of wood, my scarf includes branches, or roots, as well. Real trouble was how to process a dark fairy tale about gluttony into something non-violent. Eventually, Martina (the head of the project) and me agreed on a piece, where all parts of the story are present, but a viewer has to imagine the fate of poor sods who end up in Otesánek’s stomach. Despite the fact I spent a lot of time on line drawing, I was forced to learn working with colours and the result is a drawing in quite a different style, without any contour lines. Still, you can tell that it is my design, which I am happy about. That is the style I used here on Otesánek as well, with colour palette shifted. I like to write with a pen, I draw hands and I like heroes who manage to get up at the last second. I appreciate the fact that the main theme of the scarves are famous stories. I therefore had set pieces that I could move around how I wanted, without losing the essence of a tale about Otesánek.
And the result is a fairy tale you can wrap around your neck."
MARTINA ABOUT VIKTOROVI
"Clear lines in his illustrations, brilliant artistic abbreviation of characters‘ personalities and his comic book heroes that he loves creating so much were a sign for me, when I thought about the motive that best suited him. Otesánek, one of Karel Jaromír Erben’s morbid fairy tales, was a logical choice. I became sure of it when I was choosing from his first sketches. Quite several of them were great. In the end, we chose the one where the central circle represents Otesánek’s mouth, where all his victims and a bunch of food end up eventually. Only ‚block‘ while creating the scarf came when we were searching for right colour combination. It is essential not only for the representation of the whole motive, but also for the fact that the scarf will be a part of an outfit. We, eventually, found the right solution that satisfied both sides. In my opinion, Viktor is one of the raising stars on the Czech illustrators‘ sky and I hope that this wasn’t the last artwork he made for Silky Gang."
SCARVES‘ MATERIAL AND PACKAGING
Author’s design is printed either on 100 % silk twill with rolled edges (Colossus 90x90 cm and Tinkerbell 43x43 cm) or on the voile made of 30 % silk and 70 % fine cotton (Giant 130x130 cm). The scarves are packaged in handmade boxes. Also included are certificates with fairy tales and an original string with a pearl button. It is used for tying scarves and arranging them as part of an outfit. 100 % silk scarves have a unique serial number in their certificates. They are produced in limited series - only 100 pieces of Colossus and 200 pieces of Tinkerbells.