The Illustration and Its Creator
This illustration is from the 1918 book called English Fairy Tales by Flora Annie Steel. It was done by Arthur Rackham, who is ranked among the greats in his field. Whether or not he is, of course, is a matter of preference. This particular piece seems a combination of excellent in its detail and a bit rushed. You can count every brick on the fence and houses, but the faces of the people seem simplistic. I'm not with a lot of room to talk, though, as this picture is better than most if not all of my work.
The illustration itself is for a retelling of Jack the Giant Killer. The giant is called Cormoran and he is to be the first one slain by mighty Jack. Lucky him.
Steel's collection of fairy tales can be found over at Project Gutenberg
Again, I want to try and avoid the obvious choices. Although, to be honest, even in avoiding the obvious choice I've taken an obvious route:
Cormoran came into the city for a few groceries and wouldn't you know it but everyone he came across started screaming and hollering to all get out. To his disgust, even the dogs scampered away from him like a frightened deer. All he wanted to do now was get to the nearest lake and see if he could wash the scent of stupid people off of himself.
Not much to add to that. If we go by the story, poor Cormoran here gets tricked into a pit by a murderous Jack, who goes on to slaughter many other helpless (and stupid) giants.
Hurray!
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