Alice Project Update : Wonderland Completed

I have now completed making copies of all 42 of Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations for Alice in Wonderland. Which doesn’t mean that my self-imposed challenge is complete since I’ve only copied fifteen of the original illustrations for Through the Looking Glass which means I have 35 still to do. Nonetheless I’m allowing myself a small celebration. So, let’s begin with looking at the last 3 copies:-

I’m not unhappy with his one. It shows Alice growing inside the courtroom, and it’s one of my better attempts at Alice’s face. In the original, I like the way that there’s so much more going on in this illustration than you take in with a glance and that’s something that it has in common with many of Tenniel’s original illustrations.

Like the first Cheshire Cat illustration this one was designed to fit around the text on the page. It’s a nice original, a companion piece to the frontispiece that I sketched a few days ago.

Finally the last illustration in the book, with Alice realising that they are all nothing but a pack of playing cards. Sadly another less than perfect rendition of Alice’s face. Once again an illustration that has more going on than you take in with one glance. Among the animals on the bottom I can see a duck (from the pool of tears?) a lizard (Bill?) a frog (footman?) and a white rabbit (work it out.)

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So what have I learned? Not sure really. I already knew that John Tenniel was an exceptionally brilliant illustrator with huge skill and an incredible visual imagination. With regards to that last point, Tenniel never used a model for Alice, yet he pretty much got her right every time he drew her. I couldn’t do that even though I had Tenniel’s work to copy.

As a rule, I think that Victorian illustrators and draughtsmen were masters in their use of hatching and cross hatching, and none more so than Tenniel. Doubtless this was necessitated by contemporary methods of reproducing images, having to sketch them onto wooden blocks to be engraved. It has been a real challenge trying to mimic some of the effects.

This is all a matter of personal taste, but I like the illustrations featuring fantastical animals best. I think that Tenniel was an incredible fantasy illustrator, with the sleeping gryphon from Wonderland and the Jabberwocky from Looking glass as really stand out pieces. His grotesques are amazing too – I think especially of the Duchess.

Finishing off, setting out to copy a Tenniel illustration is a mini voyage of discovery each time. It really has been very satisfying and pleasurable to put each one under the microscope, and get to know it better and to try to understand how it works.