Did you know that the character Shrek was not a hippopotamus? I always thought he was, I guess I was misled by his funnel-looking ears and wide mouth. His muscular build made it so convincing that, just a few hours ago when I found out he was not a hippo, but an Ogre. Naturally, my next question was, what is an Ogre?

When I got the answer, I almost puked Shrek out. Looking at the way DreamWorks Animation repackaged a hated, man-eating mythical figure into a hero we can love and relate to. A clear case of textbook Narrative Alchemy, where a hated lead like Ogre is transmuted into a lovable golden character through storytelling that makes you say

"Wait, maybe ogres aren’t so bad”.

With such clever reframing, long-held taboos can be uprooted, morals distorted, blurring the line that separates traditional good from bad.

Imagine a reframed story that tells the other side of the devil that has not been told. Made in a cartoon form and fed to kids. Then the devil is not as bad as we traditionally thought he was. He was just misunderstood because nobody heard his own side of the story...

Narrative Alchemy is a powerful and dangerous tool depending on the intent when used. It can glorify poor morals, and hack and bypass the conscience.

Today, I will be drawing Shrek the ogre, an example of narrative alchemy that made a former man-eater lovable and relatable.

What is needed for today's drawing

To draw the ogre, I will need the materials listed below for sketching, and colouring.

Item	Qty	Description
A Guide	1	To look and draw
Galaxy A15	1	Capturing the steps
An Eraser	1	Cleaning errors
Plain Paper	1	used as my canvas
HB Pencil	1	For Shading
0.5 mm Pencil	1	For sketching
Some Colour Pencils	*	For colouring

Drawing Procedure

Step 1 [Preparing the Canvas]

I got my A4 paper ready, signed with today's date being 16 June 2026 and my username. The drawing orientation remains landscape.

Step 2 [sketching and structure]

To guide my work, a simple sketch is required. It will serve as a framework. It also helps scale the drawing to match the A4 paper I am using.

The Shrek sketch now has some additional details attached to the sketch from the legs. They have moved from lines to a form that looks more like legs.

Once I attached those ears that look like funnels, it has started to have a resemblance of shrek. Those ears are iconic.

I have also sketched in a face. To make this ogre look harmless, he has a huge smile on his face.
And I have also added his leather cropped top.

At this point, I drew in his belt. It helped shape his belly into a sagging sack. Which made him really look like a hippo.

I added more details to his face, amplifying the smile and a little touch on his legs.

Now the sketch is ready for shading and colouring

Step 3 [Shading and colouring]

Grey in its different shades was the first to be applied in various spots, legs, eyes, mouth, nose and the inner elbow folds.

Then came brown for his leather breeches, his burlap sack shoes and belt. A little went to his lips and eyes.

Then his face took the green colour

Then I went over to his crop top, added some dark, irregular quadrilaterals, akin to crocodile skin, with a touch of brown.

Step 4 [Finishing]

It's time to take a selfie

Conclusion and Invitation

Cartoons are powerful tools for educating and forming children. Being selective of the type of cartoon we allow our kids to absorb is important.
I am inviting @bubaa, @asuquodavid, @annydee01 and @josepha to drop a comment.

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Captured by	@manuelhooks
Captured with	Galaxy-A15
Post type	Art Contest
Organiser	@dequeen
Posting Date	16, Jun
	(@) 2026

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