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Modern Disney Meets Scientific illustration FMP
Thoughtfully Designed
My love for scientific illustration made me itch to contemporise the style to better engage the general public- so what better way to do so than with the timeless animal characters from Disney. With each project I’m involved in, I see to it that it’s undertaken efficiently — from the initial brainstorming session and first rounds of sketches all the way to the final illustration. With this piece, I knew I wanted my interpretation to be something that would leave a lasting impression with the audience, and the end result did just that. Scroll down to see more outcomes.
This series of images contains 3 outcomes, with the potential to expand them further and cover more Disney tales.
The above piece illustrates my outcome based on Disney's Alice in Wonderland. I particularly wanted to draw the cheshire cat as the focal point, and I wanted to incorporate the Dodo to refer tot he Caucus race scene which is so iconic. I also really wanted to illustrate the flamingo and hedgehog from the croquet scene. I love the result, this piece is my favourite of the three.
The piece to the right illustrates the animal characters from Disney's The Jungle Book. The piece is framed so that there is interaction between the tiger, panther and snake as a way to convey elements from the storyline. This piece is the most adventurous of the three in terms of layout, as there are various suspended elements. I wanted the snake curling around the animals to be dynamic and draw the eye, and I wanted the bear's head to be a prominent feature also. The composition and layout of this piece reflects my inspiration from tattoo designs. I am particularly proud of the panther outcome and the depiction of various shades in its black fur.
The final image of the series depicts the animal characters from Pocahontas. I felt really inspired by reference images of raccoons and wanted to push myself to accurately depict its fur. I incorporated the symbolism of the compass because of its importance to the story line. As there are fewer animals in this story, I framed this piece with leaves floating in the wind- another feature of the story.
I am happy with the outcome of these images, and would like to extend the series further. This project enabled me to develop my colour application and experiment with new materials- moving outside of my comfort zone of graphite.
I intended to contemporize the style of scientific illustration by merging the realistic style with an engaging subject matter and visually appealing designs, and I was successful in doing so.
With special thanks to @moes_and_mattie, Tambako, and Gavin Bell for providing me with reference material.
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