Firstly, the above is a link to a blog I love called 'The Fairy Tale Cupboard.' Fairy-tales are my 1 MAIN inspiration as an illustrator and my dream is to one day be illustrating Grimm and Andersen (my hero's!). This blog is brilliant because it keeps me up to date with whats going on in 'the real world!' Artists, costume designers, sculptors, writers and directors are STILL playing with these stories and altering them everyday, and its important to keep track. This site helps me to do this and have re-introduced me to an artist/sculpture who I had forgotten I LOVE.
SU BLACKWELL
Blackwell spends hours trawling charity shops looking for old books. She is mostly inspired by fairy tales and this influence is evident in the genre and style of her work. Once she has found her story she will spend ours cutting and crafting the pages of the books themselves to create an artwork. The end product is a gorgeous sculpture/dress/instillation that will go towards a specific gallery exhibition or her own personal works.
This is one of her new works, I couldn't find out a great deal about the story behind it but I think it may be inspired by the dress in Cinderella as it vanishes. As a costume for a modern/Gothic fairy tale this would work brilliantly.
Through the looking glass: Alice in Wonderland.
This is from 'The Secret Garden' although I also think the image has an aura of snow white about it that I would like to capture in an illustration.
This is my favourite of Blackwell's. Her motto is 'Paper is Art' and this piece makes me believe it. I think it is taken from Cinderella.
The Wizard of Oz. More colourful than her usual artworks but a fun image...if not slightly scary?!
THE TEA PARTY: her most famous image from Alice in Wonderland.
FAIRY TALES are all over the media at the moment. I can take all sorts of inspiration from this...my ultimate goal, I now know being to tell cautionary tales through inviting escapism.
Backgrounds, scenery, setting, light and dark: MISE-EN-SCENE
As an illustrator, especially an illustrator of fairy tales, cautionary tales, myths and legends atmosphere is everything. I need to collate information that can be used to inspire background and setting. Visual notes are important here because sets like castles, mountains, cottages etc. need to look legitimate. Yes, we can take artistic licence, especially as what we are capturing is, in a sense 'magical' but I think I can draw on observational drawings and photographs of castles, houses, scenery etc.
The outside view of the Cathedral, I envisage this as a set for 'Beauty and the Beast' because of the high arch, Gothic windows, darkened stone and decorative carvings.
I like the contrast of the bright light through the darkness and although stained glass is often used in illustrations of castles and Cathedral, indeed, we see it in the Disney adaption of 'Beauty and the Beast.' However, I like the stark shapes and colours of this image and although it is not a fantastic photograph, that metaphorical symbolism could prove inspirational in future illustrations.
The above show stonework, I like to think of it more in terms of flat sections of colour and tone as opposed to individual shapes and lines. This is the Cathedral crypt and with the light struggling to shine through the windows I think this poses an interesting concept.
The Flora Fountain. Surrounded by mermen. The castle is in ruins but is extremely atmospheric. The stone is charcoal coloured from the fire that destroyed it, which makes it charming, it looks hollow because it is empty and the windows reminded me of eyes. It was vacant but had so much character in it's broken down state.
THROUGH THE TREES: looking at the building and stream from different perspectives and looking for objects that I can use later on to enhance a scene.
Backgrounds, scenery, setting, light and dark: MISE-EN-SCENE
As an illustrator, especially an illustrator of fairy tales, cautionary tales, myths and legends atmosphere is everything. I need to collate information that can be used to inspire background and setting. Visual notes are important here because sets like castles, mountains, cottages etc. need to look legitimate. Yes, we can take artistic licence, especially as what we are capturing is, in a sense 'magical' but I think I can draw on observational drawings and photographs of castles, houses, scenery etc.
Hereford Cathedral
The outside view of the Cathedral, I envisage this as a set for 'Beauty and the Beast' because of the high arch, Gothic windows, darkened stone and decorative carvings.
The inside of the Cathedral, if you took the pews out of the picture you could manipulate it into a grand dining room, hall or entrance. There are all sorts of illustrative possibilities.
The above show stonework, I like to think of it more in terms of flat sections of colour and tone as opposed to individual shapes and lines. This is the Cathedral crypt and with the light struggling to shine through the windows I think this poses an interesting concept.
Building and Architecture based on drawings trips (as above) and other found locations. observational
church 16th c. foundations
Student bar
19th c. park building
Chapel
print from chapel sketch
Cirencestor Church
1920's houses from cemetery
EASTNOR CASTLE
Animals feature heavily in fairy tales, I don't particularly like drawing them but I picked a few that may be useful, the stags and antelopes for Beauty and the Beast and a mangy old stuffed cheetah who has started to loose its soft fur and look like an overly cuddled, matted soft toy. I think this is because the previous owners would stroke it originally before it was put behind glass. This is a nice little story .
The Castle is beautiful, mock medieval (the earl in the 1700's built it when he married and his fortune increased). It was a labour of love, each room is suited to a different family member, it is dark in places but light and pretty. This will be my beauty and the beast dark castle.
Gates and archways. I will use this ink image as the garden archway in beauty and the beast. I like the colours and the red tones that come out in all the brickwork surrounding the grounds. There was something mysterious and forbidding about the dark archway that I had to capture.
THE TOWER: RUMPELSTILTSKIN. The tower had to feel imposing, so I sketched it from beneath, looking predominately at how the sun hit the stone and made so many colours that you wouldn't think came from stone alone.
WITLEY COURT
An old mansion destroyed by a fire in the 1920's, one of the most expensive endeavors in the whole of Worcestershire. There is a fountain in the grounds that used to shoot water up to 200 feet in the air on Royal Visits. It still does this but engineers can no longer make it achieve that distance.
The Flora Fountain. Surrounded by mermen. The castle is in ruins but is extremely atmospheric. The stone is charcoal coloured from the fire that destroyed it, which makes it charming, it looks hollow because it is empty and the windows reminded me of eyes. It was vacant but had so much character in it's broken down state.
The mermen of the Flora Fountain have no noses and have lost their fingers and Fins. You can still see the beautiful sculptures though and the scales on the tails. It's actually quite scary to be near in dark, damp, weather alone! It looks like they may come to life and swim towards you!
THE GARDENS: THE WITLEY WILDERNESS GARDENS
The gardens are a wilderness, they have fashioned little paths through it, it really is like a Fairy Tale Woodland straight out of Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel. It was col, and the colours were dull, it was however, full of interesting shapes and textures that I tried to capture with the camera.
THROUGH THE TREES: looking at the building and stream from different perspectives and looking for objects that I can use later on to enhance a scene.
The stream and an old bench, could be scaled down or up for effect. Textures, tree bark, water, ivy etc. This is all useful in costume design and also setting a scene, creating an atmosphere.
BELOW: THE GROUNDS, FOUNTAIN AND OUTHOUSE. THERE IS LOTS IN TERMS OF CONTENT TO BE FOUND HERE, THE FOUNTAIN IS BASED ON GREEK MYTHOLOGY. IT IS ALSO WORN AND VERY DEEP AND DANGEROUS!
THE BEASTS MAZE! THERE WERE LOTS OF PATTERNS IN THE GARDENS THAT ALLUDED TO A MAZE, THIS WOULD BE INTERESTING TO CONSIDER IN THE CREATION OF THE DARK CASTLE.
CONSTRUCTION AND THE GREENHOUSE. ALL OF THE GLASS LOST IN THE FIRE. The craftsmanship of the greenhouse was beautiful and so detailed, as can be seen in the image above! It was once full of exotic plants from all over the world, even poisonous ones and the children would have lessons in there!
Used to hold a candelabra
THE SHELL OF THE BUILDING.
These pictures Illustrate emptiness. This could be another take on the beasts castle. He is, after all living by himself in a dark place, using said imagery could make the story more poignant.