The Evolution of Alice

Sometimes in life the best things that happen are the ones that don't... or at least they don't happen at first. This is very much the case for Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland.

Last month my wife Syd and I attended ReGeneration Who. Our very first Doctor Who convention in Baltimore. At 41 years of age, I had never been to a Doctor Who convention. Don't judge me! Unlike myself, my wife didn't grow up a fan of the show. She's a fan of Harry Potter. We've both rubbed on of each other. She's come to enjoy Who and I've come to enjoy Potter. I really loved the movie Fantastic Beasts.

And for my first experience in the Doctor Who convention scene, this one was amazing!! More on that some other time.

But it gave me an opportunity to actually meet in person Paul Magrs. An author I have been in contact with since perhaps the Myspace days... maybe before that. I also got to meet George Mann. Another amazingly talented author who has worked in both Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes as well as his own series of novels.

From left to right: Myself, Syd, Paul Magrs and George Mann

Before I get too far off subject. One of the things discussed at the panels held for the writers is to never publish your first draft. There are those strange incidents where a first draft ends up being the published draft. But it isn't always a good idea.

Which leads me right back to Alice.

The first sketch I did for what would be Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland (as it would be eventually called) started it's life as a couple of sketches I did for a local steampunk show. My wife and I were preparing for the show and while I was getting a few sketches ready to sell, she very innocently said "I'm surprised you don't have more steampunk versions of Alice in Wonderland". This surprised me too. Alice seemed like the perfect grounds for a steampunk reimagining. 

After the show I was looking at the images I did again (they didn't sell) and I began to think of a story to go behind it. So maybe a day or so later I began to write Alice: Adventuress in Wonderland. The original story was pretty quick. Maybe topping off at 45 pages intended on being a one-shot.

Going back to the discussion on first drafts, it's definitely for the best that this version didn't get published back in 2013. It's got good bones. However, it resolves itself too quickly and you never really get a sense of danger or Alice has any real challenge.

It wasn't really until I started working with Paul Loudon that the script started to take shape and go in a direction I never really thought of. I became familiar with Paul's work on DeviantArt. We developed a really great rapport over the past few years. We're both fairly close in age and grew up in that era of weekday afternoon and Saturday morning cartoons. I admit. As crude the animation was with a lot of those cartoons, I really miss there being new cartoons on the non-cable channels. 

From the word go Paul was the artist I had in mind for Alice. I felt it was one of those projects that needed a different set of eyes artistically. I was very pleased with what Paul came up with from the character sketches I sent him.

 It was Paul who actually suggested the title Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland. Primarily because he pointed out the story hardly takes place in Wonderland. I was very quick to agree. And I thought it was a WONDERful title.

This is one of the nice things about a collaboration. You find that there are details you might have missed when working a project on your own. This project has very much become a team effort in ever way. When it comes to ideas, I'm very easy to get on with.

Some of the characters were revised since the inital script. In particular the Red and White Queen.

Red and White Queen respectively to the right

I had originally intended the two to be unwilling "pawns" to the overbearing Queen of Hearts. Which I honestly never liked from the beginning. I thought it might be more fun to have them as a pair of petty, jealous, vain and preening Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton type of people.

I'm not entirely sure how many people are aware the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen are not the same person. True the Red Queen is sort of the surrogate for the Queen of Hearts in Through the Looking Glass. However, they are two entirely different characters. The Queen of Hearts is based on playing cards whereas the Red Queen is a chess motif.

I never cared for Anne Hathaway's Glinda the Good Witch of the North portrayal from the Tim Burton film. Nothing against Miss Hathaway as a actress, mind you. The character itself is a bit vague in the book. So I decided to go in a far less "benevolent" direction with the character.

Since 2013 the story itself has gone through many upon many revisions and I have expanded the story quite a bit from the initial one shot. A great deal of that was due to when I was developing the project for television I found that the script itself could be broken down episodically with the storyline of the script being basically the arc for "season one".

This has given Alice and her friends more obstacles and challenges to face. So it's not nearly as easy to get to the resolve. Which every story needs. I mean. If the resolve is simple then what's the point?

Most, if not all, of the drafts have survived in one form or another. My workspace on Celtx is a mess of various drafts. As time has gone on I've cherry picked each of the drafts for ideas I liked in one but didn't use in an other version. This includes the television treatments of the story.

I continue to develop Alice for television. Either live-action or animated.

Over the past four years the project had to be temporarily shelved a couple times with Paul becoming a Dad and Syd and I becoming home owners in the past year.

But the time was ripe to begin work on Alice again. And I can thank ReGeneration Who in Baltimore for that. Having a drink with Paul Magrs and George Mann after one of their panels inspired me to message Paul Loudon when I was up in my hotel room and see if he was up to getting Alice started again.

The stars must have been in alightment because he was ready again. This time we plan on developing it as a 12 part maxi-series and are in the process of creating pages for submission.

Another change to the story is the beginning. Originally it was going to be a quick recap of 10 year old Alice's travels through Wonderland. But quite frankly I think everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland. It's like how many times do we need a film that goes into Batman or Spider-Man's origin. One of the high marks of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film is having the Batman already established as the winged vigilante and we don't make the connection he's Bruce Wayne until several scenes later. We all know Batman's Bruce Wayne. But a long origin at the beginning would have not been as effective.

I decided to take a similar approach with the first issue of Alice. That and Paul had plotted out this amazing action sequence (as seen above) so it suddenly occured to me that's the way it should begin. While it would be explained how it all came to pass in the issue. I didn't want to do it in a way that would bore the reader.

So dear readers, as I sit here writing all this while sipping on my second cup of coffee I begin work scripting issue eight as well as beginning to plot out "season two" of Alice once I have finished with the "season one"

And I promise you. Alice's strangest adventures are yet to come...

Alice in Wonderland

A work in progress. Illustration on Canson 11x14 Bristol Board and inked with Deleter #4 Black Waterproof Drawing Ink. In the process of adding a light watercolor wash over the inks.

 

What can I say? I love Deleter Ink. Especially this waterproof ink which is allowing me to use a new watercolor set I bought without the illustration becoming a big smeary mess when I add the colors.

 

No mess whatsoever! It's great!! I'm so glad I started using it again. Especially #4. It's by far my favorite drawing ink to work with.

 

I've left a lot of white space in this particular piece because I wanted to leave enough room to let the light watercolor wash shine through without it becoming too obscured by my usual obsessive compulsive line work.

 

Looking at the piece, there's a part of me that wishes I went with the Ayres Houghtelling versions of Alice's dress. Which was all white as opposed to the blue dress with the little white apron thingy in the front.

 

I may do a second version of the piece with that dress. Not sure.

 

Just started adding a few reds and yellows. I will be certain to post it once it's completed.

Check out the new ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND Blog

 

Just set up a brand new blog for ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. All upcoming news and announcements concerning the project can be found there!!

Purchase ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND character design print today!!

Available on Bunny and the Badger right now are prints of the character sheets I originally created for ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. Limited to 10 prints of each only, they measure 14x17 and will arrive to you signed and numbered. Click on the link below to order yours today:

 

Bunny and the Badger

 

Steampunk Alice Costume

Several months ago Carrie Nilles contacted me asking if her daughter could have permission to use the design Paul Loudon and myself created for our Steampunk Alice project to be used as her costume. They had found my design on my deviantart site and what her daughter liked about it was the fact the design was fun without it being all "corsets and cogs" as some Steampunk Alice costumes can be.

 

Carrie posted a photo of her daughter's costume yesterday and I have to say I was very thrilled with the results and very flattered they used my design.

 

 

I thought they did a fantastic job with visually realizing the character design :-)

Donate to Alice and the Invaders from Wonderland

Although the Indiegogo fundraiser for ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND has come and pass, I have not given up fundraising for the project and I am looking into new options to... um... kick start... a new fundraiser.

However, in the meantime I have set up a Donation button for anyone who is still looking to help get the project underway. 

To give a donation, no matter how small, please click on the button below. Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!!

All perks $15 and over which I set up with the Indiegogo fundraiser still apply. Click on the link below to see the the perks list:

Alice and the Invaders from Wonderland Graphic Novel Indiegogo Campaign (Fundfaiser Ended)

39 hours left on Steampunk Alice Fundraiser...

With less than a day left its looking as though we're going to be nowhere near having enough for a print run of any kind. However, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on the ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND Indiegogo fundraiser just yet.

And any contribution would be greatly appreciated at this stage of the game moving forward.

Although this particular fundraiser ends tomorrow, I'm far from giving up on the project and I will be looking into new options to... um... kickstart... a new campaign ;-)

However, as for now, there is still time to contribute and please visit the Indiegogo page to see all the great perks you can score by contributing:

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

I would like to thank everyone who HAS contributed to the fundraiser. Your generous contributions have not been overlooked and are greatly appreciated! Thank you :-)

15 Days left to fund STEAMPUNK ALICE!!

15 days left to contribute to ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. Click on the link below to check out all the great perks you will score with your donation towards the fundraiser. A couple of which being the great original character designs of both Alice and the Queen of Hearts by Paul Loudon:

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

Still time to contribute to STEAMPUNK ALICE!!

The Indiegogo fundraiser to finance ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND ends June 20th!! There's still some time to contribute!! Please click on the link below to check out all the great perks you will receive for your generous donation!! If this fundraiser is successful, what you WILL get is a really fun book with some amazing artwork by Paul Loudon!! Click on the link below to check it out and be sure to pass it along to anyone you feel might be interested in contributing:

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

29 Days left to contribute to ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND

If you could do me a huge favor. Please repost this banner on your website, blog or any social media site you frequent. The more help I can get spreading the word, the better. And if you haven't already, there's still time to contribute to the ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN. Apart from all the great perks you can score from your generous donation, the result if the fundraiser is successful is a really fun book with some really great artwork by Paul Loudon!!

Click on the link below to check it all out and contribute!! And please pass this link along to anyone you feel would be interested in this fundraiser:

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

Bunsley the Bunny thinks you should contribute to Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland on Indiegogo

BUNSLEY THE BUNNY thinks it would be an excellent idea to contribute to ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND...

...Bunsley also thinks you should pet her nose.

Perhaps you should consider doing both: 

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

Score Paul Loudon's original artwork!!

New perks!! For a pledge of $70.00 you can score either of Paul Loudon's character design for ALICE or for THE QUEEN OF HEARTS!!

To check it out and to check out other perks, click on the link below:

ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland Indiegogo Fundraiser: Day 36

36 days left and still miles to go before ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND reaches its goal. Your help in getting the project off the ground would be greatly appreciated and you won't go away empty handed. I've added numerous great perks for contributing with the possibility of more to come. The book itself will also feature the artwork from the super-talented Paul Loudon.

To contribute, please click on the link below and be sure to pass it along to everyone you know:

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland Indiegogo Campaign

Alice and the Invaders from Wonderland Indiegogo Campaign begins!!

This is the first time I've done anything of this nature. But I thought it was finally time to take the plunge and sally forth!!

I had written a script for a graphic novel titled ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. I also made the decision for this particular project to hand over the art duties to Paul Loudon. An artist I have gotten to know personally and professionally. And someone whose work I greatly admire.

The graphic novel is a Steampunk re-imagining (and a sort of sequel) of the world of ALICE IN WONDERLAND. We come to find out young Alice's journey to Wonderland was not a dream and the Queen of Hearts has broken through this world and taken it over.

The action picks up with a now 16 year old Alice, along with her Wonderland Army of the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and the March Hare fighting to reclaim planet Earth from the clutches of the Queen of Hearts.

So here's the deal.

I have chosen to start a campaign on Indiegogo to try and obtain funding for the project. I have set up some great rewards for people who pledge their support. I have created a great amount of ALICE IN WONDERLAND related artwork over the years and many of those prints will be available in the campaign.

To check out the campaign and pledge your support, click on the link below:

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland Indiegogo Campaign

If you cannot give monetary support, please do me a huge favor and pass this link along to anyone you think would be interested. Also please feel free to pass this along on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, deviantART, Google+ or any other social media site you can think of.

Many thanks and your support would be greatly appreciated!! 

The Queen of Hearts

Paul sent me his design for the Queen of Hearts and I have to say I am very pleased with the results. Especially how he's improved upon my initial design for the character.

I had envisioned the Queen of Hearts to be the polar opposite of Alice in this story. I wanted Alice in my story not to be all sexed up. I feel like there had been too many versions of the character that made her overly sexual and I wanted the Alice of my story to be fun and adventurous.

As I mentioned before a cross between Harry Potter, Doctor Who and a touch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Queen of Hearts, on the other hand, I wanted to be the complete opposite of that. I just told Paul to have at it as far as designing her goes. She physcial form matches her mental form. Vain with a very large ego to boot. If you are familiar with the original story, the Queen was a short little toad looking character. Which is how she appears at the beginning of this tale.

I envisioned her character as someone who was overweight when they were younger but ends up losing all the weight. But instead of being humble about it, becomes just as bad as the people who probably picked on them.

Or a person who was probably made fun of by the "in crowd" in High School. But goes off to college meets a group of  "like minded" people in college and instead of learning from how they were treated in the past becomes just as unbearable as the groups of people who bullied and made fun of them in the past.

Progress on the book is coming along nicely. I will keep you all posted on everything going on.

First look at Alice

Illustration above is your first look at Alice by artist Paul Loudon who is working with me on an upcoming graphic novel titled ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND.  Which will be ALICE IN WONDERLAND with a decidedly Steampunk twist.

Paul has been working from my original character designs of Alice. 

But I've given him enough breathing room on the project to add any of his own suggestions to the costume design. Also, I figured Alice would wear a variety of different hats. Bonnets, top hats, bowlers and deerstalkers. Whatever suits her that particular moment.

I've been working on the project a couple of months over various frozen coffee's at LaLaJava's and Black Diamond Coffee. It had been a concept rattling around in my head since I did the Antiquinox Masquerade Ball back in March. I had done a few pen and ink sketches which featured Alice as a Steampunk adventuress.

The trick was taking the characters and settings of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS and giving them a Steampunk makeover.

Basically I approached the project like I was writing an episode of Doctor Who. No secret I'm a huge fan of the show and dream of one day writing an episode.

Needless to say, I've been very pleased with the artwork Paul has done for the project thus far. I'm a huge fan of his work and I knew it would be ideal for this project. I really like his style of comic art.

I will be posting more as the project progresses.

Steampunk Alice: Character Sketches

Several months ago I had done some pen and ink sketches of a Steampunk version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the Antiquinox Masquerade Ball in Worcester. I had also done a decidedly Streampunk version of Alice and the Jabberwocky. I had decided to try and do a few more "costume sketches" based on those initial pen and ink illustrations I had done all those months back.

Above are a few of the sketches I completed this morning in my sketchbook. I had drawn them in pencil first and then inked them in micron pen.

I'm in the process of coloring them in.

But I was trying to improve upon my previous designs. In particular the Queen of Hearts which I wanted to make look more like a cross between the images on the Playing Cards and Sir John Tenniel's original illustration of the Queen's attire.

What's this all about? Well... more to come soon.

Late Spring/Early Summer Auctions on Ebay!!

The prints above are currently up for grabs in a special Late Spring/Early Summer Auction I've started up on E-Bay at the Moment. All the prints will be PERSONALLY SIGNED to the winning bidder of their respective auctions.

If you missed out on bidding on a copy of my latest book A STUDY IN SHERLOCK, don't despair!! I have posted another copy to bid on and it looks as though it has one bid on it already!!

Click on the link below and Happy Bidding:

Bret's Art Auctions on E-Bay

Alice and the Queen of Hearts (11x17 color print)

Full color measuring 11x17 and printed on high quality glossy stock. Signed and numbered. Another new print you will only be able to get first at stART on the Street: Canal District Spring Edition!!

Hope to see you all at stART!!

Beware the Jabberwocky (11x17 color print)

The original is illustrated in Deleter Black Drawing Ink with Crow Quill Pen and Brush on Canson Smooth Bristol Board. Colors added to the print digitally.

 

Based on Lewis Carroll nonsense poem and inspired by Sir John Tenniel's original artwork from Through the Looking Glass. With a decidedly Steampunk twist to Alice.

 

Five prints available. Measure 11x17 and all signed and numbered. Click on the link below to order yours today:

 

Beware the Jabberwocky 11x17 Color Print