The Fairy Tale Series: Beauty and the Beast

date added:

2•22•2002

media:
pen & ink

myths & tales:
I was commissioned to do a series of illustrations for our local theatre of some classic fairy tales. They were used as images in a coloring book that children can color after seeing each of the tales performed for them. I requested complete artistic freedom because I had no intention of making the illustrations like your run-of-the-mill fairy tales. Their original size is 11" by 17", but they were scanned in and reduced in size (which is why they look a little pixelated) and also in the process had little portions of the images chopped off. The coloring book was originally supposed to be 11" by 17", but when the funding for the project decreased, its size did as well. I did a total of four in the year 2001 and two in 2002 (not all are available for viewing online though), each based on a different culture.

I really enjoyed illustrating this one since it is one of my all time favorite tales. Both Beauty and the Beast wear vaguely renaissance garb, but Beauty's gown is embellished on the borders with an Art Nouveau rose design that I am really fond of. The scene takes place somewhere out beyond the castle, but not beyond the edges of Beast's estate. In the background you can see a fountain and the beginnings of a topiary maze. The format and the placement of the characters was difficult to arrange because I wanted to show a specific portion in the story (yet not the typical transformation scene) yet also show the depth of a landscape.