The magical world has many fascinating creatures from Nifflers to Dragons and many other creatures in between. Sadly, Muggles can't say they have the same fascinating creatures. However, many do consider Disney to be utterly magical and Disney has many animals and creatures featured in their empire. From time to time, Disney will work with artists and have them paint the characters in their own style. Here we will feature four artists, discussing their presentations of the beloved Disney characters.
Alison Lefcort is a Pop Art Painter whose style was influenced by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. She is known for painting a bunch of characters, rock stars, political figures, singers, and other celebrities. Her style is the most simplistic of the four artists featured today (simplistic in look, not in the effort that it takes to create it), but in my opinion that is what makes it stand out. She consistently uses a bright colored background (usually one color, but occasionally shades of the same color), and the character (or person) in grayscale in the front. In 2003, she was commissioned by Disney Fine Art to create paintings of characters from Disney films.
First up from her, is arguably the most famous mouse in the world, Mickey! This image was based on his Sorcerer character, first seen in Fantasia. This painting of hers is titled, Mickey Mouse Sorcerer.
In this image you can see how she has in the background multiple shades of blue. She also has another version of this painting with a solid blue background called Abracadabra. This one was released for Mickey's 75th Anniversary in 2004!
How could we not include the most lovable alien Stitch! Stitch was first seen in 2002 in the movie Lilo and Stitch and quickly captured people's hearts just like this painting of him.
This image was titled Laser Stitch! Just look at the grin across his face as he stares at you from a bright yellow background!
And for a final image from her how could I not choose the Romeo and Juliet story of the Dog World, thankfully with a happier ending, Lady and the Tramp.
With a title of Nuzzling Noses, how could you possibly say no to splitting a plate of spaghetti with these two darling dogs!
Thomas Kinkade was officially known as The Official Painter of Light. He is known for putting a bunch of symbols in his artwork and his Disney series is no different. In all of his Disney paintings, he has included Mickey heads hidden throughout the image. You will know how many are in each image because the number of them will be included in the authors signature stamp. There is said to be other hidden surprises to be found in his Disney paintings if you know where to look, but I won't spoil those surprises for you. Sadly, Kinkade passed away in 2012, but his legacy doesn't end there. His studio continues to employ artists who paint in his style in memory of him (though I believe only his Disney series has continued since the time of his death). These are notated on the paintings as being from Thomas Kinkade Studios rather than Thomas Kinkade.
How many Dalmatians is too many? Not 101 according to Disney! First up we have from Kinkade is an image from his studio after his death.
This painting was simply called 101 Dalmatians. You can see in this image in the background the general style that he was known for in the lights breaking through the clouds.
Next up we have cats doing what cats do... whatever they want to do.
This image was created by Kinkade himself and titled The Aristocats - Love Under The Moon In this image you can see how the road winds its way out of view toward the back of the painting. You will rarely see Kinkade paint a straight road. One of the reasons being he used a curved road to symbolize all the twists and turns that life takes.
Finally, we have the most magical of animals that Disney has created, a flying elephant!
This painting was simply called Dumbo and was also created by his studio. In it you can see some of the same symbolism I spoke about in the first two paintings. The winding road and the light in the sky.
Next up we have a man who likes giving the outdoors a different look. Jim Warren is known for painting many different outdoor areas from mountains to cliffs, but one of the most common scenes he paints is of a beach. He has many different versions of the beach, some with horses coming out of the waves, others with dogs and many other combinations. He describes his work as "the effect of the real mixed with a touch of the unreal." It seems only fitting that when he was commissioned by Disney to paint their characters too that many of the scenes he would create with the characters on some sort of beach scene.
First up we have the lovable Goofy breaking through the backdrop of the beach.
Titled Goofy's Grand Entrance, Warren has created versions of this for many characters including Pluto and the Full Mickey Gang.
How could I not include Donald Duck and his three nephews throughout this piece?
This piece is called Off The Page. He has a couple of similar images where he creates a piece of paper above the painting and outlines what the character looks like in those areas, almost making it seem like the painting is incomplete and leading to a really different look that still looks amazing.
Last up for Warren, we have the Hamlet of the Disney World, The Lion King.
This image brings together his classic beach setting along with the similar concept you saw with Goofy with them coming through a split in the background.
Finally, I left the most interesting artist to talk about to last. Many artists commissioned by Disney, are commissioned because they feel like their style is unique enough that it will add something to Disney's massive collection and you can definitely see that this is true for the three artists above. Despite having the same set of characters to work with, their final products have turned out so different. James Coleman on the other hand has a completely different story from the three of them. Coleman began his career in the mailroom of Disney. His big break into the art world came when he entered one of his paintings in the studio's art show. Disney artists quickly realized his potential and encouraged him to join the animation team where his creative energy was welcomed. His first film with Disney was "Winnie, the Pooh and Tigger, too." He quickly worked his way up to Background Department Supervisor. He worked on Twelve Films in his career including the popular "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast". Coleman left Disney in 1991 to pursue his own fine art career, though he is still known to paint Disney Characters in some of his fine art. Coleman once stated in an interview with the Gallery Park West is that "people sometimes think when they look at one of [his] paintings that there has a Disney flair to it." He states that he isn't "sure how much of the flair that Disney's films had from [his] own work or how much [he] got from them." (I have included the full interview below for those interested, but let's first move to a few of his paintings.)
First up from Coleman, we have characters from Bambi
This image, titled A New Discovery, certainly feels like it could have popped right out of a Disney movie.
Next, we have characters from The Jungle Book
I Wanna Be Like You is the title of this image. Now that you have seen two images of his, you can somewhat start to see where his style is even in all of the flair that Disney is known for.
I couldn't resist leaving you with this final image. This image is with the characters from The Fox and The Hound, one of the movies that Coleman worked on during his time with Disney.
You can see a similar look in the movie itself which possibly inspired this painting in the interview linked below (at about 0:40). When comparing the movie he worked on to this piece titled, >Fox and The Hound, you may really begin to see just where his own flair really begins.
While above we have discussed the magic of Disney and Disney animals and some of the painters lucky enough to paint them, I do believe there is one Muggle animal far more magical than all of these put together. That is the Beagle, especially my Billy and Millie.
See you all in next month's edition.
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