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Princess Kida from ATLANTIS

19 comments

This drawing was done back in 1997 when I was doing early development work for Disney’s Atlantis.

At one point, the princess was going to die, but be brought back to life by the mysterious crystal around her neck. In a moment of movie magic she is resurrected, and the ancient city is also brought back to life.

This image was done before the characters were finalized so my princess design is not “on model,” but aside from that, the final version stayed fairly faithful to my initial concept design. You know: green glow, white light, and weightless-lifeless scantly clad girl floating in a tube of light.

If you are wondering how I was able to capture that charming, translucency and variation in the areas of color…that’s because this image was done with magic marker. I wasn’t working in Photoshop much back then, so this image was done “old school.” It’s funny to look at now, with that sort of crude blending and uneven variations in color that give it that charming artsy look. Believe me, it wasn't intentional...it was the state of the art of a bygone era.

Here is where the all the anatomy drawings pay off directly.

I believe this drawing was reproduced in the Atlantis book, but was a small reproduction.

19 comments :

craig said...

anatomy indeed! beautiful piece Marcelo. The posing,lighting.Excellent

Marcelo Vignali said...

Craig, you're no slouch yourself. Your work is quite amazing...so I've added you to my links.

Martin Wittig said...

wow! Beautiful work...

Hans said...

Really great piece! It's so cool to see pre-production art, which for some reason often looks better than the final product?! This one makes a really nice poster.
I added another version of the underwater drawing on my blog. I gave it a PS makeover, toned down the details and made the atmosphere thicker and more underwater-like as you adviced. Could probably take it even further, but definitely more convincing.

Thanks again:),

Hans

A. Riabovitchev said...

Really Beautiful!!!!:O)

Perry Linton Joseph Osuna said...

It's funny how life work just finished lookin over that very art of book and saw your name then felt quite foolish cause I had connected your name to my favourite pieces that I learned alot about designing from and it was u all one in the same. Then I drop by and u have kida posted just proves we are all connected in one way or another well I'll continue to drop in and see what really good.

L out

Niccolò Storai said...

I love that piece , very naturally pose , many compliments!

Henry Elmo Bawden said...

Nice work Marcelo. Everytime I see your marker pieces it makes me want to spend the few thousand and get a set. I miss seeing the "artsy look" on a lot of the pieces that are coming out now in the digital era. The inking is fantastic. Did you just take a brush and splatter the top? I was noticing the fun effect and wasn't sure if you trusted your piece to have something that random on it. Always impressed. It looks good.

-Henry

Marcelo Vignali said...

Thanks everyone for your compliments.

Henry, yep, that's old fashioned ink splattering. Back in "the day," you didn't have an extra layer in Photoshop superimposed over your image...just in case a gob of ink landed on an eye or something like that. So, I would quickly make a removable tape mask for those spots I didn't want ink to land on and just go for it. With enough experience, you can be reasonably accurate. Still, it's like firing a shotgun at 30 yards.

The ink work was done with a brush, or Japanese Kenji caligraphy brush pen.

It's funny how the magic marker look is becoming nostalgic. It used to be regarded as "quick and dirty."

Unknown said...

Your concept arts, figure and layout drawings are beautiful and inspirting!! Love the sense of movement in them too!! :)

Patrick said...

Love the colors on this Marcelo. I am really getting into coloring my sketches with Prismacolor markers lately, I guess because I never tried them much until this year. Funny how that works... Always cool to see your work-It's like a trip to inspiration city!

Kactiguy said...

My three year old son and I watched it just yesterday. It's always cool for me to see the concept art. Looks great. You gotta love those markers.

David Colman said...

Thanx for the comment on my blog Mo, that piece has your teachings inscribed all over it.

kcirbuk said...

Wow, wow,wow and wow!!

Marcelo-great art!!!

Paco K.

David Zweig said...

gotta say that i've always felt that this was one of the most under-valued films when it comes to design in the last decade. story could have been improved, but man...that was wonderful to look at. such great work!

Marcelo Vignali said...

You know David, I appreciate you saying that. I agree, the story was dismal but the design work was stellar. There were some really top designers and animators on this film.

When I previewed Atlantis at our screening, I was sure this film would perform poorly in the box office, but as time went by it would create a fan following that would become cult-like because of the art work. (The pre-production artwork was even better! Mignola's original character designs were sooo good. I also have to add that Atlantis has some of the best character animation ever! Granted, there were some sub par animated sequences too. It was hot and cold.)

Thanks again.

Mark McDonnell said...

Beautiful Marcelo. And wonderfully alive, great weight . . . lessness too.

MAC

NOLLAN OBENA said...

Great work. This was always my favorite from the "Art of..." book. It's been a blessing.

kida said...

kida is awsome my nickname is kida