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.

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.

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.

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!!

Bid on Beware The Jabberwocky 10x13 original art!!

Right now I'm selling the pen and ink original of Beware the Jabberwocky on Ebay!! It measures 10x13 and is llustrated in Deleter Black Drawing Ink on Canson Smooth Bristol Board with Crow Quill Pen and Brush.

This is NOT a print or a reproduction but the original pen and ink artwork!!

Clickon the link below and happy bidding:

Beware the Jabberwocky 10x13 Pen and In Artwork

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

Alice in Wonderland (1966)

 

Four our last stop in Wonderland we look at possibly the most unique adaptation in our journey. Produced and directed for the BBC by former Beyond the Fringe writer and humorist Jonathan Miller. It's unique in the sense that Miller made a conscious decision NOT to have the actors dressed as animals but instead have them simply appear in Victorian dress.

Miller justified his approach as an attempt to return to what he perceived as the essence of the story: "Once you take the animal heads off, you begin to see what it's all about. A small child, surrounded by hurrying, worried people, thinking 'Is that what being grown up is like?'

Those who are too young or unfamiliar with British Satire and the counter culture movement of the 1960's might find this take on the tale confusing and boring.

Matter of fact, Anne-Marie Mallik, the young actress playing Alice comes off as very disinterested and bored at her whole "Wonderland" experience. Then again, Alice seemed very much that way in Sir John Tenniel's artwork, didn't she?

Apparently,  Miller had envisaged an Alice "with no stage experience, not very pretty but curiously plain, sallow and a bit priggish".

Well, spot on!!

But to be fair to Ms. Mallick, this was her first and only acting job.

The movie itself is awash in the feel of the 1960's culture as far as it's off-beat and somewhat experiemental interpretation of Alice. Music is composed and performed by Ravi Shankar who was beginning to catch the public eye due to his association with George Harrison and the Beatles. Though not to detract for his own talents as a great musician.

It is almost entirely filmed at Netley Hospital, which was a 19th Century Building which incidentally got demolished shortly after this film was made.

This was also a time of the Satire Boom in the 1960's. There is quite a bit of that visually in many of the scenes of the movies. Especially in the scenes with the Queen of Hearts as well as the courtroom scenes.

Comedy in England became more cerebral and pointed. As was as socially and politically charged as the way people began to look at the world changed. Satire became a way for many writers and comedians to express themselves. Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook, Alan Bennet and Dudley Moore would influence many of these young would be satirists. Most notably, Eric Idle who would later gain fame as a cast member of Monty Python's Flying Circus.



Much like the later 1972 version of Alice, this film is a veritable "who's who" of British actors with Jonathan Miller's Fringe cohorts Peter Cook and Alan Bennett as the Mad Hatter and Mouse respectively. Also featuring Wilfrid Brambell as the White Rabbit, Leo McKern as the Duchess,  Michael Redgraves as the Caterpillar, Michael Gough as the White Rabbit, Sir John Gielgud as the Mock Turtle and Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Sellers would later play the part of the March Hare in the 1972 version of Alice.

There is also an uncredited appearance of future Monty Python star Eric Idle in the courtroom scene. This film is actually Mr. Idle's first television appearance.

All the portrayals of the characters are different from what we have come to expect. Most notably Peter Cook's take on the Mad Hatter, Michael Gough's March Hare and Sir John Gielgud's playing the Mock Turtle like a retired thespian rather than the baleful creature we know from the story.

For me, I enjoyed the take on the story. But as I mentioned earlier. If you don't have any interest in either British satire or comedy. Or really know or have much interest in 1960's culture, you may find this version to be a tad on the tedious and boring side.

But I would give any of these films a try. Even the ones I said weren't particularly my favorites I would try them anyways. Even if I don't particularly care for them, doesn't necessarily mean you won't care for them.

Never judge anything bad just by what someone else says. Judge it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. The only way you're ever going to know if you like something or not is to actually watch, listen or read something.

You might find yourself pleasantly surprised with what you discover.

Alice in Wonderland (1999)

Okay the pro's:
A cast that includes Gene Wilder, Ben Kingsley, Miranda Richardson, Sir Peter Ustinov, Joanna Lumley, Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Lloyd and the Jim Henson Creature Shop.

The con's:
I didn't like it.

PASS!!

Up next... Alice meets Victorian Gothic, the Far East and Beyond the Fringe!!

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Well, I suppose it was inevitable I would talk about this one.

I have made mention of this before but Tim Burton has always had a very "Hammer Films" approach to his adaptations. His movies like Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and even Batman are not entirely faithful adaptations.

 However, they're not bad ones either.

I really didn't hate this film. I wasn't entirely in love with the overall "Tween Disney" feel to the film. Or how it was given a very Chronicles of Narnia vibe to it by giving the characters and what the "drink me" bottle contained.

However, I'm not the film's intended audience for this film. Then again. I'm not the intended audience for the original Alice story.

Much like the original Alice tale, it was intended to delight and amuse children and not have craggy 36 year olds to endlessly debate and philosophize over it.

Although in this case, I think the film is geared more towards the tween crowd. And it's in 3D. And it's Disney. So of course there's going to be a pop hit and the Mad Hatters hip hop style dancing thrown in. Yes. That annoyed me.

But again. Read above.

As I mentioned before, Tim Burton creates his own version rather than doing the original. So instead of young Alice discovering Wonderland (or Underland) for the first time, we have a much older Alice escaping her engagement party from a potential fiance who could quite easily win the Upperclass Twit of the Year Award.

By establishing this is a much older Alice, Tim Burton doesn't treat his audience like they're stupid by making them believe Mia Wasikowska is supposed to be playing a seven year old girl. It gives Burton a chance to tell a slightly older action/fantasy style story.

And older kiddo's will connect with an older Alice rather than a seven year old one. I suppose it also allows filmmakers to get away with more too. Like the insinuation of a giant naked Alice standing behind a shrub. Try and film that with a seven year old and yes you will have police stopping by your house to question you  and probably confiscate your computer Ala Gary Glitter.



Tim Burton seems to have casted all my favorite actors in one film with Stephen Fry as the Chessur the Cheshire Cat, Michael Sheen as Nivens McTwisp The White Rabbit, Alan Rickman as Absolem, the Caterpillar, Christopher Lee as the Jabberwocky and Michael Gough in his last screen performance as the Dodo. Gough had retired from acting. However, he would break from retirement to star in one of Tim Burton's movies.

It wouldn't be a Tim Burton movie without Johnny Depp someplace as some character. I know Burton has received some criticism for working too much with Depp over the last decade or so. And that Depp has become a bit over-exposed between that and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

But in Johnny Depp's defense, as an actor you want to work. If you don't work you don't get paid. Although, I suppose there's also royalties. But I digress.



But it's Helena Bonham-Carter who absolutely steals the show as the very childish Red Queen. She is an actress I really like because she puts everything she has into her performance. Despite how silly the role seems, she plays it like it is the most important role in the world.

And I respect that!!

I did not get to see this film in all it's 3D glory. So watching the film without the aide 3D glasses many of the objects and characters flying towards me made me feel as though I was watching the Paddle ball scene from Vincent Price's House of Wax. Another film made during the 3D craze of the 1950's that seem to lose a bit of it's Oomph without the aid of 3D... you know the scene I'm talking about.

But as stated, it's not a bad film and worth at least one viewing. 3D glasses or otherwise. If you take it at face value as a fun adventure story, it's enjoyable.

If you over-analyze it... well... think of it this way. You're over-analyzing a children's booking.

Up Next... Alice: 1999

Dreamchild (1985)

Dreamchild produced in association with the Jim Henson Creature Shop is a great film, but really ones of those films you can only watch once because it's so damn depressing. It stars Sir Ian Holm as Charles Dodgeson who would later gain fame under his penname Lewis Carroll. I really can't say enough about Sir Ian. He is probably one of the most underrated actors out there. Was great as Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and made a very chilling Jack the Ripper in From Hell. Probably the only good thing about that movie. The film itself focuses on both Charles Dodgson and his relationship with Alice Liddell.

If the information of the movie is historically accurate, then the man who would be Lewis Carroll was a painfully shy man with an equally painful stutter. And Alice was a mean-spirited little brat that grew up to be a miserable old bag of worms.



You finish watching the film feeling heartbroken for Charles Dodgson. Especially the scene in which Alice and her would be fiance snicker cruelly at him as he tries to recite the Lobster Quadrille before her elder sister finally stands up for him.

I admit, I did finish watching the film with a lump in my throat. The film itself is set later in Alice Liddell life as an old woman trying to reconcile her past association with Charles Dodgson in her mind with the scenes between her and Charles Dodgson set in flashbacks.

She is clearly troubled by her recollections and the movie does brush upon briefly the insinuations made over the years of Dodgson's possibly infatuations with young Alice. But not in a way which suggests he was or wasn't. Alice herself finds it hard to remember as she becomes old and forgetful.



The high point of the film itself is some truly wonderful interpretations of the inhabitant of Wonderland created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop.



Jim Henson had previously done a version (of sorts) of Alice on an episode of The Muppet Show with Brooke Shields. Having seen some of his more fantasy oriented work like the Dark Crystal and Labryinth, I would have loved to have seen Henson do a version of Alice in Wonderland in that vein.

Although the Jim Henson Creature Shop would go on to do the creatures for a 1999 television adaptation of Alice, it would have been great to see Henson do a version of Alice in the style of Labyrinth during his lifetime.

Besides, the 1999 telefilm is probably my least favorite version of the story.

I enjoyed the film. Although it's a frustrating film to watch. But, the all-encompassing message at the end of the film is mutual apology and forgiveness as young Alice and Charles Dodgson reconcile in a fantasty sequence set in Wonderland. A very good cast with Jane Ashner as Mrs. Liddell and Alan Bennett (of Beyond the Fringe Fame) as the voice of the Mock Turtle and the addition of Jim Henson's creations make this a very unique and visually intersting account in the life of both Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson.

It looks as though they finally released the film on DVD, so I would definitely give this film a try if you wish to rent it on Netflix or stop by your local library.

Up next: Tim Burton's vision of Alice... you probably had a feeling I would get to this one...

Alice of the Silent Age

I think of silent movies as the motion picture industry's embarrassing baby photo's. We all have to start somewhere and so did movies.

I love silent movies. Warts and all. I think it's their raw quality. Knowing filmmakers were really learning the trade as they go along and finding new tricks to use in their movies. For those of you not familiar with old films, there are two rules of thumb. Just because it's old doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. However, just because it's old doesn't necessarily mean it's a classic.

I found two gems of the silent era. The first photo is from what I have been lead to believe is the very first film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, created nearly 100 years ago in 1903. The second is from a later silent film created in 1915.

I actually find the first version far more interesting in it's attempts at effects whereas although the later film is more streamlined than it's predecessor, the later film does not make many attempts at visual effects. True the effects are choppy and imperfect. But that's why I love silent films.

Since both films are very short and available to watch on Youtube, I've posted them below so you can make your judgement which is the better film.
Well, without further ado, here are both films:

Alice in Wonderland (1903)


Alice in Wonderland (1915)

Up next in our theatrical adventures through Wonderland: The Jim Henson Creature Shop gets into the act with a unique look at both the creator of Alice as well as the girl who inspired the tales.

Alice in Wonderland (1949)

Quite possibly the strangest of the Alice in Wonderland movies I've seen. A lot of that thanks to the really bizarre stop motion puppets that inhabit "Wonderland" in this film created by Bunin Puppets.

Some of you Hammer Horror films might recognize Carol Marsh who would later go on to play Lucy in The Horror of Dracula starring Christopher Lee. Since I associate her so closely with that film, I half expected Peter Cushing to appear out of nowhere and burn her forehead with a crucifix.

20 years old when she played the role, Ms. Marsh was quite possibly the oldest Alice to date.

The film itself did garner some controversy. Apparently, Disney got their pantaloons in a bunch over the British company releasing their version around the same time Uncle Walt was releasing his. Disney even went so far to sue the British company to prevent them releasing theirs in the United States.

Incidentally, both film did poorly in the United States.

The film itself starts in a very similar way to it's 1972 counterpart, with the real-life Lewis Carroll telling the real life Alice Liddell about her adventures in Wonderland. They even go so far to mention in the film some of the real life historical figures who the key characters such as the Red Queen and the White Rabbit were based on.

As someone who enjoys animation a great deal, I found the blending of the live action Alice with the stop-motion puppets to be a very intriguing combination. Even some of the camera techniques the filmmakers used to blend the live actor with the animated characters to be very cleverly done given the obvious limitations to the visual effects they could achieve. And Carol Marsh wasn't bad as Alice.

Unfortunately, the film just did not captivate me on a whole. There were far too many scenes (especially the beginning) that were just too long long and drawn out. And the background visuals just reminded me of some of the public service messages I used to see on UHF Channels back in the 1980's. I suppose the filmmakers were trying to go for a storybook feel. But the flat backgrounds just did not grab me.

Both the very limited animation and visual effects were just too jarring to watch after a while.

Some of this could very well be that the quality of film has wased out and aged so poorly. Much like the '72 Alice, the only copies that of this film that are available on DVD are public domain versions. A lot of the time these films are re-released to cash in on a big budget version of the film being released. So they try and release every single version they can possibly find.

However, in the case of the '72 Alice, despite the age of the film, it's still enjoyable to watch. I just found myself losing interest after a while.

It's really the type of film for those who are fans of Lewis Carroll's classic story or from a film history point of view. Otherwise I think most will just find it very slow and tedious. And much like Alice, you may find yourself nodding off.

Up next: Alice from the Silent Era...

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)

My favorite of the Alice movies despite having some truly terrible musical numbers. I've never been a big fan of musicals save the Marx Brothers early films for Paramount. But that's because most of the musical numbers were as satirical as the rest of the film.

But this adaptation remains my favorite out of all the productions. Produced in England and starred a veritable who's who of British actors at the time. Most notably Peter Sellers as the March Hare. This would not be Sellers first time in a production of Alice. He had played the King of Hearts in a previous production for British Television directed by Jonathan Miller of Beyond the Fringe fame.

The film features Fiona Fullerton in the role of Alice. Ms. Fullerton was 15 when she took the role. Again, still not the age Lewis Carroll originally wrote the character to be. But still. Considering some of the actresses were over the age of 20 playing the part, Fullerton is probably the closest to the way Carroll wrote the character age wise. She would later gain notice as the Anastasia in Nicholas and Alexandria as well as cuddling up in a jacuzzi to an aged Roger Moore in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill.

Other British actors of note was Michael Crawford (of Phantom of the Opera fame) as the White Rabbit, Dudley Moore as the Dormouse, Spike Milligan as the Gryphon, Sir Ralph Richardson as the Caterpillar and Roy Kinnear as the Cheshire Cat.

Michael Jayston, who would later star with Fullerton as Tsar Nicholas in the movie Nicholas and Alexandra appeared in the film as Lewis Carroll... or as he's referred to by his real name Charles Dodgson in the film.
Doctor Who fans would come to know Michael Jayston as the Valeyard. Whom the Doctor discovers is in fact an evil future interim regeneration of himself.

Although the costuming in the movie still has that school play look to them by today's standards. It's a very well done school play look. Unlike the previous 1933 Alice, the make up allows the actors they natual expressions. In the case of Peter Sellers, who loses himself in a role, you truly believe him to be the March Hare.

Being able to see the actors eyes and expressions makes their performances more believable for me. Well, as believable as a story like this CAN be.

As far as the last 30 or 40 years are concerned, this version is still the best adaptation of the story that has been produced. Sadly, it is only available copies of the film that are available are VHS versions copied to DVD and it has not been fully restored and remastered. Which is a shame. Especially given this year marks the movie's 40th Anniversary.

Despite that, I would highly recommend checking the movie out. There are some really great performances for a really great cast. And for the time, the costuming and set designs are pretty good!

Tomorrow we look at quite possibly the strangest adaptation of Alice from 1949.

Alice in Wonderland (1933)

This is the first in a series of blogs spotlighting a few big screen adaptations of Lewis Carroll's classic tale Alice's Adventure in Wonderland.

The 1933 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland isn't a great film. But at the same time, it wasn't an awful film either. To be honest, there has never been a perfect interpretation of Lewis Carroll's classic stories on film. There have been some very good attempts. Even the 1972 version featuring Peter Sellers as the March Hare, which is probably my favorite version of the story, isn't a perfect adaptation either.

I've come to think that Alice tends to suffer the same thing Sherlock Homes has suffered. No not cocaine. But most producers seem to cast actresses over the age of 20 to play the part of a young girl who is supposed to be not much older than 7. In the case of Sherlock, he was supposed to be in his late 20's. But because he appeared much older looking due to the fact Walter Paget, who his brother Sidney Paget, used as the physical model of Holmes, had a receding hairline. Which is probably the reason many of the actors who have portrayed Holmes (with a few exceptions) have all for the most part been 40 and older.

In the case of Alice, it may come down to the fact that it's much easier to give direction to an older actress pretending to be a 7 year old rather than trying to give direction to a child star.

In the case of Charlotte Henry who is the Alice in this tale, apparently the studio press department made much of her uncanny resemblance to Sir John Tenniel's original artwork.

There is no attempt in the film at an English accent. But films were just like that back then. There really wasn't the push for authenticity and realism as they is in today's films. Films were made to escape reality. Not replicate it back them.

The film itself chose to adapt both the first Alice story and it's sequel Through the Looking Glass as one adventure. The biggest faults of the film is it tends to be slow in scenes and some of the segues into the next scenes do not flow very well.

But the scenes that did work very well make the film worth watching.

And some of the things the film DID have working for it was really unsettling costumes and a stellar cast. I really like the costumes. The look like they came out of someone's "Panto" from hell. Knowing these costumes would have frightened me as a child is proof that they're perfect. The attempts to make them cute are just nightmarish. So they work for me.

This was the first really big budget live-action movie of a children's classic with an all-star cast including Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle (seen above), W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Gary Cooper as the White Knight, Malden Massachusetts native Edna May Oliver as the Red Queen and Edward Everett Horton as the Mad Hatter.

For those of you unfamiliar with Edward Everett Horton, some of you might remember him as Mr. Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace. And some might remember him as the Narrator for Fractured Fairytales in the Bullwinkle Show.

And, for those history buffs out there, W.C. Fields nemesis Baby Leroy played the Joker in the film. Fields never hid the fact that he hated working with children. But luckily for Fields he didn't appear onscreen with young master Leroy in this particular picture.

There was even an animated presentation of The Walrus and the Carpenter created by Leon Schlesinger Productions who would later rise to fame with the creation of such characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

Although very highly detailed and cleverly done for the time, one of the factors that made the film a box office disappointment was the fact that despite having this star-studded cast, nobody could recognize them under the mask. The movie cast doubts whether a live-action film featuring characters in strange costumes could be a success until the Wizard of Oz was released in 1939.

This film is worth watching at least once if you happen to catch it one night on Turner Classic Movies or rent it on Netflix. It is not the first adaptation of Alice, nor is it the first talking picture of the story either. However, it's historic because  it's the first big budget live-action version of the tale made in the United States. There wouldn't be another big screen version made in the States until Tim Burton's 2010 film which was more of a sequel than a retelling of Alice.

But it's worth checking out nonetheless.

Tomorrow's Alice Spotlight will feature the 1972 adaptation Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Much like the 1933 film live action. But this time produced in England. AND unlike the '33 film you can recognize the actor playing each character.

New Art: The White Rabbit Sends A Little Bill

In hopes to entice you to come out to this Sunday's stART at the Station taking place at Worcester's Historic Union Station, here's a brand new pen and ink sketch inspired by Sir John Tenniel's original artwork for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

And remember!! I am now accepting CREDIT CARD purchases at all my shows. Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express are all accepted!!

ONE TIME AUCTION!! Bid on The Mad Tea Party 11x17 SIGNED color print !!

This will be the only time you will be able to bid on a print of my illustration The Mad Tea Party AND there's already one bid posted!! Once it sells I will not be posting another.

So, click on the image below to go to the auction and Happy Bidding: