A last minute Lion in Winter 1968 print i finished today for EBABZ (East Bay Alternative Books and Zines), which i am tabling at tomorrow!! Had some hiccups with the self serve print machines, but it turned out good enough. Printing always kills the color nuances but for this kind of drawing, to me if the lines are clear and the blacks solid it’s good enough for me.
I’ve done tons of historical themed drawings this past year; this was my first time really putting my all into a pic that was specifically themed around the designs in the movie! I incorporated my fave little tidbits and details, including the goofy underwhelming-yet-homoerotic knight fight near the end, and the very real dog that really looked like it was eating the very real chicken.
The movie has a very particular look; we have shots of the actual Chinon castle and its surrounding environment, but the rest of the places where drama takes place are very bleak, dirty, and lived in, with occasional spots of dramatic color amongst the dirt, straw, and animals. It’s a great setting to tell a story about a bleak and unwelcoming family and holiday time, but as many have pointed out, the medieval times were an immensely colorful time in terms of the material culture, clothing and decorations. For this illustration I wanted to incorporate the movie’s designs combined with some of the maximalist looks of contemporary medieval manuscripts. One thing I love about medieval manuscripts is the cartoony and stylized figures; its easy to incorporate modern cartooning into that look as well. The main difference is for most medieval figures they aren’t necessarily meant to be expressive in the facial expressions, while for me, that’s my favorite part!
Anyways, it’s been a very busy year, and I’m looking forward to picking up new zines and meeting new folks tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good holiday season!
Tomatobird Art 