Alice, roughs 7/14

Note : I am posting the progression of these Alice pieces, start to finish. This stage is the rough + color study.

From Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 6, Pig and Pepper :

So she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to see it trot away quietly into the wood.' If it had grown up,' she said to herself, 'it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.' And she began thinking over other children she knew, who might do very well as pigs, and was just saying to herself, 'if one only knew the right way to change them--' when she was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off.

The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

'Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on.'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

'I don't much care where--' said Alice.

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

'--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.

'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'

Pretty straightforward, perhaps a little too green, but I'm pleased with the value study.

The Cheshire Cat is of course based on one of my own cats, my lab partner, James. You may remember this small piece from a couple months back,


Again, thank you all for the comments, I'm so glad to see that these progressions are helpful and enjoyable. Just wait until we get to the painting, then the fun is really going to start.

Next post, Wednesday : "Your hair wants cutting."