poor provincial life

I'm not as proud of this one as I have been of others, to the point where I'm already planning a redo, but I want to know what people will think of it. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was torn between 1780s and 1820s or so. I went with the latter. I didn't think her face was as recognizably Belle either so I kept her dress yellow. I realized something very important while working on this one and Pocahontas (which is currently in the sketching process): I need internets!! I don't have it at my apartment, where I've been working on these, and I really need it when I'm looking for reference pictures. It's so frustrating!! Oh well. Here's Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991).

oh man

Lots of changes in Halseyland (that sounds better than Paigeland I think). I'm back from Italy, which is sad but also nice because I was actually getting kinda homesick. Italy was absolutely AMAZING. Not a whole lot of artwork got done while there but I got some great pictures and some reference material for future pieces so yay!
After a few days in Massachusetts, I drove up to the new apartment in Vermont. I'm still not fully moved in and my place doesn't have internet as of yet but at least I have a bed now (believe me, this is a big accomplishment). I can't promise how frequently I'll be posting but I'll do my best.
As for the princess series, I'm currently working on Belle (although I'm not sure about her time period and I may redo her someday) and researching Pocahontas. I'm really liking Pocahontas and Tiana best since it's really obvious WHEN they take place. For Belle, it could have been anywhere from 1770s-1790s or 1820s-1830s, which is frustrating. I went with the 1820s since I did Cinderella as Late Georgian. (Plus, that yellow dress is SO Crinoline period!)
Sadly, no new artwork today since I'm on the computer at work. I'll try and get Belle up soon, she's currently being inked.

JASMINDA!!

There! It's officially a series now! (phew) two is a coincidence but three, three shows intent, it shows purpose, it shows that I not just playing dress-up with some childhood heroes (ok, that last one is still true but at least it's a little more legitimate now). I picked Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992)because of my friend, Gina's, nickname. We were joking around with Disney quotes and she said her favorite was how the Sultan announces Jasmine's full name. She was particularly tough to do for a number of reasons. First of all being, I don't really know too much about Eastern and Middle Eastern costume history. It was fun doing the research about it but without a specific time or location (reasons two and three), I didn't really have two much to jump off from. I decided the best time was the explosion of math and discovery in the Middle East, which happened during the Western Dark Ages. This didn't narrow it down very much and because of the whole "don't draw people" thing in a lot of Islamic art, it was tough finding any sort of reference picture, especially of women. I also didn't want to resort to putting her in the stereotypical belly-dancing outfit, I knew I could find a piece that was elegant and beautiful but was neither underwear nor a burqa. I was about to give her an Indian sari when I considered Persian fashions. Lo and behold, I found a traditional dress that was exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully, I did Jasmine justice and I didn't annoy anyone too badly (either with my choices or with this incredibly long post.) Please let me know what you think.

Also, I think this is my last post for a little while (unless I put something old up tomorrow) as I'm jetsetting to the Riviera (no, really! how awesome is that!?). I completely intend to keep going with this series when I get back. [Belle, as requested by f3m413, then Pocahontas in Commonwealth and Mulan in Sui Dynasty.] I'll also have a ton of new artwork from Italy! See you then!

cinderelly cinderelly

I can't wait to do more of these. When I was little I loved Cinderella so much, I used to pretend my name was 'Cinderella' (much to my sister's embarrassment). It was tough pinpointing a time period for Disney's Cinderella because of it's strong 1950s aesthetic. The solitaire ribbon she wears in her princess gown and the different silhouettes in the court scene look like it would be roughly Late Georgian (think Marie Antoinette). With a combination of 1950s and Late Georgian (my two favorite costume eras), how could I not adore "Cinderella"?

fanart

I was on a Disney soundtrack kick last night and needed something to keep me busy so I started playing around with watercolors again. I took the dress design from a 1920s fashion catalog. I originally wanted to put Princess Tiana (Princess and the Frog, 2009) in an Erte gown but none of them really seemed to fit the image I had in mind. Even though I love that Tiana's dress in all the princess products is blue (and I always wished they put Ariel in green instead of that awful pink thing), I pictured this dress in that sage-y green color. I might do some more princesses in different gowns later, this was fun.

(Princess and the Frog (c) Disney. I do not claim to own the character. Please don't sue me, Eisner TT___TT)

Ok, so

Phew, I actually took some pictures and got a couple of pictures in raw form on my computer. If I can make this a habit then maybe this blogging thing will actually work. Eventually, I might even get a new domain and crank out a better website. Or at least update the gallery on the site I already have. If I miraculously get access to a large scanner, I'll go back and update these pictures but for now, my Olympus and shaky hands will have to do.
This piece was what the sketch in my 3rd post was for. My final piece for my Figure Drawing course had to combine two artists who draw the human form. I chose Alphonse Mucha and Loish, two artists who greatly inspire me. I used Prismacolor markers (again, you rock Jennie ^.^) on 18x24" paper. The lines for the border really are straight, I just can't keep my hands steady.

o.o two in a row!

This one is kinda old but I've been wanting to get it up here for awhile. I'll try to take some pictures later today so I can keep this posting streak going. This one I did with Prismacolor markers (thanks Jennie ^.^) back in Sept. I was looking at a Mucha poster when I sketched it.


Later: So instead of sitting down at my computer to JUST check my emails (never happens 9.9) I ended up finding this amazing book I had never heard of. I've been ogling the "Art of Princess and the Frog" for awhile (heck, I remember longingly thumbing through "Art of Pocahontas" when I was itty bitty) when I came across this: "The Art of The Disney Princess". Different interpretations of the princesses by different artists across the House of Mouse!! I'll have to add this to my "when I have money to burn" list ^.^