Thanks again to Dorlana Vann for this opportunity. You can follow her on Twitter and get all the latest Supernatural Fairy Tale updates HERE.
Creatures from myth, legend, fantasy (including some mecha-animals) and fairy tales; they all take shape under the talented hands and fingers of Ellen June a.k.a. "El".
From her website:‘Creatures from El’, the artwork of sculptor Ellen June, was conceived of as a means of rapid sculptural exploration that incorporated an understanding of animal physiology with a love of the fantastic, grotesque and absurd. The consequence has been a prolific sculptural output of original creatures all handmade and painted. Each creature is unique, produced in a fluid, intuitive manner, and never replicated. The first creatures from El, fashioned and sold in late 2005, were constructed exclusively of fired ceramic. Now, this sculptural repertoire has expanded to include polymer clay, epoxie and other mediums all worked by hand in their raw state. In creating each creature Ellen is working towards a level of high craftsmanship and detail, seeking to create narratives which can be extracted by the viewer continually over time.'Seeking to create narratives"...yes! I find these sculptures are very 'tale-friendly'!
1. The Art of The Disney Princess by TkEvery little girl has a favorite Disney Princess--and for that matter, every grown-up girl, too! In The Art of the Disney Princess, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world have re-imagined their favorite princesses and portrayed them in a variety of mediums. Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Cinderella are newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. This artwork has been created especially for this museum-quality book, which is sure to delight art lovers, Disney collectors, and any prince or princess who ever believed that fairytales do come true.Wonderful to see Snow White so beautifully drawn! I can't wait to see the creativity inside this one.
2. The Art of The Princess and the Frog by Jeff Kurtti
What REALLY went on with those characters behind closed doors!
A talented, young photographer named Rosie Hardy, has done a wonderful job at relating fairy tale scenarios to real life issues that don't usually have a happy ending.
Her unusual self-portrait set of 'behind the scenes' fairy tale photos on flickr are not your usual dreamy visions, or even stylized goth versions of the fairy tale heroines. No. These girls just might be your next door neighbors, girls you went to school with, your cousins, your aunts, your sisters and maybe even your mothers - and their tales all have a sobering side to them.
In posting her photos Rosie has thoughtfully added statistics about social issues, addictions and other problems our fairy tale characters could relate to. It'll make you rethink those familiar stories from a modern and relevant perspective. Instead of just posting the photos I'm giving you screen captures so you can see the connections she's made (and perhaps entice you to check out the rest for yourself).
The issues are not always comfortable to consider but I feel like applauding the wonderful job Rosie did on these.
Talk about showing how the tales can be relevant to today!
Check out the rest of her 'behind the scenes' fairy tales set HERE and see more of her photography HERE.
For those of us becoming curioser and curioser as to how Tim Burton is handling the beloved classic Alice in Wonderland, here's the trailer:
Kudos to the artist for nailing it! I'm sure there's a lot more to come. (Michael promises,via his deviantART postings, to release a lot more art after the movie hits theaters in 2010 at least). I do hope there will be a making-of book!
Once upon a time, many years ago (on today's date), a little girl was born who loved fairy tales... and yes, that little girl was me. :)
Late last year the British Film Institute released a two-DVD set of her animated fairy tale films, spanning 1922 to 1961.
I'll bring you more of her gorgeous art another day but for now have some cake. :)
Artist Corey Godbey recently had an exhibition of his work for a new book called "Grimm and Other Folk Tales".Grimm and Other Folk Tales is a collection of several classic and lesser known fairy tales and folk stories, illustrated.
He also just went to Comic Con to show and sell some of his work there.
If this is what they're like on the screen I can only imagine how gorgeous they are in real life!
There's a new special short series podcast dropping today - August 1st - at "Supernatural Fairy Tales" - and it's a Steampunk retelling of a Grimm's fairy tale - by me!
I'll also be making a PDF of the complete story available for free download and distribution at the end of the series, so watch out for that.
