I don't know many people that have not been inspired by Alice In Wonderland, there are many movies, games, tv mini series and artwork out there all depicting Alice and her menagerie of characters that travel through Wonderland with her. While watching SyFy channels Alice series I was inspired too, well, sort of.
I have always wanted to design a set of playing cards featuring different fairy tales or animals and I guess the thought hit me the other night. Now most of what has been out there lately has been very dark and goth looking, American McGee's version comes to mind. Now don't get me wrong, I love those versions immensely but since I have been endlessly painting in red, green and white for the holidays I wanted to use color. My mind also tends to live on the dark side of things so that is another reason I shy away from creating darker artwork.
Although people are not a strong point for me to draw or paint I attempted and Alice and Queen of Hearts card. I am not sure why people are so hard for me to depict, perhaps it is because I never really learned or maybe it is just not one of my favorite things to do. I tried to give it an old fashioned card feel, an expressionless face staring off in the distance and I think I achieved that.
I started out making a short list of things that stuck out for me in the story and then cut it down to a few subjects. I lightly sketched the outside of the card with those objects trying to keep Wonderland and Alice's world separate to an extent. I always loved Dinah so I made sure she was in there. The flamingos are a favorite too and of course the Cheshire Cats grin. I tried to fit the Mad Hatter in there but the only thing that made it into the final design was his hat. Add the White Rabbit and his pocket watch, a dancing tea set, and of course the looking glass and I had my outside design.
The harder part was getting Alice and the Queen to align. I drew a grid and that helped but I was having such difficulty with Alice's dress lining up with the Queen's cape so I had no choice but to give Alice a cape too. I thought about making the Queen older but it sort of looked out of place so I made her about Alice's age and I think it worked ok.
This is my first attempt at trying something like this. I would like to do more fairy tales, perhaps I think I might attempt a Mad Hatter/Cheshire Cat card next...hmmm....
I have always wanted to design a set of playing cards featuring different fairy tales or animals and I guess the thought hit me the other night. Now most of what has been out there lately has been very dark and goth looking, American McGee's version comes to mind. Now don't get me wrong, I love those versions immensely but since I have been endlessly painting in red, green and white for the holidays I wanted to use color. My mind also tends to live on the dark side of things so that is another reason I shy away from creating darker artwork.
Although people are not a strong point for me to draw or paint I attempted and Alice and Queen of Hearts card. I am not sure why people are so hard for me to depict, perhaps it is because I never really learned or maybe it is just not one of my favorite things to do. I tried to give it an old fashioned card feel, an expressionless face staring off in the distance and I think I achieved that.
I started out making a short list of things that stuck out for me in the story and then cut it down to a few subjects. I lightly sketched the outside of the card with those objects trying to keep Wonderland and Alice's world separate to an extent. I always loved Dinah so I made sure she was in there. The flamingos are a favorite too and of course the Cheshire Cats grin. I tried to fit the Mad Hatter in there but the only thing that made it into the final design was his hat. Add the White Rabbit and his pocket watch, a dancing tea set, and of course the looking glass and I had my outside design.
The harder part was getting Alice and the Queen to align. I drew a grid and that helped but I was having such difficulty with Alice's dress lining up with the Queen's cape so I had no choice but to give Alice a cape too. I thought about making the Queen older but it sort of looked out of place so I made her about Alice's age and I think it worked ok.
This is my first attempt at trying something like this. I would like to do more fairy tales, perhaps I think I might attempt a Mad Hatter/Cheshire Cat card next...hmmm....
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