Fairy tale illustrations!

[secondlina]

Reason #1 why I love working on Namesake :



Yes, the Fairy-tale themed illustrations :D

I kinda missed drawing these. I took a giant break for a while. Fairy tales are awesome.

Today, I was looking for reference shots of various versions of Munchkinland and I discovered there's a wannabe-real-munchkinland in China.  No, really. It's a full village in China with nothing but dwarves who train to sing and dance and perform various tasks. They basically formed their own tourist attraction. And the images of this village are kinda mesmerizing.









At first I was all "cool!" and then I realized the horrible social implications around physically different people being forced, or feeling like they are forced, to go live in a place that turns them into a circus show. A high-quality circus show, but a circus show none the less. It's a bizarre situation that can be seen as good or bad depending on your angle (some of the artists seem to like being there, others think it's a symbol of abuse).

Still reminds me of what a real munchkinland might look like. And heck, I think a real munchkinland would have a lot of social abuse. Maybe not as much as in Wicked, but it does hurt to be at the bottom of the length chain.

- Isa

Comments

[ladyxmoonlight.livejournal.com]

I wish I was 8 inches shorter.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Why so?

[ladyxmoonlight.livejournal.com]

So I could join the dwarf circus town!

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Oooh, nice drawing. Namesake is looking better every day!

That Dwarf village is cool looking but...yeah, the social implications of a place like that (especially in an oppressive country like China) make me uncomfortable. I don't think I could ever bring myself to visit it.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah, it's one of those weird situations where this being done elsewhere would have been completely innacceptable or something. It's really weird.

[noseless-wonder.livejournal.com]

That looks awesome!

The weird thing about the real munchkin land is that these people might not be permitted by their country to do anything else. This might be the only way they can make a living. So, while it might be an awkward place to visit considering it sort of symbolizes the plight of many people in China, it would probably help support them at the same time. I guess - it could be considered a necessary evil? I don't know. If I faced such a choice, I'd probably buy a ticket, but I'd have a hard time going in.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It is a weird thing. A few of the articles about this place had people saying "there's nothing else they can do" and if they do make a good living,then it's good, but the fact that this is their only choice seems bad. It's really a strange situation.

[bonemarch.livejournal.com]

Your art style works really well in portraying fairy tales. It's hard to explain but the black lines you use through out the piece really give it a soft but dark edge that really evokes a feeling of mystery with a twist of the sinister. (A good piece of work always makes me wonder "What's just beyond those trees?" Which yours does) So you should definitely work with it more... Time permitting of course.

When it comes to the village... Yeah that is a tough call. On one hand it's a shame they have to live that way to get by. But on the other hand they would have equal or greater hardships trying to get by in China's competitive marketplace as well. And they have free choice to be there (At least seemingly so.) so that makes it a little better. Not that I'm saying it's right that any human being should be put on display to survive. But yeah over all it's a really tough call, definite food for thought.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

A lot of people designate my style as similar to woodcut illustrations, which have always been kinda popular with the fairy tales too XD

Food for though for sure. I still haven't decided what I though about beyond "good reference material"

[putri-nih.livejournal.com]

Does that mean they can only marry other small sized persons? This is the reason circus is pretty depressing :( (not Cirque du Soleil, the old style circus)

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Well, at least there they would have a bigger pool to choose from? This whole situation is a little surreal.

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

The housing is cool, but yeah, wouldn't want to be conformed into a niche to be a party favor either :/ Although, it is a choice I suppose. Always sad on the genetic side that those folks really can't just have families and be left to do so with each other since dwarfism is a heterozygous gene that's dominant so there is a 50% chance of still births in dwarves that copulate with each other :/ Very sad.

P.S. Did you ever get a chance to check out your hawk girl pic?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

My hawk girl pic is out? What what what? I guess I missed that post! Can I have a link :D

That's...really sad about the dwarves.

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

It's the last thing I posted on my journal ;) Your name is tagged in it :P

It is sad about the dwarves :( I learned that when I was going to school studying genetics, it's crazy how intricate the gene map is and the ways it's affected

[cottoncandykid.livejournal.com]

I want that picture (of Rose Red and Snow White).. Please sell me a copy! I love the wolf lurking in the background, and the sylph, nymph floaty girl (it's too early to think correctly!)
<3

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, I'd love to, but it's actually a tiny part of a comic page, not a big illustration! *laughs* I should do big drawings like that soon though.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

I like the drawing, is the fairytale suppose to be Snow White and Red Rose?

I agree with you on the munchkinland. On the one hand the structures and buildings are neat to look at, and it's good income for them, but on the other hand I couldn't bring myself to actually go there.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It's actually a mish-mash of a bunch of fairy tales. But Rose red and snow white are part of the list XD

Heh. At least it makes good references picture, even though somewhat depressing.

[cxco.livejournal.com]

I love the questions you ask yourself.

But you're right, munchkinland is... kinda creepy. And if you throw in the social and maybe even economical implications, I guess nothing good comes of it.

Can't wait until Namesake comes out!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

The thing is, maybe this place is good for them... by chinese standards. Which is kinda depressing too.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEE! Loverly illos m'dear. BTW, how's Lady Amalthea coming? I hadn't seen anything save for those few sketches to pique my curiosity and get me super excited! :DDDD

Are you going to be having Namesake available for purchase as well?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Urgh, amalthea is waiting in the back seat with a bunch of other things because Namesake is bossy as hell and pushed her off. I,m sorry. I'll draw her eventually for sure. :(

Er, maybe. Namesake is first anf foremost a webcomic, but it would be awesome to have them in book format too.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Being bossy, eh? I know the feeling...

Well, as long as I can read it at some point, the format makes no difference to me whatsoever!

[threeeyesworm.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's pretty fucked up. How do they actually expect tourists to feel? "Oh boy! Look at these midgets who's been ostracized from society and since they can't live with us in our reality, they are fulfilling our fantasies! Sweet!"

My favorite is the guy in the suit with shades in the second picture.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Again, that's how we feel. Maybe over there it's more normal? Or just ignored. It's still kinda horrible.