Cappuccino's Daughter

cappaccinosdaughter
Originally uploaded by Wilson Swain.

This may be a little small to view as a thumbnail (click to enlarge). Earlier I did a painting from Rappaccini's Daughter--the story about a man who's fallen in love with the poisonous feminine creation of an evil botonist. For silliness' sake, this time I drew the daughter of an evil coffee shop owner whose daughter is caffeinated to the touch. That's a distillery on the table and a mad Daddy Starbucks in the corner.

The house at top the Slippery Slope

House at the Top of the Slippery Slope
Originally uploaded by Wilson Swain.

I posted this image as the splash page on my website, but I like to post explanations, so I'll tack it up here too. I originally had little squirrels sitting on the porch, but thought better of it and changed them to cats...well, a cat. The second cat came by request from a friend of mine who thought there was more intrigue with two. I thought about putting silhouettes in the windows, but for me it left too many questions. Somehow, like a puzzle, I prefer having all the elements visible, and then it's just a matter of locking them into place. That said, there probably is someone inside.

Pea & Princess

Princess Pea
Originally uploaded by Wilson Swain.

I went to visit an unfamiliar branch of the public library earlier this week and they were having a sale. I bought the craziest little book of popular princess stories for a dime and it started off with Hans Christian Anderson's well known tale of the pea, the test and the mattresses. I had a spare remnant of illustration board left at this size, so I drew an image. I may explore more princesses from the book, but for now I'm still focusing mostly on animals in clothing...as one will.

Rappaccini's Daughter

Rappaccini's Daughter
Originally uploaded by Wilson Swain.

It's a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A young man falls in love with the daughter of an evil botonist. It's a form of romantic, victorian horror, but read today I think it has the slight edge of humor. The woman is poisonous and is kept from the world. The man is lured in and turned poisonous too. It all ends badly. I added an extra scientist and a glass house.