As You Wish
As You Wish - Art Drop Oct 1st 12 noon EST
When I was asked if I would create some paintings inspired by The Princess Bride, my immediate response was... as you wish!
I collected some of these vintage pieces two years ago... and like Inigo awaiting his revenge, many of you have been incredibly patient as I worked towards altering these! Thank you for bantering with me along the way. I mean it.
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"As You Wish" |
"What is this? Are you trying to trick me? Where's the sports? …Is this a kissing book?"
–Kid
I first saw The Princess Bride when I was eight years old... I remember hearing my parents watching it with friends and laughing very loudly while I tried to sleep! I was so pleased when they said I could watch it... and for an 8-year-old, some of it as a bit full on! But, there was so much to love... and as I grew up and watched it over and over, I grew to appreciate the movie more and more!
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Before : This Australian landscape had such a romantic feel, I knew it would be the perfect place for Westley & Buttercup. I know the story takes places in Floren... but this choice of landscape is my nod to Vizzini's monologue about Australians! The vintage print was actually collected in Melbourne, Australia while visiting for my brother's wedding! The print had faded in places, so in my alteration I adjusted the colours a bit as I painted to work with those areas sun had kissed it. |
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I like to draw on top of the image with tracing paper to get an idea of where I want the additions to go. And before adding in the amorous pair, I painted the sheep out of the landscape!
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Then I got the giant magnifying glass out and put on my reading glasses and spent a decent amount of time carefully painting their very tiny faces! |
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I liked this pose best, the tender moment before they kissed... because when I watched it as a kid, I always had the same disgusted thought "They're kissing AGAIN!" |
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"Out For A Pleasure Cruise" Original, Prints & Digital | Watch the reel of this being painted! |
“Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels! If you don’t believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh!” — Vizzini
This little old painting had been in my collection for a couple years. Because it was in such rough shape, and the style was rustic and old, it didn't really lend itself for an idea that has a lot of fine details. But when I started working on my paintings inspired by The Princess Bride, I felt this one would be perfect for it as well. The old, rough look makes it feel like it was painted back when the fairytale took place... so the elements I added, I was careful to paint them roughly, as if they were always there.
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Before : I collected this antique painting from its second owner here in Toronto. It had been imported years ago from Scotland. It was in very dirty condition, so I gave it a gentle clean to lift off the yellowing varnish, and was happy with the brighter sky and sails... but I couldn't get all the tarnish out of it (but I think this adds to the old fairytale look.) It had previously been repaired from a puncture which has been neatly fixed |
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I kept the boat in the same wonky style as the original, only tinting it and adding some flare to match Vizzini's boat from the film. The Dread Pirate Roberts ship can be seen subtly in the distance. There was a boat of sailors rowing to shore, which I removed to make room for shrieking eels! |
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“Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels! If you don’t believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh!" — Vizzini Don't worry. The seagull doesn't get eaten by the eel. I'm saying this because you seem worried. |
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Can you spot the teeny tiny Inigo, Fezzick, Vizzini and Buttercup on the ship?! |
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"Waiting For Vizzini" Original, Prints & Digital | Watch the reel of this being painted!
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"You surely are a meanie." –Fezzick
The poor Spaniard... his quest for revenge wasn't going very well, especially after being defeated in a duel by the Man in Black! It was a blow to his confidence, so he went back to the beginning where he was hired, and attempted to drown his sorrows! Fortunately for him, his rhyming friend found him and lovingly returned him to health, lol!
This vintage painting already felt like it was about a fairytale... I just nudged it towards looking like the Floren landscape. I changed the sails of the boats to match the style of Vizzini's boat. The castle was transformed into Humperdinck's castle (which is real life castle Hadden Hall, in Derbyshire, England.) The roofs of the Italian style homes were transformed into thatched roofs with some weathering on the walls where they were in disrepair. I removed the figure entering the village... and painted the Spaniard, murmuring to himself and nodding off in the afternoon sun.
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Before : The original vintage painting was collected locally here in Ontario. The frame is so, so beautiful... aged, but beautiful. Lots of details in it. Very sturdy, especially with the art being on wood. It has an overall tarnished look to the painting... it has been thoroughly cleaned, this is just due to the age of the art. Which I think adds to the charm and the fairytale feel of it all. |
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“…when a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning. And this is where we got the job. So it's the beginning, and I'm staying till Vizzini comes… I am… waiting… for… Vizzini…” —Inigo Montoya |
Studies & Sketches...
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"Humperdinck's Castle" Original & Digital | Watch the reel of this being painted! "I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped." —Prince Humperdinck Before painting the alterations, I spent some time drawing and painting studies of my favourite elements from the film The Princess Bride. Humperdinck's castle was always the epitome of a fairytale castle to me, so felt like a trip back to my childhood to paint this watercolour study of it. The real life castle is Hadden Hall, in Derbyshire, England.
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Looking at these again makes me want to watch the movie again and do more painting! It was a pleasure working on these, and I loved sitting with my kids while drawing these studies and deciding on what I wanted to add to the vintage paintings. |
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Cast-off canvasThis what I brush my paintbrush off on as I work, so it has a little bit of each painting on it! Of all the souvenirs left over of the art journey, I enjoy this one the most... sometimes I put them on the wall with prints, but most continue their journey with me on my next paintings. |
Thank you for taking the time to browse my collection of paintings & illustrations! The entire collection can be found here : As You Wish - Art Drop.
Altering these paintings to celebrate one of my favourite fairytales was a pleasure... to not make any more art for this series in the future would be inconceivable!
--Heather
