Elfwood is the worlds largest SciFi & Fantasy community.
- 119910 members, 7 online now.
- 27776 site visitors the last 24 hours.

User:		Password:
Not a member yet? Click here to join! (Help)

StartNew!Join UsPopularSciFi & Fantasy ArtStoriesTutorialsCommunityRulesAboutFindForum

SciFi & Fantasy Art / Gallery 54 of 1003 / Elizabeth Sherry / Picture 1 of 9 / Beauty and the Beast

"Beauty and the Beast" by Elizabeth Sherry

SciFi/Fantasy Picture 1 out of 9 by Elizabeth Sherry. ←Previous - Next→

SciFi and Fantasy Art Beauty and the Beast by Elizabeth Sherry

Beauty returns to the castle too late, only to find her beloved Beast dead.

In some versions of the fairytale, it's Beauty's tears that break the spell, and I wanted to show her crying - not just hiding her face in her hands (who would she be hiding it from?), but all-out, hopeless, I-just-killed-the-guy-I-love blubbering. On the other hand, she is supposed to be beautiful, and I didn't want to make her look so ugly in tears that her image here would contradict her name - also, I wanted people to be sympathetic, rather than repulsed. It's a tricky balance between romance and realism, and I'm not quite sure if I got it right.

I did this in pencil, with a lot of smudging to get a flat grey, then using darker pencils and kneadable eraser to get the shadows and highlights. I liked how that worked - it's faster, and it reminds me in some weird way of real black and white fairytale illustrations.

(Graphite pencil, 2004)

Date	Name	Comment
2 Dec 2007	Joelle Duran	Loading... Everything about her pose and expression just shouts of grief. Fantastic work!
11 Dec 2007	David Michael	Loading... I think it definitely works. She's clearly beautiful and clearly in the throes of ultimate suffering (...um, that wasn't meant to remind you of Princess Bride!). The dark shadows work great. Only thing is the Beast's hair looks a little too human...I mean, that's probably your intention, but gentle, silky human hair on beasts always looks too weird for me. shrugs Doesn't mean the picture isn't incredible, though. Her pain seems real.
30 Dec 2007	Ceinwen Fang	Loading... I can see the thought you've put into this and it really works... her face is perfect; it's obviously sobbing and yet beautiful too. Thumbs up for this, very emotional piece
7 Feb 2008	Stephanie L. Barker	Loading... beautifuly done. love the detail
23 Mar 2008	Désirée Dippenaar	Loading... stunned The shading is excellent! Really beautiful take on the scene, I think you did very well in mixing the romance and realism. I also like the details such as the rose under his paw, and the petals on the ground... great work!!!
28 Apr 2008	Lilit Wampire Zeltsburg	Loading... Soooo touching! weep weep
12 Jul 2008	Neva the Snow Maiden	Loading... in awe God, this looks like something you find in an antique book of etchings! I love all the emotion you’ve caught in this picture, and your beautiful detailing. And don’t be worrided about how you’ve portrayed Beauty; she lives up to her name, and also displays all her grief at losing the Beast. In truth, I find her even more beautiful and real, because you can her deep feelings of love and loss in this picture. I think it gives it more of a human element.
22 Oct 2008	Anonymous	Loading... Wonderful...you shouldn’t worry, the emotion here is captured perfectly!
14 Mar 2009	Naghi spinu sorin	Loading... coul ,hear y just , love it
8 Sep 2009	Shanny Rogans	Loading... Absolutely gorgeous! It really looks like she’s crying.
Page: [1] 2 3 4