The Wizard of Oz Steampunk Style - IV of V

I love these two paintings by illustrator/artist/animator Justin Gerard.

For those interested, Justin has posted the 'in progress' steps for the pieces on his blog HERE, including sketches, underpainting and color comps. Lovely stuff!I suggest reading the entry on the underpainting for the poppyfield painting. It tells of part of the inspiration for this piece from his experience in an abandoned factory and the toxic giant fungi, around which the air was dangerous to breathe...

Be sure to check out his Reluctant Dragon painting on his blog HERE too.

You can see more of his work and animation at his website HERE (the 'gallery' link doesn't seem to work but the others do - tons of gorgeous paintings to find. You can also get to the gallery with interpretations of Beowulf and The Hobbit through his blog.). He is part of Portland Studios Inc., a team of very talented artists, illustrators and animators including Corey Godbey (who I've featured a couple of times before - click on his tag below or in the sidebar to see his gorgeous fairy tale work ).You can find their website HERE.

The Wizard of Oz Steampunk Style - III of V

A steampunk Wizard of Oz done 'movie-poster-style' by Dawna and Daniel Davis, creators of Steam Crow and Monster Commute. The poster is available for purchase HERE.From the website about the poster:

Lee Van Cleef inspired the axe-slinging Tinman, while the Scarecrow has clearly spent some serious time at the carnival. The Cowardly Lion is a Victorian gentlebeast, while Toto is a large, Cerebus hound.

Dorothy is a mechanic, just as one might expect.

If you like the poster the Monster Commute webcomic (first page HERE) may interest you too:

It’s our latest project. It’s a comic that is like 1984 meets the Wizard of OZ, on a steampunk highway. It’s a bit fantasy, a bit 1930’s dieselpunk, and it’s inspired by our real life commute in Phoenix, Arizona. It follows the adventures of Chadworth (robot), Beastio (daemon) and Kip (Halloween golem), through their adventures in MONSTRU. (The monster world.)

The Monster Commute website has all sorts of cool things (generally not fairy tale related, though there are some very interesting monsters...) as well as a fun web comic that will appeal to anyone who likes graphic design as well as those who like the lighter side of life (and monsters), so go browse if you get a chance.

The Wizard of Oz Steampunk Style - II of V

A lovely and somewhat sinister Oz piece from talented and many times published illustrator of children's books, Jennifer L. Meyer.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the only one she's done for this story, which is a shame. It really feels like there should be more in this series. (In reading her profile it seems she loves graphic novels - I think that's evident in this piece.)

You can see more of her work HERE.

Creator Nick Percival Talks About His Dark Steampunk Comic "Legends: The Enchanted"

I posted on this coming-in-2010 comic HERE last week and, seeing as there was quite a bit of interest between comments and Twitter, I thought I'd point you to an excellent interview with the creator Nick Percival.

In the interview with Comic Book Resources, he reveals more about the fairy tale characters he's using and how they've been given a new twist. Here's an excerpt from the long, informative and interesting article:

"The Enchanted are looked upon with fear and distrust by normal everyday folk and despised by their dark counterparts, known as The Wicked," says Percival. "Most of the Enchanted operate as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters and so on - trying to find their place and purpose in a land that is growing increasingly hostile towards them. Armed with a hard attitude, unique abilities and customized weaponry, the Enchanted's world is shattered when they discover that some unknown enemy has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and begins slaughtering them one by one beginning with the killing of the half bionic/half wooden warrior, Pinocchio."

Nick Percival: We've got Red Hood, who lives with her daughter in a very dangerous place known as the Bionic Woodlands - this area is overgrown with spiked bio-mechanical trees and living, organic plant life, populated by mutated wolf creatures. Basically, she just wants to be left alone and raise her child, but the murder of Pinocchio and the kidnapping of her daughter force her to reluctantly seek out help from other Enchanted.

Jack the Giantkiller pretty much just looks out for himself. He's sly, likes to drink and burns around on a beast of motorcycle that uses Giant's blood as fuel. Jack acts as a kind of "creature killer for hire." For the right price, he'll sort out any towns terrorized by Ogre problems, which he usually solves by popping one of his "magic beans" that grant him cool powers for a limited amount of time as he starts cracking heads together.

Filling out the rest of the cast are psychic siblings, Hansel and Gretel (Paranormal Exterminators), Goldilox and Bear, her nine-foot half man/half bear boyfriend. They have a "rob the rich to give to the poor" type quest, which involves them coming up against the crime boss, Humpty Dumpty and the Billy Goats Gruff Biker Gang - it doesn't end quietly.

Amongst these, we've got cameos from Rapunzel, a soldier with unbreakable hair that she uses to attack her enemies, Miss Muffet, Rumpelstiltskin, Pied Piper, Jack Nimble and many others all depicted in the same gritty style with attitudes to match in a world filled with goth-type giants, vampire fairies, pissed off trolls, demon street gangs, and all manner of unsavory folk.


Do you have a favorite fairy tale or fable?

I have a lot of versions of the classic tales that the Brothers Grimm collected together, some great old German editions as well. I've also been heavily into Hans Christian Andersen's work, so there are way too many to choose from. But a lot of the ancient Russian folklore is fascinating, and there are some themes in that material that I'm thinking about including in later stories for "Legends: The Enchanted."

You can read the entire article HERE and see LOTS of (very gory) images throughout (which can be viewed larger by clicking).

All the details of the website, when it's available and the preview are in my previous post HERE. A warning again: please keep this away from children. This is dark stuff and definitely in the horror genre. All these new images severely cropped for posting purposes on this blog. If you can deal with the images though (the illustrations are amazing in addition to being ultra-gory), this comic and the developing story sounds like it's worth checking out.

The Wizard of Oz Steampunk Style - I of V

I found some interesting concept development sketches of the characters from The Wizard of Oz and thought I'd not only share those but other steampunk Oz illustrations from my archives that I like.

Today's is by Jeremy Vanhoozer, an Art Director currently working at Cartoon Network. He has a couple of versions of some of his characters so far and this is an ongoing project, so be sure to check into his blog HERE to see the alternatives and updates (he posts most days and this is his current focus project).

Here's what the typography concept (shown at the head of the post) developed into:
Dorothy:
Toto is looking very interesting...
Tin Man:

I love the flying monkey!As of today you can also see versions of the Scarecrow, and the Wicked Wict of the West on his blog too.

Oh yeah - and isn't his blog header cool?

"Legends: The Enchanted" - Dark Steampunk Fairy Tale Comic Coming in 2010

The girl above is Redhood (a.k.a. Red Riding Hood) and she's not the only familiar character getting a dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic/steampunk/horror makeover. Coming in April 2010 is "Issue #0" (yes, that's a zero) of a new comic series titled "Legends: The Enchanted".

Please be warned: despite the title, this comic crosses the line into horror, which is one of the reasons I'm posting on it - so you'll know what you're in for should you ever pick it up. While the feel is dark fantasy, the images are very graphic in both the gallery and on every page in the preview. I'm not even comfortable posting the cover (which has Redhood in a different pose with some scary-looking supernatural creatures flanking her) or the other character images beyond those included in this entry for my blog readers. Please do NOT have children around when viewing the comic website. The official blurb:

From award-winning illustrator and acclaimed comic book artist Nick Percival comes a dark, original fairy tale.

You think you know them. Think again.

Violently ripped from the pages of folklore come the Enchanted. Supernatural immortals living in a dark, steampunk, creature-infested world where nature, technology and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior, Pinocchio, are discovered, wolf hunter Red Hood and giant killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of other powerful Enchanted (the mercenary, Goldilocks [edit FTNH: the character illustration in the gallery is tagged Bear/Goldilox, Bear being her hairy, ogre-like companion] and psychic exterminators, Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.

Poor Red has had so many makeovers, this version isn't surprising enough on it's own, but teaming her up with the other characters in their various bounty-hunter/killer-for-hire personas there might be something interesting there. Steampunk Pinocchio sounds like he never made it past the introduction but Hansel & Gretel as psychic exterminators? Should be enough like "Fables" to draw some fans in for a 'looksee', yet different enough (very, very dark!) to form a new set too. From the preview (available at the website) this is just so violent and gory, as much as I'm curious to see the steampunk variation, I'll likely be giving this one a miss.

If you're still interested you can find out more about the comic HERE and see more pictures in the gallery tab HERE (including possibly the scariest Pinocchio I've ever seen - yikes!).

Three Little Pigs Chase in Lego

I don't search for these I swear!

I present to you a chase from (a new version of) The Three Little Pigs. In Lego. With a nod to steampunk style (though there are no goggles - shock!).

This is what's called a MOC (My Own Creation) so, no we can't buy the set, but apparently, if we're very clever (and have access to lots of different Lego and Duplo pieces) we can make a set ourselves!From the creator:

Includes Big Bad Wolf minifig and three piglets!

Help the piglet on his tractor rescue his two brothers!

Tractor measures 8 cm and Big Bad Wolf Chopper Supertrike measures 10cm long!

Lowlug - the Dutch Lego club - had a contest called 'Show them how it should be done' in reaction to the general disappointment about Lego set 8967. So the challenge was to make a better chase scene in order to show Lego how it should be done.

All entries can be seen here. My entry is, of course, the Big Bad Wolf going off with two of the three pigs, with nr. 3, the practical pig, going behind them in order to rescue his brothers.

Pigs and wolf may come back in a fairy tale MOC later without chopper trikes or tractors...

Found HERE and created by talented Dutch Lego MOC artist ".eti" (aka Erik Eti Smit). He has many other unique Lego creations on his Flickr site HERE.

Sleeping Beauty Steampunk Theatre Production

Note: Yes, I know I said I'd be posting on steampunk Cinderella
and that IS coming but this is breaking news I must share:

There's a new theatrical production of Sleeping Beauty - a steampunk production!

From the time traveling narrator to the set, to the symbolism included in the steampunk influenced costumes, right through to incorporating some traditional ballet-mime gestures from the ballet, this is a Sleeping Beauty that combines the old and the new - literally.

Promotional photo of the Sleeping Beauty production from Storybook Theatre

Here are some excerpts from an article I read yesterday to give you some examples of how the steampunk aspect is employed:

There is also (the) narrator of this tale, which gives the play a true "storybook" feel. But rather than make the narrator be just a regular person, MPC's creative team has turned the narrator into a time traveler who can transcend the years while the lovely princess sleeps.

The creative symbolism goes even further with the artistry of costume designer Kathleen O'Brien, who has taken the fairy princess gowns and added elements of steampunk.

"It's a fun Edwardian romantic style, then you have bits of sprockets of cameras, computers, springs, parts or entire pieces mixed into costumes," said Rosa. "It's an interesting juxtaposition of the Victorian era look with things that are outside that era."

...The theme of timelessness is also incorporated into the set design by Ramie Wikdahl. "The set is wonderful," said Rosa. "It has a Tuscan Renaissance feel to it. Then there is a steampunk element in the land of magic — the fairy section of the set. There is a romance feel and feeling of time passing as well. The stone wall is crumbling down into the land of fairies."

You can read the whole article HERE.

Sleeping Beauty by Margaret Tarrant

Apparently this version has more than one prince trying to rescue Sleeping Beauty - two that fail and one that doesn't, though whether he breaks the spell or just happens to have good timing is often not explained. I'm curious to see if this production does.

Speaking of time, I love this idea of Sleeping Beauty, steampunk and time travel. I've always thought the spinning wheel is a good symbol of time and it works doubly well for the steampunk approach (gears, wheels etc).

The director/choreographer Carol Heiland-Rosa says this production is aimed at the family with fun and wonder for younger children to enjoy but also layers of symbolism and humor the adults will enjoy.

Carol Heiland-Rosa

"This is a very fun version of Sleeping Beauty,'" said Rosa. Many of the fun adaptations are the handiwork of writer Michele Vacca, whose work is known for its ability to mesmerize young audiences while at the same time having enough wit and style to entertain adults.

From the Monterey Peninsula College's website:

Michele L. Vacca's scripts are distinguished by their proven ability to entertain and educate younger audiences, while having the style, verve, and wit to fascinate adults.

The production is being put on by Monterey Peninsula College's Storybook Theatre and had their first performance last night (there was also a preview night on Thursday) and is set to run for three consecutive weekends through to November 22nd. While Storybook Theatre uses theater arts students as part of the production, the standard is professional and company highly regarded. Not surprisingly, some of the shows are already sold out.

Sleeping Beauty by Millicent Sowerby

Here's the information from the end of the article:

·What: MPC Storybook Theatre presents "Sleeping Beauty"
·Where: MPC Studio Theatre, Monterey Peninsula College, 980 Fremont St., Monterey
·When: Opens at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6; continues at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees through Nov. 22
·Tickets: $9-$15, with group discounts available, at MPC Box Office (646-4213) 3-7p.m Wed-Fri. and two hours prior to each show, or online at www.TicketGuys.com/mpc
·Information: 646-4213 or www.mpctheatre.com

For another Sleeping Beauty story involving time travel you can check out Sheri S. Tepper's "Beauty". This book, while centered around the Sleeping Beauty story, retells the stories of other fairy tale heroines too - eg Snow White, Cinderella and more - in a fractured fairy tale-type way. Tepper is known for tackling social issues in her books, such as environmentalism and women's issues and this book is no different. There's an interesting positive review HERE and a different informative one HERE.Regarding the play, I'd dearly love to see this unique production but after much time spent trying figure out my travel options from LA I don't think I can manage it. If anyone attends I'd love to hear what you thought - make sure you go get your tickets ASAP, before it completely sells out.

Break a leg MPC Storybook Theater people!

Snow White's Wardrobe Gets 'Steampunked'

A few more steampunk fairy tale posts this week!

I found this wonderful custom Snow-White-with-corset outfit by "DamselInThisDress" HERE and had to share. There's a definite steampunk feel to this little number. The yellow "leather" (let's just say it is, ok?) bustle is great too, and though it doesn't come with the corset you can apparently purchase it from DamselInThisDress separately.The funny thing is, this makes far more sense for an outfit to wear in the woods than the standard princess one. Add some heavy duty boots and presto: steampunk Snow White. (I can't help thinking the huntsman would approve of this one too.)

You can see an illustration of a different steampunk Snow White I posted a few months ago HERE. This Snow White apparently developed a 'taste' for hot air ballooning (you can read the artist's idea of the story by going to their deviantArt page and reading their comments there).

"Riese: The Series" - New Steampunk Red Riding Hood Web Series Begins Today

There's a new Red Riding Hood coming to town... and she's more than a little bit steampunk!

A new web series (a show that airs/is released via the internet) starts airing today called "Riese". It's about a girl on the run with her wolf and promises action, drama, intrigue and an interweaving of traditional fables and fairy tales with a little Norse mythology thrown in for good measure.Interestingly, this is one of the first steampunk influenced series/shows to air since steampunk has become so popular in terms of genre, sub-culture and design these past few years (especially this year). That it takes inspiration from fairy tales (one in particular) is awesome and confirms my belief that steampunk and fairy tales are a good match... But back to the series.

From an interview with Co-creator Ryan Copple:

The story first originated as an idea for a short film, actually. The original concept detailed a young girl, who was traveling with a wolf, visiting a strange and anachronistic town with morally questionable customs. We wanted to parallel the idea of innocence that was captured in the Little Red Riding hood stories, while also paralleling it to the conflicts and moral dilemmas and ambiguities in our own, something we still hold true to in the series as it is now.

As for the production, once we decided to convert it into a series, the real fun began with fleshing out the world that this character was inhabiting. That’s when we borrowed from a variety of historical patterns and genres for inspiration. Aesthetically, we’ve been heavily influenced by the steampunk genre as well as dark, textured works such as “City of Lost Children”. For story inspiration, we drew from both traditional fables, like Little Red Riding Hood, as well as Norse mythology.

You can read the rest of the interview HERE at The League of Extraordinary Genres website.

Here's the trailer to give you a taste.

The first episode of "Riese" is due to be uploaded in the early hours of Monday morning and should be available to view by the time you read this. The first episode is called "Hunt" and you can tune in to their WEBSITE, subscribe to their YOUTUBE channel (which is one of the main places they'll be airing the epiosdes) and get updates via FACEBOOK and TWITTER. And there's already a lot of extra content to see on their YouTube channel about the development and making of the show (I believe it was filmed in August this year).

There's a whole lot more information available on other websites too but I suggest starting at these places to see if it's something you might be interested in keeping an eye on.

Wikipedia has a great overview entry HERE, giving you an idea of the look and feel of the series. If you like "Sanctuary"* (a show on the SyFy Channel that started life as a web series as well), there's an excellent chance you'll like this too.

I, for one, will be tuning in. Steampunk + fairy tale + "Sanctuary" alumni = excellent ingredients for an intriguing idea. I hope this one has teeth...

* "Sanctuary" is a science fiction TV show that has the premise of all the beings in mythology and urban legend as being real (called 'abnormals' in the series). The sanctuary of the title is supposed to be a place of safe harbor where abnormals - from mermaids to bigfoot to scary creatures we hope we only imagined - can receive assistance or find a home to live out their lives in peace. Of course, not everyone is of the same opinion... The show is now in it's second season and getting excellent reviews from fans and critics alike for the writing, concepts and acting, as well as for the excellent use of limited effects. It has been nominated for multiple awards and won at least four. You can find more information about "Sanctuary" HERE in Wikipedia and HERE at the official website.

Steampunk Hansel & Gretel by Donglu Yu

Last Hansel & Gretel post of the week...
I (almost) guarantee it!

I found this steampunk Hansel and Gretel by Montreal artist Donglu Yu a while back when I was researching 'the best steampunk fairy tale illustrations on the web' (see HERE for the last of three posts, which also links to the previous ones) and didn't include it because it didn't really catch my eye as representing Hansel and Gretel very well at the time.

I've since found the artist's overview of her painting from concept to final and I can appreciate the art - and her interpretation of the tale - far more now. I missed some important ones on my first few viewings. I didn't even see the witch up in her lofty room stirring the pot at first.

I'm hoping by showing you some of the development you'll come to appreciate her vision of the story as I have.When you realize what's in the details, this piece becomes very interesting and it's clear why Donglu's work has been recognized by an elite group of digital artists.She and her artist fiancé were featured in the prestigious digital art publication Exposé (7) this year in June (see article HERE), along with a very nice print of Donglu Yu's steampunk Hansel and Gretel (it has better contrast than most copies of this piece I've seen on the web, so the details are more noticeable).From introduction to the artist's project overview:

This is my great pleasure to discuss about the creation process for my latest work “Hansel and Gretel”. This image is originally created for the Steampunk Challenge hosted by CG Society. Right from the beginning, I had the intention of making a whimsical image which can remind us certain magic moments that the old folklores and fairy tales have brought us during our childhood. Hansel and Gretel has been one of my favorite bedtime stories: I can still remember how I was imagining those two little kids walking through the forest to arrive at the witch’s house which is deliciously decorated with all kind of confections. I want to recreate that feel of wonder that I have experienced longtime ago with the proper visual language.

Here's the final image, which I've saved till after the other details so hopefully you'll be able to appreciate it as I do now. (Click to enlarge)You can see a MUCH larger version HERE, which will zoom you in on all the details but you'll probably need to scroll up and down to see the whole piece, so you don't the impression of the story as you do from the smaller version shown above from the Exposé 7 article.

You can see many more development pictures and read about her process on this project HERE. The project is shown step by step, almost as a tutorial, though not quite. I'm so glad the artist decided to share!You can see a lot more of her work HERE at her online portfolio with the CG Society and in this excellent interview, in which she talks about her process HERE. I look forward to seeing more of Donglu Yu's work in future.

Wedding with Fire Breathing Snail Carriage

I'm rarely envious of what other people do for their weddings (we were married at the LA Zoo between the giraffes and the chimps - it was a hoot!) but Justin & Jordana, who were married in Oakland on October 11th, have tweaked my "I-wish-I-had-done-that" meter.

A fairy tale setting in a redwood forest and a steampunk fantasy carriage (shaped like a snail and breathing fire) = AWESOME!As a complete girly aside - did you notice her dress? Gorgeous!

You can see even more lovely pics HERE.

This must be the only street legal snail in the world - let alone the only fire-breathing street legal snail. The unique vehicle is called The Golden Mean and you can find out more information about it HERE.

Here's a night picture of The Golden Mean at the Fire Arts Festival so you can see the flaming antennae in all their glory.Makes you want one of your own, doesn't it? Well, for those motivated souls, here's an 'Instructables' tutorial so you can construct your own:

Snail Art Car The Golden Mean - More cool how to projects

You can hire the The Golden Mean and other fiery accessories HERE.