My muse invited Alice's rabbit pal over for a visit

...this week, much to my surprise.  A less colorful version of this same event is  that after saying no to an Alice in Wonderland skinny project, about two months ago, and at the 11th hour, I decided I'd join in....  the deadline had long since passed but because there were a few drop outs, my offer to contribute was accepted.

I thought it would be a relatively easy feat.   Boy was I was wrong.  After about 20 solid  hours of creating, and to the point where my eyes had dried up from staring into the blue screen, I finished.   Or I could also say, I gave in!   When all was said and done, I felt like I too had  fallen down the rabbit  hole!

I lost count of how many different versions I created.  My muse went from considering Alice, following her heart, to Alice pouring her heart out... and on and on and on.  I opted at one point  to 'call a friend' and poll the audience and  lucky for me, both Marsha and Michele rushed to  the scene to offer some very helpful critiques - (I owe you both!)  Although some of their suggestions aren't reflected in the final version, they are  tucked away for reference when I return back to Wonderland. 

Considering how much time I spent  on this project this week,  I thought I would blog about my whacky and unpredictable  creative  process as it went along.    To be frank,  I need a good reason to laugh at myself and how deeply involved I ended up getting.  Since I could use the company....I hope you'll be able to share in some of my laughter...after all it's at my expense! Heh, maybe you will  even identify with some of my  'thoughts' ...to use the term loosely and  creative decisions that creep into your own  art work.  The right brain can play clever little tricks on me at times and I'd love to hear from you if  you come across  similar foibles and also fall right into your own rabbit hole?

Along the way, I also discovered I had begun to sing this old song in my head after about 10 hours into the project....Remember this one?  Before I googled it I'd thought it was a Doors tune by Jim Morrison...but no it's Jefferson Airplane!!  I have always wondered about the amount of  LSD involved in both these lyrics and in Lewis Carroll's mind.....what's your take on this?  Ya Think???

White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

One pill makes you larger

And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you

Don't do anything at all

Go ask Alice

When she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits

And you know you're going to fall

Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar

Has given you the call
Call Alice

When she was just small
When men on the chessboard

Get up and tell you where to go

And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving slow

Go ask Alice

I think she'll know

When logic and proportion

Have fallen sloppy dead

And the White Knight is talking backwards

And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"

Remember what the dormouse said;

"Keep YOUR HEAD."

Wish I would have taken that advice....maybe next time I'll pay more attention to not only the message but the brilliant images that come to mind in these lyrics.

So here we go....

***In the above  version I was trying to convey that Alice and the rabbit were in pursuit of her heart - it was dusk and thus the lantern.....but I didn't think the path in the background showed up well enough so, as you can see in the next version, I mucked about with the heart, adding legs, and then I thought it started to look too contrived.***

***This  just didn't seem to work ...so I went back to the drawing board and reconfigured the images into the dimensions of a 'skinny' page which is essentially the height being double the width.....****

I didn't mind this one - but still....too storybookish...so I began to play with cropping the image... and that's  precisely how the one  below 'showed up'....

Well, ok -might make a good cut and glue ATC at some point in the future....but I was still not 'feeling it' so   I scrapped these all together and started working with some new images

 Day Two

I loved this background (see credits below) and also found this hauntingly pretty woman from The Graphics Fairy.....but still not there....

Below - my muse began to consider 'hearts'....

Hearts...yes - lots of them...yes pouring out a tea cup - ya know, hearts and tea parties...that's Alice isn't it??  I'm thinking...it's a concept.......but pyramid power hearts...nope.. and they have no movement...they're awful..Scrap that one....and....oh oh, Trudi....why are you  still holding on to the rabbit....even if it was just his ears!!! 

OK - lots of movement with the hearts now...they do look like they could be pouring from the tea cup....but GEEZ Louise!! I thought you were going to get rid of those rabbit ears....and now you've gone and added a mushroom cap?  Obviously, it's time to take a break...a very long break....maybe even have a cup of tea...

Day Three

Sometime between midnight and the morning of Day 3, Alice's body  mysteriously disappeared and luckily, so did her mushroom hat with rabbit ears.  In their place....those thorny roses...  I remembe my muse thinking ....hmmm...good symbols for Alice's angst in meeting the queen....might have to work with those... 

Finally, above - after a suggestion is made to add in some color to the roses, I decide it's either off with my muses head, or it's time to wrap it up. 

Side note - because I hadn't saved my image to adjust, I had to

1)  go back and digitally paint each heart one by one, I kid you not.... do you see the irony???? 

2)  elongate it to fit the 4x8 dimensions.  I'm still not happy about that. A big compromise, but  one I was forced to make....because....the deadline for this project having already passed, ...I was late, very late for a very important date so ....

reluctantly, I pressed print....18 times for 36 front pages.

 And then the  back page - much quicker and easier to do...and an opportunity to add in the iconic (couldn't resist) pink flamingo!  Just because I could. 

I have them printed now and cut, but not pasted together. So, I have another few hours left before they see the bottom of the post office box.

Unfortunately, as is often the case,  I  now can see more opportunities to edit and adjust....make the hearts a deeper red, the frame a deeper purple, and correct the shadows on the hearts going every which way.

And, thought it may be a blessing or a curse,  it seems as a side effect of spending a good amount of creative daydreaming  focusing on Alice,  I've dreamt up several other ideas.  So  I won't be surprise if the rabbit drops by for another visit.  

Thanks for reading what I am sure is my longest blog post ever.  Your comments are humbly welcomed.

Image Credits:
*Tumble Fish Studio - frame and black and white border  from BIG WHIMSY, ballerina - TWINKLE TOES, legs from CRAZY LEGS
*Holliewood Studio - roses and vines from VOID, recolored
**Tangie Baxter -  hearts and wings  from MERCADO, recolored, font from LIBRARIAN
**Nicole Perry - tea cup and saucer, flamingo and books
*Clementine Studio - landscape, lantern and rabbit from PIONEER STORY
The Graphics Fairy - female figure, extracted by me, altered and colored
*Studio Gypsy - parchment scroll from MERCURIAL
Vehicle - personal stash extracted

*www.DeviantScrap.com
**www.Scrapbookgraphics.com

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