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Submitted: July 21, 2005
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La Belle et la Bete 02by ~Photia

Traditional Art / Paintings / Fantasy

Since I like to have a grand project and my interest in Beauty and the Beast doesn't seem to be going away, I have decided to attempt a fully-illustrated version (planning about 17 illustrations at present). I have redesigned the characters entirely for the project, which I'll be calling "La Belle et la Bête" to minimize confusion. Whether this will fizzle out or not remains to be seen, but this is illustration number two. I would really like to get this right, so critique is very welcome. I was going for a sort of old-fashioned genre painting feel.

Following the family's relocation to the country, Beauty cheerfully adapted to her new role, getting up at four in the morning to do the housework and prepare meals. She found it very hard at first, being unused to working like a servant, but two months of effort made her stronger and healthier. When she was finished her chores she passed the time by reading, playing the harpsichord and singing.

Acrylics and ink on watercolour paper, plus a bit of digital tweaking.

~sisterjanet Aug 7, 2005

The only thing I can think of to suggest for this picture is to make a little more of a color difference between her hands, the dough, and the table. It seems like that little circle of space around the dough is rather lacking in color. Other than that minor thing, this is a lovely picture.

~Photia Aug 17, 2005

I wrote a reply to this, but I don't know where it went... hope it doesn't show up somewhere embarrassing. Anyway, the reason that there is so little colour difference between the hands, dough and table is that I meant them to look as if they were covered with flour. So while heightening the difference between them would get rid of some of the boldness of the lines, it would also lessen the appearance of flour, which is something I don't want to do. Thanks for the suggestion, though, and I'm sorry it took so long to reply.

~H-Johanna Jul 24, 2005 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

A very delicate and beautiful picture. I've read so many stories on bueaty and the best it's hard to tell which version I like best, but indeed this one is very, very nice. I love the way you make and create the shadows and find it hard to utter a word of critisism to this picture, I can't wait to see the others in this serie

~Photia Jul 26, 2005

Thank you! I hope to have more up soon.

~feelinhungry Jul 24, 2005

It's absolutely beautiful -- I love the form -- and her hands look amazing in the dough. I read ~enmirii's comment and I agree about the age -- I think it's the hair. Not necessarily the color, but the style. I would maybe add a bit more curl or wisps about her face, or, if possible, try a bun to show her hair up. I think it's a beautiful style the way it is now -- don't get me wrong -- but I don't think it's serving the purpose you wish it to. Also, I see half the things are outlined and half aren't. I would stick to all or none -- I think her hands look a bit odd with such a stark, black outline around them. I know it's difficult to do without outlining because they're practically the same color, but maybe it's a risk you could take?? Or maybe you could try it with a different, lighter color.

I love your use of light and shadow coming through the window -- you created a really excellent aura about the room. I love the flour on her hands and the details, like the cracked eggshell nearby. Another beautiful piece...

~Photia Jul 24, 2005

Thanks for the advice! I really have no clue what I can do about the lines - the problem is that I did outline everything, but the dramatic lighting hid most of them (so the lines disappeared wherever there was a dark/light contrast or general dark area, leaving them awfully obvious wherever I had a light object and light background). I tried lightening them digitally, but the result did not show up very well and so I think I'll end up leaving them as they are.

Regarding the hair, though, I have changed it and updated with a new version, complete with a bun and a bit of half-loose hair, and put the pre-edit version here. I think it looks a lot better this way, so thanks for the suggestion!

~feelinhungry Jul 24, 2005

Oooh, I really like the hair.. good job!! I'm glad it worked for you!! Keep up the lovely pictures, I get so excited when I see you have a new or edited deviation in my messgaes

~enmirii Jul 23, 2005

I think that it looking much better with the hair lighter. I still love the colors and the way that their are little details to the painting. I think it's gerat.

~enmirii Jul 22, 2005

It's such a lovely watercolor. The colors mix with each other nicely and it gives it the feel of an older painting like you wanted. She looks a little older then the character should be. I've had the pleasure of reading the story a little bit ago and this girl seems a little too old. She's supposed to be thr youngest daughter if I'm not mistaken.

The girl has this semi peaceful appearance, but when you really look into the face and add the surroundings to the girl she seems in mourning because of her father's ship never someing back.

I'm kind of split. I'm not sure what time period she's coming in at. If it was when she just moved then I could see, but if she's been there a while. In the story she seemed to have become more content with her life while her other family members where in a state of depression. She's recovered faster.

As I said before it's a lovely drawing, with the color mixing nicely and no one could say that the anatomy isn't perfect. I love the little touches you've added to make it appear more of the inside of the kicten with the egg shells and the water spill.

I love these kinds of drawings.

~Photia Jul 22, 2005

You have a good point about her age, since she is indeed the youngest. I'm not sure what I can do to make her look younger - I might try to make her cheeks a bit rounder or make her hair blonde instead of white.

As far as what time it is during the first two months mentioned in the story, I'm really not sure. I didn't really plan on pinning it down too much, so the viewer could associate it with any time during those months. I did end up not giving her an apron, though, in order to show up the flour on her skirt, which is something she'd more likely do at the beginning when she wasn't used to the work.

Thanks for your very helpful comment!

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