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| Stinky, Stinky Little Pig |
Recently I was fortunate to illustrate a
story for issue #132 of Space and Time Magazine.
Space and Time has been a creative
institution since the 60s, featuring a broad spectrum of short stories,
poetry, and artwork in genres from science fiction, fantasy, horror,
and weird fiction. It was an honor to provide an illustration and a particular joy being inspired by this story. I
especially owe thanks to art director (and fellow Lafferty fan),
Diane Weinstein for making this possible.
[Warning: Spoilers]
Stinky, Stinky Little Pig is a tale by author David Sandner about a taxing encounter between an
aged Lewis Carroll, a grownup Alice Liddell, and one of her young
sons.
In an odd coincidence, I have always been drawn to the lives surrounding the "real" Alice in Wonderland. In the mid-1980s there was a movie titled Dreamchild
which focused on the relationship between Charles Dodgson and Alice
Liddell. It's been a while and I cannot speak to the quality of the
film now, but the movie left a profound impression and throughout my
life I've read several books specifically about Dodson and the
Liddell family. Many of those books are still in my personal library.
So then, as I flipped through the story pages provided by the magazine and it is revealed this is, in
fact, a story about Dodgson and Alice, I unexpectedly found myself gasping and tossing the manuscript across the room. It was
frighteningly fortuitous that my first experience professionally
illustrating a story should be on this subject.
I couldn't finish reading the story immediately. Instead, I Googled the author. David
Sandner is a professor of English and scholar of Romanticism and
children's literature. I remembered from school that Romanticism encompassed art and illustration as well as prose and poetry and I
started looking for something in those works to inspire my
illustration for this story.
I found that inspiration in The Sleep
of Reason Produces Monsters by Francisco Goya.
The image of the dreary artist haunted
by woes embodied by wildlife guided my own concept. One difference of note: Goya's monsters are focused upon the man, whereas mine are hidden and dismissive; as if the character is haunted not by their leering eyes but the lack thereof, the exception, of course, being the dodo.
I drew upon a number of references and interspersed as many clues as I could fit, from Dodgson's home at Oxford to Tenniel's original illustrations for Through The Looking-Glass; from portraits of Dodgson to photographs of Alice's children; adapting them as best I could to my cartoonish style.
I drew upon a number of references and interspersed as many clues as I could fit, from Dodgson's home at Oxford to Tenniel's original illustrations for Through The Looking-Glass; from portraits of Dodgson to photographs of Alice's children; adapting them as best I could to my cartoonish style.
In total it was a
fulfilling experience and in so many ways a dream realized.
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| Click image to enlarge |
