Trek Exchange Art

[tripperfunster]

This was drawn for hopesopalshard for the comm trek_exchange

They asked for AU, where some of the characters were melded with Alice in Wonderland.



There is a lot that I like about this pic. Chekov in a dress!! He seemed like the most innocent character, so he got to be Alice. Spock's ears made him a shoe-in for the Rabbit, Kirk's cheezoid smile gave him first dibs on the Cheshire(sp?) cat, and Bones picked the short straw to be the Mad Hatter. Oh, and a Klingon-ish queen of hearts type character.

If you look closely, there's a teeny Enterprise sillouetted in the moon, and a Damnit Jim! tucked into McCoy's hat. (along with a mini hypo-spray in his hand.)

What I DON'T like about this pic could fill an entire post. :( My utter fail at watercolours, for one. grrr I don't, for the life of me, know why I would pick a medium that I KNOW I fail at, for an exchange piece. I guess I just keep hoping that I will magically improve. And I HAVE improved, really, but not ... um ... magically. How can some things (pencil, pastel, crayon) come so easily, and some others (WATERCOLOURS) not?

Other things to not like: The fact that not one character is interacting with another. They're all kind of stuck together in a creepy cut and paste way. There was the potential for some really cool character reactions and I didn't get there. There also isn't enough contrast between the characters and the background/foreground. Probably because i just didn't plan this out very well. The Klingon/Queen was an afterthought, and I had already drawn the tree, so I sort of just bullied her in there.

sorry to go on, I really don't mean to belly ache, I guess I'm just trying to sort it all out in my head, so I can continue to improve. I tried to make the characters as CS Lewis as I could, and i think they really do have that flavour. Which, frankly, is just plain creepy. This entire book/movie really creeped me out as a kid.

bla bla bla tl;dr: I hope you like it, hopesopalshard!

Comments

[jikeidannin.livejournal.com]

That is SO fantastic!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad, despite my ranting, that you still liked it!

[lozateazer.livejournal.com]

I love this! It's great, and you really have the characterizations down! It's combining two of my favorite things, and strangely, two of my favorite ships! (Alice/Mad Hatter; Chekov/McCoy)

Also, don't worry about the interaction thing. In the books, everyone's very self-absorbed and uncaring for Alice. It's only appropriate that in the art it'd be the same!

Though I think you mean Lewis Carroll--CS Lewis was the Narnia books! Oops!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

OMG! I posted this late at night, and totally effed up with the Lewis Carroll/Cs Lewis thing. ahahaha! What a tool I am! Thanks for pointing it out. durrr

And I love that you actually have an Alice icon!!

[maxwrite.livejournal.com]

I love this! Jim as the Cheshire Cat! XD I can't even tell you how perfect that is. And Chekov in a dress! *dies* OMG YES!

All the little details are really amazing! I'm in love with McCoy's hat. And his hair for some reason, lol. Awesome job!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thank you! McCoy is my fav part of this whole pic. (well, that and the teeny enterpirse. (i've never drawn it before!)

I'm so glad you liked, thanks for commenting!

[takhallus.livejournal.com]

That is fantastic! I really love it, I wish there was a tshirt of this, I'd wear it XD

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! As for a shirt, go buy t-shirt transfers from Staple, and make it yourself! You just print them out and iron them on. I do it all the time.

[jin-fenghuang.livejournal.com]

watercolour is the devil

I love all things Alice and this is made from win!I love all the detail you put in and Kirk as Cheshire cat is genius!
Go girl!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And really, who else could Kirk be?

[jin-fenghuang.livejournal.com]

argh, wrong account.

As I was saying: I think he would also make an awesome Mad Hatter.

[euclase.livejournal.com]

Watercolours are so disobedient, lol. I know exactly what you mean.

But this is awesome. And so bizarre and creepy, and I love their expressions, and I like it a lot. :D

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I went out and bought some 'real' watercolour paints today. The kids ones were kind of chalky and not very translucent, so they clouded up over the ink.

I am told that better paint will be richer but still allow the ink to show through. LET'S HOPE!

[outofthisplace.livejournal.com]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!
That is all.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

You've already said it all!

[xterm.livejournal.com]

That is soooooo many kinds of AWESOME!!!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[drusillas-rain.livejournal.com]

This is awesome! My favourite is Kirk as the Cheshire cat ^_^

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I honestly couldn't think of who else Kirk could be!

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

OMG dude I really think it's awesome that you took the time to point out the things you liked and didn't like about the art. That's incredibly brave (especially because you aren't being self-deprecating, you're just -as you say - trying to see what exactly there is to improve. IT'S SO CONSTRUCTIVE, YOU'RE AWESOME!!) and I should take a page from your book more often.

I remember in one of the Fanart panels when reallycorking said to the audience that critique is generally good, but people need to understand that the artist has probably already spotted all the wrong things in their art, plus 1,000 more errors - we're our own biggest critic. What we do with that is key to our improvement.

THAT SAID - I think the things you accomplished in this piece really are worthy of pride. OMG LOOK IT'S POINTFORM:
1) The watercolours look like a watercolour wash, which in the case of such a heavily/detailed inked work, is entirely appropriate! I find a lot of old illos made from metal etching get this sort of watercolour wash. On top of that, the colours you chose are very muted and based in the natural colour palette, which adds to that whole Victorian look. YAY.
2) THE INKING. Well, I think you are never bad at inking, but this is surpassing because of the detailing. Cross hatching KDSJFHDSJKFHSDKJF
3) The bg looks like it's moving. I'm sure to you it just looks like mucky watercolours, but I find all the motions and strokes in your painting adds to the slightly sinister nature of Wonderland.
4) The chars may not be interacting, but I agree with the other commenter in that it only adds to that creepy vibe from the CS Lewis book illustrations. Everything in them are vaguely unnatural and bizarre - so the lack of interaction works, in my opinion!

And finally - I think you characterised them PERFECTLY, AHAHAHAH. Kirk as the Cheshire Cat pretty much takes the cake because it's so perfect. I love how you drew Bones' face, his likeness is great!

And uh yeah. Srsly dude, this is an AMAZING job all round, and thanks soooo much for sharing. I really appreciate that you did!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

ahaha! I don't think we spoke this much for the entire con! :D

Thanks so much for the bionic comment!
I actually went out today and bought some REAL watercolours today, so I'm looking forward to playing with them!

Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment, bb. <3

[1scout.livejournal.com]

That is very excellent! My favorite is the cute kitty Kirk because his grin is infectious, although they're all fabulous.
Great job!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon! I honestly couldn't think of who else Kirk could be, other than him!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

This is amazing! Congrats! :-)

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

thank you very much! (sorry for the late reply, I seem to have lost an entire week of my life somewhere. ...?)

[gnatkip.livejournal.com]

I love this.

McCoy's hat!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

:D Thanks! It may well be the first (non wizarding) hat I've ever drawn!

[kerosinkanister.livejournal.com]

That is really impressive!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Despite it's G rating? ;p

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I love it!
(and don't Narnia and Wonderland share a border?)

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Yes! and a national anthem!

[rhaegal.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so creepy! I especially love the WTF look on Chekov's face, and Kirk=Cheshire Cat is canon for me now :D

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

ahaha! I am easily corrupted by fandom too! Thanks for looking!

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely delightful!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I'm so glad i delighted you! :D

[latenightarting.livejournal.com]

I'm hopelessly in the honeymoon phase of fandom right now and happened by and ! The characters and their alternates! The details! The concept and execution! The a la Arthur Rackham classical fairytale colors! The tiny Enterprise against the moon! This is a charming, witty, crazy, fantastic piece.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Thank you!


Yeah, I'm in a full-on swoon over trek too! I read a fic last night that made me CRY LIKE A BABY!

Go read it now: http://classics-geek.livejournal.com/37840.html

It's a Kirk/Bones fic and it's fantastic!

[latenightarting.livejournal.com]

You are amazing! Fic recs are exactly what I have been needing!

[hopesopalshard.livejournal.com]

Awesome picture!! I love it ^.^

Gah, sorry it took me so long to leave a reply; been in and out of computer access, and I wanted to wait 'till I had a stretch to really sit and give a proper reply.

Heheh, I think your casting is great. I also pegged Kirk as being rather feline.. and definitely that grin of his makes him top Cheshire material.
I agree that Chekov, especially Chekov from the new movie, seems like the best innocent 'Alice' type. Poor thing. He looks just so lost and confused by all the madness around him.
The Spock rabbit made me laugh out loud. OOooh boy. Wonder what our half-Vulcan would say to being bunnified. :p I can see this version, rather than the usual "I'm late I'm late!" cry, saying something more also the lines of "Now if you'll pardon me, but time is growing short before I must make a rather important meeting." (Arches one bunny-eyebrow, and tries to slip past in a dignified manner).

And, oh, McCoy. I love the doctor symbol on his hat too! Before I read you comments I was looking at his hand saying, 'Is that a _hypospray_ he's balancing?!'. Great placement! Same for the Enterprise floating through the background.

Honestly, I think the artristy of it is great. The color choices and the characters' style combines to give it this nice, eerie, slightly unsettling feeling. Which is just perfect for wonderland. That's some very nice shading on the characters themselves, and I love how the background color is swirled through with black. Very nice effects.

So, good luck to Alice Chekov getting out of there without too much scarring (mental or otherwise), and thanks so much for the fantastic pic!

~Sky

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like it! It was actually quite a bit of fun to do. i didn't have much more than a passing knowledge of Alice in Wonderland, so I had to do quite a bit of research, which I really enjoyed.

Thanks so much for such a neat and unique prompt!

[waise-du-zarroc.livejournal.com]

This is totally awesome! Chekov looks totally worried. Jim makes a truly fantastic Chesire cat!