Liberating the River God, by Justine Sweet. Concept Art for the 2008 movie Prince Caspian. But… there was nothing in the text about a waterfall at Beruna. And surely, when Aslan did this, it was clear, sunny day … ?
Tag: Art and artists
Aug 21
Stone Knife and Stone Table
Even in contemporary children’s and YA books (as of 2020, when I am writing this) it’s hard to think of a more shocking passage than the White Witch killing Aslan at the Stone Table. Four Hags, holding four torches, stood at the corners of the Table. The Witch bared her arms as she had bared …
Aug 19
Worldbuilding Wednesday
8/19/20: Narnia XII
The Magician’s Nephew ranks third (tied with The Horse and His Boy) as my Chronicles favorite for the Weird Tales awesomeness that is Charn. As I wrote in The Wild Lands of the North, Lewis was more than a little influenced by the pulps (and the pulps influenced by Lord Dunsany and E. R. Eddison, …
Aug 04
The Many Faces of the White Witch – Part IV
Let’s finish this series about the White Witch with some odds and ends. First up, this depiction of Snow White’s evil queen by artist Colleen Doran. She’s holding up a bloody heart by a string. Though not Lewis’s character, she could very well be her, and the heart would be Edmund’s or Aslan’s. Next, a …
Jul 27
Narnia Lacquer Box
I love the detail on this piece and how the story of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has been culturally translated. The artist drew on the imagery for the movie, not the book, as the polar bears and armored centaurs attest… as is High King Peter riding on his unicorn.
Jul 13
The Many Faces of the White Witch – Part I
The Icon The most iconic character (after Aslan the Lion, that is) of The Chronicles of Narnia is The White Witch, the villainess of both the first book and the sixth, and referred to in all the others. She’s a sorceress, a wicked queen, a petty spoilsport, a warrior general, and a femme fatale all …
Jun 29
Louis Wain’s Aslan
This artist’s depiction of Aslan, with its eerie staring eyes, shares a disturbing similarity to the cat pictures of popular Victorian English artist Louis Wain. Wain is often cited in psychology textbooks as a classic case of how schizophrenia alters the afflicted’s sense of reality.
Jun 22
Cair Paravel
Cair Paravel, Narnia’s royal castle, as depicted in a Pauline Baynes illustration from the original book, and in an artist’s concept for the movie. The movie version is larger and grander but keeps to the same outline.
May 27
Worldbuilding Wednesday
5/27/20:The Best of Twittersnips
xxxx(Magic Items, Part 2)
It’s pretty hard to find artwork of fantasy characters using magic items, even wands. Most contemporary artists just picture them with blasts of energy flying from their hands, which is visual shorthand for “MAGIC!” Rowena Morrill is one of the rare few who has depicted them. She actually read the books and took notes of …