Alice and The Caterpillar

Yes, I know it's been a while since the last post, but there was a lot of normal work to do and as they say, "duty calls". 

So this time I thought I would talk about the work done on another of the Alice illustrations. Alice and the Caterpillar  has always been one of those iconic images from the story, so... it had to be done, right? I actually started with this image as the beginning of the Alice series and even painted it just to see if I could. I am not a painter, by trade, so it was an interesting challenge for me. It's fun to be able to experiment when it is NOT your profession. No pressure, you know.

OK. So this is the original drawing I had come up with. I had gone back to the original work done in the books for inspiration, but as the makers of the famous animated film did as well, the caterpillar turned out looking similar.

But I went ahead and painted it anyway. Here is the progression below.

Yeah, so I used almost the same colors as the animated film too, right? Guess I kind of had the animated version stuck in my head. But I like the colors and really didn't want to change it so,... there it is.

But, as time went on and I had decided to use this one a little for one of the designs on Denshima Designs, I thought I may want to at least change the drawing a little  so that there is a more obvious difference in the head of the caterpillar.

Well, for what it's worth, right? That's it for this time. Hope you enjoyed my trials and tribulations through this side project of mine and take care 'til next time.

Tink... The Continuing Saga

Here we are again, and this time I want to share with you the development on a couple of the fairies.

Some of the main characters of the initial stories – like Rani, Fira or Beck – never made it to the films and thus became the lesser known "girl gang" that surrounded Tink. But their counterparts – Silvermist, Irridessa and Fawn – despite being secondary characters in the books, found their way to the screen.

A few fairies did make the cut:  Rosetta, Vidia, Queen Clarion and Terence.  Unlike Bess, Lily and Prilla... Oh yeah, and Mother Dove...  who don't even have a conterpart in the films.

Speaking of Prilla... she was the "youngest" of the fairies... or should I say newest?  This gets confusing because, you know, they don't age.  Anyway, since everyone had a talent, they gave Prilla a unique one.  She had the ability to astral project her way into the "real world" and visit children.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention.... no fairy left Neverland back then.  So, she was kind of important to keep the belief of fairies alive in the real world to ensure all the other fairies' existence.

Not going to bore you with ALL the fairies, just wanted to touch upon Vidia (at first, "Invidia").  Back then, she was a villain.   She didn't hang out with anyone... kind of Maleficent-like, she was the bad fairy that lived apart from everyone else (who all lived in the same tree, BTW).  She seemed kind of like a Grima Wormtongue (LOTR) that preyed upon the fears and insecurities of other fairies.  Basically, negative karma.

 

Anyway, back to the development process:

As I began my studies, it became painfully apparent how much my skill level was not up to par for this property, and had to practice a lot to begin to understand it.  This involved a lot of research... and a lot of just drawing.  I began to just draw poses.

 

These are only a few examples I kept over the years.  I did many that were so horrible, I had to quickly throw them away before they sprouted more heads and burned holes in the walls.  But as tedious as it was, I had to get the feel of the characters until they were more of a natural extension than just a drawing.  Guess that's what they call "finding the character".

It got a little better as time went on and things developed more.  Instead of trying desperately to cling on to the designated "models", I started bending towards the influences of Fred Moore and Norman Rockwell (for children poses).  And interestingly enough, girls from Anime.  You know, the cute ones... but not so... fully developed.  The posing for the pvc anime figures were perfect to help with getting the feel of these characters.

 

I was just starting to get the hang of it... and then, they decided to make the films...
(to be continued)

The White Rabbit

Hey Everyone!  As we get ready for "quaresima" or lent, I thought I would go back a bit and share the white rabbit again in preparation for Easter.  I already posted him on the Denishima Designs page on FB. But now I thought of just showing the images.

As mentioned in that post, the drawing of the white rabbit started what became the Alice Line.  This version of the classic bunny just kind of popped up in my head and I had to try it out.  I always think how interesting it is to come up with a drawing that looks like you had done it as a quick 5-second sketch, when in actuality, as some artists know... it can take hours... sometimes days to get something resembling anything that you don't mind putting out there.  Of course, there are some artists actually capable of whipping out a beautiful drawing in no time at all, but I'm not one of them.

Thinking about those super skilled artist, it comes to mind a story that one of my art history professors had told us about a Chinese brush painter.  A patron commissions a painting from this artist (I think it was of a tree... let's say it was a tree).  After some time, the patron checks in with the artist about the status of the work and the painter repeatedly tells the client that it is not yet ready. Months turn to years, as the patron continues to check in occasionally on the progress of the painting. Finally, he demands that the artist present him with his request immediately, so the painter takes out a brush and proceeds to paint a beautiful tree.  The client is pleased but asks why the artist made him wait so long if he is able to do such work in no time at all.  The painter replies that it was because it took that long to become skilled enough to paint the tree in the manner that was required.

Anyway, just wanted to share how the ol' guy turned out in the end.  I had featured just the drawing with the swatch of color as in the design on the Denishima page, but here I thought I would also share the painted version, which soon will be released on a few products on Zazzle.

First, here is the initial pencil sketch.

And now the version with the text.  I thought of this saying first... but now thinking of changing it to "it's never 2 L8!"   I thought it might be a better message... more positive?

And then the painted version.

Well, that's it for now.  Will be posting again soon with more bunnies to get ready for Easter!
CIAO!