I made this illustration as the last entry for the 2024 edition of “Folktale Week". For the prompt “Blossom” I wanted to illustrated one of my favourite Brazilian folktales:

This tale tells the origin of the water lily - which is native plant from the Amazon. In some indigenous cultures the moon is a female god named Jaci. And the moon used to turn some people into stars, so that she could have company.

One day, a lady named Naiá fell in love with the moon, and she wanted to become a star to be close to her lover. She leaned over the river admiring the moon’s reflection in the deep river water and ended falling and drowning.

Jaci, the moon, was so moved by the lady’s affection that instead of turning her into another star, she decided to turn her into something very special. And so, the moon turned her into a water lily, which are considered the stars of the rivers.

Here's the sketch, the colour block test and the final digital illustration: