Through the looking glass...

Alice and Wonderland are always really popular.  Have been for a long time and are really big at the moment.  Real easy to find lots of great works inspired by these characters and environments.  

 I love this first one because of the expression on Alice's face.  Wonder, which is very appropriate of course.  Wonderful radial symetry, hot/cold balance and micture of simple and intricate details.  By Yuumei.

Wonderland Commission

I love the composition of this next photo.  Alice looking over the deep unknown,  one leg raised innocently.  The trend of growing Alice up and sexifiying her a bit is not new or even out of line to the original text.  This one is a bit blatant but the setting and posing are superb.  By mariannainsomnia.

Follow the White Rabbit

Last, an interpretation of the Red Queen and her cards.  The makeup is superb and the model is exquisite.  Also by mariannainsomnia.

The Queen of Hearts

Ballet

Ballet is one of the things that is fed to most western little girls along with Barbie, princesses, and, of course, Fairytales.  Ballet has this mystique and inherent beauty, with a symbolic communication that is on par with Bharata Natyam.  The graceful movements, behind the stage struggle and drama of ballet are right up fairy tale alley, never mind that many traditional performances are fairytales in their own right.

First is piece that is a taunt bowstring of drama.  The dancer is at the height of the move, when she lets go of actual control, lets gravity take over for a few moments, biding her time till it is her time again to viciously seize control of her movement, whisking into the next move.  All the while making sure that is looks as natural a graceful to the audience as possible.  By juuhachi-gou.

Ballet

Next one may not be a ballet dancer, but she could be.  The floating dress, dramatic cutians, wood floor and exposed feet are all major ballet themes.  The open window furthers the symbolism and ups the drama. By Julie-de-Waroquier.

The violence behind

 Last is a piece that was obviously going for the fairytale feel, complete with hyper saturation, an enchanted wood and protagonist on a road.  The bell like skirt is awfully tutu like, and although she is wearing heels rather than toe-shoes, visually it is very close and her standing position is reminiscent of the 5 basic positions. By Temperate-Sage.

Enchanting

 

Deviant Dimanche 7/7/13

This Sunday's theme is not Disney princesses.

Anastasia is a great princess who was not by Disney.  I love Cos-play, and dressing as a character is so much fun.  This is a great costume and the photo itself is great.  By EnytheOne.

Anastasia

Another one is the Lady Amalthea.  This woman is the princess, the questor and the freakin' magical animal.  Serious triple dip of roles.  This lovely image is by StressedJenny.

I have yet to see Red Riding Hood done as a true children's tale.  It is a bit grown up, and this Hood owns that.  Good, strong composition and a neutral palette hi lighted with her signature red.  By girltripped.

Places where fairytales come to life

I wanted to do a piece that showcased real environment that I though were perfect for consuming the sort of art I prefer.  I love a trip to a gallery, but there is an intimacy that is difficult to achieve in a public place that is often part of the point of interaction.  How can you really resonate with a book or painting if you are concerned with someone spilling there coke on you?  (The answer is pretty easily, but that doesn't mean that we don't all have ideal environments!

A colorful, warm attic nook that is probably not going to be readily invaded by noisy people randomly.  A window to let in light and out your mind.  From my ideal home.

This serene, clean bedroom looks ideal for relaxing and retreating from the rest of the world.  The blank walls are portals to others worlds, waiting to be painted with you imagination.  From Scandinavian Modern.

And a crazy cute nook that looks super comfy.  The curtain closes, to leave you in a cocooned private space, but still has a window!  Privacy and escape! From desire to inspire.

Mermaids!

The first piece was inspired by a song so I'm including that song with he post.  The song stands on its own however, not even counting the video.  I will probably cover Florence + the Machine in their own right later.

The image that is inspired by `daekazu on DeviantArt is a soft, cool composition, rich with metallic effects and deceptively simplistic in details.  The cool background really sets the stage for that flaming hair, and drawing that color to the eyes is a brilliant idea to draw focus to them.  The subtle warth to the rocks helps balance the piece without sacrificing  the effect.  

Rabbit Heart

The next piece by phoeinxlu carries on that rich metallic and color temperature play.  Her rich accutroment make it easy to believe she is some sort royalty, because princesses are always fairytaleish!

Merunes Illusionist

 

 

 

Last one from sakimichan.  I think this one is most symbolic and literal at the same time.  The way the drawing is coming to life is like the way what we are exposed to or read becomes a part of us.  That is when it really gets to come to life and go out into the world, inside of all us us.  And strangely enough this piece also focuses heavily on a hot/cool color palette.  I didn't do that on purpose!

Come to life

 

 

Evil Queens

The bad guy is essential to a fairy tale.  All plots really need conflict, but since folk and fairy tales are almost cultural distillations of the eternal story, the antagonist is even more important.  They need to be large and in charge, or subtle and competent.  They need to be real and unreal at the same time.  None of that ridiculous exposition.  Otherwise they cannot serve as such good foils for our heroes to overcome!

This post if going to focus on the evil queen.  Spurned, trodden on, a failed heroine, or any number of back stories can be thought up, but usually never revealed.  Bad guys exist in a vacuum. 

From Wen-JR (site), comes a scarred beauty who has assumed her own power.

ROD_GRIFFIN_THRONE

This next one could be the moment of birth for an evil queen.  The moment when heroine turned away from happily ever after and resigned to having to steal others share of happiness, her own eternally denied.  Illustrated by Kay Nielsen.

Last is a delightfully wicked image of a witchy woman.  Her glee and passion very much remind me of the the antagonist as their plot comes to together.  The 'Bwahaha' moment if you will.  I like the supernatural elements that mess with the slight sexuality of the figure.  Very reminiscent of the selling you soul trope.  The illustration is by Sergius Hruby for a German Magazine.

Desecration

Darkness in Fairytales

This will be a topic that gets rehashed repeatedly, I'm sure, as will fluffy bunnies and cotton candy.

 This photo is by Li Hui.  The haunting figure is reminiscent of the tragic heroine, young, innocent and brutally treated.  The glowing figure could be a vengeful ghost or a seductive selkie.

 This fabulous bride is a group project from Niroir Noir.  The horror and destruction of what should be a joyous occasion is highlighted by the stark color palette and the chunky brushstrokes.  This one reminds me of Bluebeard's newest wife.

The next piece by Anselm Kiefer is a simple interior, but the brooding colors cast an air of foreboding on the scene.  The horizon fades on us, which is unusual for an interior space.  This manipulation of the environment creates a rather surreal environment.  To me it could easily be the Ice Queen's throne room, or the White Witch's hall,  but I'm not sure Jadis would go for the clerestory windows.