Final Illustration of my character Marie

Designs for the final illustration of Marie

I decided for my final illustration I wanted to first play with a series of events of Marie playing with tug and pull ducks. It all starts happy but she then gets her legs caught in the string and in an attempt to free herself she just makes her situation worse.  

Over all I really like the second image best so I decided to finalise it and make it my final illustration for my character Marie. 

Dressing Marie

Everyone who knows Beatrix Potter's children's books knows that she illustrates her animals in clothing that was around during her time. I decided to design Marie an outfit more suitable to this time period. I started with a few basic designs and then developed it on further from there.  

I really liked the idea of a bow so I decided to develop it a bit more but I also liked the idea of the little pink jumper.

After developing the bow idea a little more I was worried it would make her too cat like for the final illustration, Beatrix's  characters all have a human quality to them. I decided try out a dress to see if that would help bring it along. 

After the dress design idea I was starting to see human qualities come to life but something was still missing.. So I decided to have both the bow and the dress! 

  I felt like it was the strongest outfit for Marie I wanted to develop it further so I decided to do a watercolour study in the style of Beatrix Potter of Marie in her little outfit. 

I really liked how Marie came out and I still love the outfit however I feel it would have looked better if I'd done it in pink... For the final illustration I will defiantly  be drawing her in a pink bow and dress!

Second hand sketches

Because Marie was such a challenge drawing in first hand I decided to take my own images of her and work from second hand images. This way I could get an idea of her fur direction and of the little details that make up her fur pattern. 

My first hand sketches of Marie

I have decided to draw first hand sketches of my pets because I feel this is the best way for me to get a nice result for my final character illustration. It's also because its the way that Beatrix would have worked. I decided to draw first hand sketches of both my cats Marie and Penny.

 It was easier drawing Penny she is a very lazy cat and sleeps most of the time. I managed to get nice studies of her paws however anything like fur detail was almost impossible because Penny's fur is a very dark black.

It was so difficult to sketch Marie she's at an age where she wants to be running around playing instead of letting me get high amounts of detail in my first hand sketches! However I did get a better understanding of how she moves and acts. I also managed to draw a few interesting poses. RESULT!

Bearix Potter animal studies

Beatrix Potter before making her books had to do a lot of first hand observing. She would go out into the country painting, drawing and sketching the nature around her. 

She would fill sketch books with detailed studies of insects, birds, flowers, ect. 

Her most used medium was watercolour, some of her watercolour studies are shown below.

She loved to draw her pet rabbit Peter, she used him to study proportions and to get a better understanding of how rabbits move, act and behave. Her Rabbit gave Beatrix everything she needed to make her children's tales of Peter Rabbit so effective.

Here are some of her studies of her rabbit.

So for my character I have decided to do first hand sketches of my own pet, Marie, a small moggy cat. 

Beatrix Potter, English author, Illustrator, Natural scientist and conservationist.

Most people growing up would have at least once encountered the charming stories written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, she certainly made a big appearance to me throughout my childhood. She is an amazing example of how woman born in the 1800s had such a hard time making something of there lives while they were still alive!  Beatrix Potter was born on the 28 July 1866 and would become best known for her imaginative children's books that celebrated the British landscape and country life. 

Many of her projects and stories started when Beatrix would smuggle small animals into the house or observe her surrounding during her family holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. Her uncle attempted to introduce her as a student at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew but she was very quickly rejected because she was female. 

As time went on Beatrix was encouraged to publish her story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit however she struggled to find a publisher who would support her stories until it was finally accepted in 1902. That one small book and the many that followed were extremely well received by the public and she gained an independent income from the sales. (an amazing achievement for the times) 

Beatrix was secretly engaged to the publisher Norman Warne but her parents hated the idea of her marrying someone who worked for a living. Sadly he died before their wedding making a breach between Beatrix and her parents.

In total Potter wrote 23 books, they were published in a small format, easy for children to hold and read. Her writing efforts become less around 1920 due to poor eyesight, her last major work was, The Tele of Little Pig Robinson, published in 1930.

Through out her life time Potter achieved so much she was also some what of a scientist, considered an expert in mycology. She was actually the one of the first people to make the connection that lichens were a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae, her attempts to publish this knowledge was thwarted. She had to have her uncle read her paper at the scientific society because they did not admit females. Her painted recordings of microscopic images of fungi have been widely admired. 

In her later years she bought and ran a sheep farm in the English Lake District. She loved the landscape and with her royalties from the books and her inheritance she bought up large areas of local land so the natural beauty could remain unspoiled  She befriended one of the founders of the National Trust and in her will her left much of the property to the the Trust to insure her land was untouched. Her legacy is now part of the Lake District National Park.  

Potter at the age of 47 married William Heelis, they had no children. She died in her home in Sawrey, Lancashire on the 22 December 1943.