How to Survive a Fairy Tale

Graphite on Vellum bristol, Photoshop, 11 x 17"

The awesome AD at the Lifeline Theatre was kind enough to ask me to do another poster for their upcoming performances. He knew exactly what he wanted so that made things easier, it was just a matter of making all the elements work well together.
The drawing went by quickly, and I was extremely satisfied with it. Coloring this piece proved to be more difficult. As inspiration, I flipped through my copy of James Jean's Fables Covers, so I originally wanted to do something that would just jump of the page, with lots of eye catching color and a balance of rendered/graphic elements.
But as I finished the drawing, I understood that treatment just wouldn't be right. I thought it would be suitable to go with a muted, rustic color palette - to make it seem as if you came across this illo in the midst of a musty, yellowed fairy tale book. It is still a poster though, so it has catch the eye.
The palette was just all over the place until I checked out some of Arthur Rackham's beautiful work, which relied more on tones with subtle washes of color. It definitely helped me wrestle the colors into something more uniform and appealing.
I wouldn't say that I am happy with the color, since there seemed to be endless possibilities. A slight change of hue or saturation in one area would drastically alter the rest of the piece. But at some point you have to make a decision and stick to it, there are deadlines to consider!

Final drawing

You can take a look at my previous effort for the Lifeline Theatre here.

I'll be finishing another music portrait soon!