Deadly Sweet

 

Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) is a recognized watershed moment in film history that took the funny little cartoons shown before feature films and made them into an attraction in and of themselves. While Walt Disney did not invent animation, he pushed it beyond the bounds of what was thought possible. It’s hard to imagine nearly 77 years later that many industry insiders predicted the film would be a flop – it’s said even his brother Roy and his wife Lillian urged him to abandon the idea. I’ve read other accounts that Walt inflated the number of naysayers to serve his image as both a visionary and a Hollywood outsider. Regardless, Snow White an incredible hit that set archetypes used in animated films for decades to come: beautiful princess (who sings), handsome, dashing prince (who also sings), adorable helpers for the princess (in later films the Dwarfs were replaced with animals) and the wicked, jealous Stepmother.

Of course in Snow White, the Evil Queen isn’t just your garden-variety wicked stepmother like Lady Tremaine in Cinderella. No, she’s a super powerful sorceress with an all-seeing Enchanted Mirror and a laboratory filled with ancient tomes of horrid spells and insidious magical paraphernalia. You can tell the Disney Animators (the famed Nine Old Men) had a great time working on the Evil Queen; her scenes are full of the most  electrifying drama in the entire film.

Unfortunately, I could only find a version without her dialogue

The scene where she retreats to her dungeon lair after finding the Huntsman has duped her and transforms herself into an ugly old crone before finally creating the poisoned apple has always been my favorite of the film (I’m a sucker for bad guys and dungeon lairs.) But my favorite part of this great scene occurs when the Queen/Crone pulls the apple from the roiling vats of poisonous potion. As the apple  hangs above the cauldron, potion runs off and clearly becomes a leering skull before returning to a gorgeous red apple.

Poison apple spell scene–unfortunately in French

I know I’m not the only one who loves this gag (as the animators would call it.) You need only run an image search on the internet and you find page upon page of of arts, crafts, cakes, shirts and even tattoos using this design. If you visit Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney, you can get an actual candy poison apple made at The Candy Cauldron (at least around the Halloween season.)

 

Most of the modern depictions of the apple-with-skull show the skull as a bright green color reminiscent of Maleficent’s skin tone – like the apples above. When I created Deadly Sweet, I decided to go with more screen accurate blue-to-whitish liquid. I achieved this effect by starting with a piece of partially transparent white vellum and lightly coloring with blue Prismacolor pencil which I could then blend out. I also used Clear Plastic Nonglas as a substrate for the bubbling steam and the allow the apple to appear suspended in air. I think these techniques worked quite well to achieve the look from the film.

 

Additional images:

 

Deadly Sweet is currently for sale in my Etsy Shop for $45

“The Best and Worst Sign You’ll see at Walt Disney World.”

It’s January again, the time of year traditionally (if arbitrarily) set aside for reflection, re-examination and resolutions. As the chaos of the holiday season waned and passed into 2014, I decided this was year when I would finally begin to focus on my artistic endeavors and move them from a hobby to a professional venture. I’ve set a goal for myself of producing many more pieces than I have in the past, enough to fill out my Etsy store, participate in some local arts &crafts shows and hopefully even be a part of some group gallery shows.

I’d like to use this blog not only as a showcase of my new works, but also a place to give a peek-behind-the-curtain of my projects. I’d like to post not only how I made the pieces ( I’m a total process nerd) but also the “Why.” I believe you can gain a lot of insight about a work from why an artist choose a certain subject. Think of this as the Bonus Features on a DVD.

To kick off 2014, here is a piece I finished just last week titled, “The Best and Worst Sign You’ll see at Walt Disney World.”


            
“Uh… What’s with the bus stop sign?” I’ll admit that it seems like an odd choice, but this bus stop sign has two things I love: wonderful, nostalgic design and it’s the signal that I’m at Walt Disney World, that my vacation has really begun.

The impetus for this project came in August as my excitement grew over our impending November 2013 trip to Walt Disney World. It’s no secret that my family are Disney Fanatics or more correctly: Disney Obsessed. We’re THOSE people. The ones other people shake their heads and wonder about. Our particular obsession? Disney Parks. Make the mistake of mentioning Magic Kingdom and you’ll be in for an afternoon-long, for-Pete’s-sake-please-let-me-escape discussion of park history, tips and other minutiae. We own and frequently listen to Disney Park Music (I’m currently listen to the Magic Kingdom Entrance loop.) We know the names of Imagineers and can point out their contributions to particular attractions. We delight in finding Hidden Mickeys (my older daughter Katie recently found one in an episode of Dr. Who.) In short, we love the special brand of magic and attention to detail the Disney Cast Members bring to every aspect of your vacation.

For any Disney Resort Guest flying into Orlando International, Disney’s Magical Express is the first experience with this all-encompassing magic. Just follow the signs through the airport, past all the poor non-resort schlubbs awaiting their luggage, and you will find yourself greeted by friendly cast members who will direct you to the huge, Streamline-Modern-themed motor coaches complete with bathrooms, Air conditioning and video screens full of the awesomeness you’ll soon witness. Wait a minute! What about your luggage? Once you drop your luggage off at your home airport, you don’t need to worry about it until you head home. By Disney magic, it will appear in your hotel room within three hours. All you need do is sit back and relax during the half-hour trip to your resort. Of course, you’re heading DISNEY WORLD so who can relax?

“Okay, that why it’s the best sign, so why is it the worst?” Easy enough answer – the next time you see that same Magical Express sign is when you are sitting on a bench waiting to be taken back to the airport at the end of your trip. Seriously, there are very few things sadder than leaving Disney World. Katie was sobbing almost uncontrollably as we waited.                                                                         Our bus arriving to take us to the airport.

Here are a couple of additional pictures I used for reference:
    


"The Best and Worst Sign You'll See at Walt Disney World" is currently available in my Etsy Store. has been SOLD!