The third Disney portrait I’ve been working on is Sleeping Beauty herself. This is probably one of the easiest Disney films to place in a time setting, it’s perfectly medieval accept for a few fantasy elements like some of the costume design. My two main inspirations for this illustration were ‘Les Trèa Riches Heures du Duc de Berry’ a medieval manuscript which heavily influenced the look of the film and the amazing work of Eyvind Earle who produced loads of work for the film.
Aurora’s two toned dress was inspired by an image online I found of Marguerite de Rohan who I believe was the wife of John of Orleans, Count of Angouleme. I really couldn’t find much information about them but the painting was very helpful with the look.
I was originally going to have her hair covered by a veil or something as I thought that would be more historically accurate however I was inspired to keep in down by many depictions of the Virgin Mary and a Flemish painting of saint Catherine.
I am calling these “historical” versions of the characters but I am taking liberties with the accuracy so I’m sure someone can’t point something out if it’s not right.
Month: September 2021
Historical Disney Portraits: Cinderella
I looked at portrait paintings of European Victorian royalty as a starting point for my illustration beginning with portraits of Queen Victoria, but my main inspiration came from paintings of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Princess Dagmar of Denmark and Alexandra of Denmark.
I wanted to capture the look of a Victorian painting so used more darker colours in the background rather than the more colourful palette of the film, but I did want to keep the original movie colours for Cinderella.
I’m still working on another one of these and am hoping to do more, I think Disney villains would be a fun series to do.
Historical Disney Portraits: Snow White
I’ve been wanting to drawing more historically accurate versions of Disney characters for ages and have seen so many artists do amazing takes on this, the first that comes to mind is Claire Hummel.
I wanted to focus on artwork from around the time that these Disney movies are set and then create artwork based on the art of the time. Even though I’m calling them historically accurate, I’ve still taken liberties with the accuracy myself and kept some of the more fantasy elements to the look of the character.
I had a pretty good idea of the setting for Disney’s Snow White, early to mid 1500s Germany, most likely Bavaria. I did do some research into artwork around that time looking mainly at the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder for inspiration.
‘The Disney Princess: A Celebration of Art and Creativity’ by Charles Solomon has been a great reference guide for this as well as the videos by @gremlita and @karolinazebrowskax on YouTube also helped me loads with the research.
I’m currently working on two more characters and am hoping to do a lot more.
28, a Self Portrait
Even though I’ve been drawing quite a bit on Procreate, I haven’t drawn or painted traditionally in ages. I’ve wanted to do a self portrait for a while and decided to work on one to help kick start some traditional painting again. I started this last month, the day before my birthday and I thought it was a fitting time for a self portrait.
I’ve been looking at a lot of medieval and Renaissance portraits as part of a personal project I’ve been working on and this was my starting point for the portrait. I was unsure of what to do in the background so started some plant pattern work, not sure if I went too overboard but I quite like the contrast of the plant work against the face.
I don’t really know if I’ve captured my likeness well, I look very moody in this but that’s quite reminiscent of those medieval and Renaissance portraits.
I’d like to work on another self portrait, possibly a profile one soon!
Scott Keenan Illustration 