More Paintings and Taking Inspiration From Pinterest Board

As I've not been able to access some places to draw from life, unlike The New Forest for woodland scenes, people & architecture, I've instead gathered some images from my Pinterest board that I've been keeping to draw from and have as inspiration. 

For the images below for example I had to look up the Northern Lights for reference and igloos.

This was a painting produced earlier but I prefer the later one I did (below) as I feel it reflects the atmosphere (danger & mystique) of the situation better. The first one almost feels like there is too much going on, distracting from what is actually happening.

Gerda and Bae; to emphasise the joy and wonder they both feel at seeing the Northern lights, I did this as a double page spread so the scenery stands out as much as the characters.

This was again, not originally going to be one of the images in the book but I think it is quite successful as the characters being silhouettes creates more dramatic emphasis of the night. It is also quite different from my other paintings which is good as I want to vary them a bit.

Here I've begun small drawings that could be an addition to the pages of my final book. I like the idea of adding the toy soldiers in as although they aren't "alive" in the book there's a certain characteristic to them that makes you almost believe they are real (similar to Gerda in the story)

This idea for an image came from seeing a picture of a wisteria tree on Pinterest. They are quite unique trees and as the old lady's garden is full of wonderful and different flowers/plants as described in the story, I thought this was fitting. I depicted Gerda wondering through the beautiful wisteria flowers looking joyous but the tree that fills up most of the page and completely surrounds her, also represents how lost she is - physically far from home and mentally her thoughts are far from Kai and her original goal. Purple incidentally is also the colour symbolising magic.

Painting Scenes From The Book

This week I have been working hard on painting images for the final book. These of course could be changed later on but for now this is what I have come up with I'm relatively pleased with how they turned out as I like the placing of the girl in the woods; I think I am also settled with the kind of colour palette I am using; dark and muted but with certain colours standing out in each image such as white to create more of a contrast.

Red will be a major colour theme throughout the book as it is what links Gerda and Kai together while they are apart - red, of course, symbolising love.

So far I have painted a lot of full scenes therefore for my other illustrations I will crop/zoom into images so there is a variation of compositions in my book. I've chosen to work on the moments in the story that will work well as illustrations and also the ones that are most vital to the story.

The main thought behind this piece was that it is the first time she has ventured away from home, and 'out into the wide world'; this subliminal message is portrayed by her small size in contrast to with the tall trees. She is away from the comfort of her house and about to go on an unknown journey.

When a piece of the mirror gets in a person's heart, they "become like a lump of ice". Here,

I have taken this literally. I am quite pleased with this image as it has a sense of abstractness, yet it isn't fully abstract either. 

The rose is another major recurring theme as it is Kai and Gerda's favourite flower. When Kai kicks it

over then, it is quite a dramatic moment and a strong message so I think it might work better if it was just the rose. The kicked over rose also represents Gerda's hurt feelings afterwards.

Kai and Gerda together in the beginning, this image compared to the rest I wanted to create an

aura of happiness and joy as this will later contrast quite extremely with the long voyage

Gerda undertakes.

"The Demon and His Mirror", Selina Quach, 2014

I wanted to depict a calm and peaceful background, thus the clear sky but with a little cloudiness up ahead which foreshadows the breaking of the mirror. The peaceful atmosphere is also contrasted by the strong black figure in the sky.

"Past the Moon and Over Hills", Selina Quach, 2014

The emphasis here was on the paragraph that describes the wonderful scenery happening around Kai and the Snow Queen in chapter 2. The full moon symbolises "height of power, the peak of clarity, fullness and obtainment of desire" which I felt was suitable for this scene as The Snow Queen has taken what she wanted and therefore symbolically at the "height" of her power.

"No Peace Or Rest In Her Eyes", Selina Quach, 2014

In keeping with the moon symbolism (as it is a strong symbol for magic which is a dominant theme in the book) the new moon here represents new beginnings/rebirth. Kai sets eyes on the Snow Queen for the first time and a change is about to occur.

Kai Sleeping At The Feet of the Snow Queen - Selina Quach, 2014

The splash of red for Kai's gloves represent the small yet still present tie between him and Gerda. This technique I think I will be using throughout the book. I painted the light on the floor almost reaching Kai to emphasise that he is now in darkness (within the Snow Queen's domain) and unable to leave.

Deciding on Mood, Atmosphere & Colour Palettes

I've started to focus on producing illustrations from the story this week, as shown below. I've been drawing less character designs as although they have been helpful for me to get a foothold on the different characters' personalities and demeanours, they won't be the main focus of the images. 

There's quite a lot of fantastical imagery in the story, and I want the main emphasis to be on the mood and atmosphere.

Next week I plan on playing around with material more and some different colour palettes, perhaps more muted but with one single bright colour. I really like the colour palettes of some of the traditional fairy tale illustrations such as by Edmund Dulac and Kay Nielsen, so I will be referring back to them for inspiration. I'm aiming to keep my images contemporary, with a hint of traditional fairy tale. 

Selina Quach, Gerda and Bae character conept, 2014

Reindeer's Kiss, Selina Quach, 2014

Kai and the Snow Queen, Selina Quach, 2014

Gerda Afloat the River, Selina Quach, 2014

Nightingale Bridge by Edmund Dulac. These
are some old fairy tale/myth illustrations that
I like the colour palettes of. Will definitely refer
to this for inspiration in my own images

Kay Nielsen, illustrations of Scandinavian
Fairy tales, 1914