Melancholic Tangerine

In this work I took the opportunity to develop two concepts that have always interested me a lot: a hybrid humanoid creature, and an environment with climatic changes. 

The main character of this work is the Melancholic Mandarin, a princess of the Qin dynasty who was turned into a tree as punishment for her selfishness.

I developed an oniric and vegetal environment inspired by some very pleasant dreams I recently had. I sought to create a garden that had a mix of wild but at the same time human environment. As if it had been abandoned long ago by man, and nature had taken control of it.

To reinforce the calm and harmony of the garden, I added a stream with fountains, and used warm colors and greenish tones. The garden transmits warmth and security, it is a place where you could lie next to the tree and enjoy a peace close to nirvana.

The color wheel changes completely when passing through the garden at night. The blues reign, with many more shadows, and from the treetops the whitish light of the moon. I added some bright butterflies and fireflies to make the garden seem like a place only possible in dreams, where magic and peace reign.

For this next change of weather in the environment (my personal favorite) the tones of the image become much less saturated, and more grayish. I added a thin layer of fog and rain, making it a nostalgic and sad place, but somehow it is a calm sadness, of acceptance of what happened in the past.

The snow was the hardest environment for me to do. I wanted the atmosphere to be cold in some way but still feel cozy, like in a Christmas card.

The frozen river and fountains and the snow falling and forming a layer on the tree are the main factors that turn this formerly spring landscape into the middle of winter.

This where the four early concepts between I choose what to follow. I get inspiration in Mary Blair, the most iconic Disney concept artist, who helped to developed some of the most iconic movies of the company, such as "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter Pan" and "Sleeping Beauty".

I also did many studies of what I wanted the hybrid creature to be like, half woman, half tangerine tree, looking for a soft and semi-realistic style, different from the type of art I usually make.

I carried out many color studies before choosing which one to opt for, looking for the classic colors used in books and scrolls from feudal China.