Deciding On A Title and Finding Inspiration

For our Final Major Project it is completely up to us what we do and to me this made settling on an idea all the more difficult because there is so much choice! Not only is this project probably going to be the bridge to my career in illustration, it will also carry on until the end of May (making it four months' worth of work) so it has to be something I won't lose interest in. All last week I have been thinking hard about what I want to do and what would suit me best.

   To help me decide, I wrote down some of the things I was passionate about. These included quite a few differing topics including fantasy art and novels, fashion illustration and graphic novels.

After weighing up my options, I decided on the idea of illustrating a children's book based upon the fantasy genre. A number of stories that I could illustrate came to mind - a collection of tales such as the Greek Myths, The Brothers' Grimm fairy tales, contemporary books such as Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman and older classics like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
In the end, however, I chose to illustrate The Snow Queen which is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

   There were a few reasons for this; one was because it was one of the first fairy tales I read as a child that did not follow the usual princess/damsel in distress trope. Instead it follows a young girl called Gerda who sets out on a voyage to rescue a boy called Kai, whom she loves like a brother, from the frightening and foreboding Snow Queen. I was really able to identify with her and was riveted by the tale of a young girl who fought her own way to reach a goal rather than the stereotypical hero.

It is perhaps a lesser known fairy tale at least compared to ones such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast so it'll be easier for me to interpret my own way rather than being influenced by other artists, and it is often republished which means lots of exciting opportunities in illustration.
The story contains a lot of both subtle and obvious symbolism, and is separated into seven parts making it the longest fairy tale Andersen has written which will definitely keep the project fun and interesting!

This week I have collected a range of work from artists and illustrators that I like the work of and will influence me in this project. Below are some samples.

Amy Sol
I find her work breathtaking and magical. I like her technique
of using limited palette and flat washes. The composition is
striking due to the contrast of high detail and
a simple background.

Kay Nielsen
There is an antique yet modern feel to
Nielsen's illustrations which I love.
The pattern and detail in the clothing help
bring the characters to life which is
something I aim to achieve in my images.
There is a strong decorative feel to his work.

Katsushika Hokusai
Emphasis on shape and colour here
and a non linear perspective
is applied. A striking composition.

John Bauer
Really like the small white figure placed at the
bottom in contrast to the tall dark shapes in
the background.

Claude Monet
Beautiful use of colours. Monet's work
will be inspiring in certain scenes within
The Snow Queen such as the Old Lady's
garden and the river Gerda is on in
Chapter 3. They also have a fairy tale
aspect to them, perhaps due to the
 bright, cheerful hues
and whimsical brush strokes. I also love
the way he has depicted the rippling
water and the light reflected off them
with paint.

Annita Maslov
Beautiful and intricate detail to her
work. Striking red contrasted
with the black and white.

Kiri Ostagard Leonard
Dark mood and great detail to the creature's face

Eibatova Karina
I like the way she has used white
space here. Another technique I
could try out

Jenni Saarenkyla

Sai Kring (Isnukwin on Deviantart)

I've also created a Pinterest board where I will keep adding inspiration over the course of this project to keep me motivated: http://www.pinterest.com/selinaqch/inspiration-for-fmp/