la belle blanche

Hello lovelies!

We've been finally printing out shirts this week, but since mine isn't quite done I thought I'd just wait to put up the final part until next week when I actually have a shirt to show you. :) So for the present time, here's a quick watercolor of Blanche Ingram from Jane Eyre. 

Here's my original lineart sketch.

I tried a bit of digital coloring on an app on my phone and it turned out okay enough that I thought I would show you :)

When I designed Blanche, I wanted to make sure she was very different from Jane since they're foils. So I picked a bright pink as opposed to the darker, more serious colors in Jane's wardrobe, and I chose one of the fussier hairstyles of the period for Blanche to contrast Jane's simple low bun hairstyle. I took inspiration for all the characters from late 1840s fashion, since the book was published in 1847, but I pulled elements of Blanche's clothing from late 1840s to early 1850s to show her concern with being on top of all the latest fashion trends or the time. Jane's dresses are based on styles of earlier in the century, simpler with narrower skirts. I wanted to show both that Jane doesn't care as much about fancy clothing, and that she is poorer and doesn't have access to the modern dressmakers and fashions that Blanche does. I think a key part of Jane's character is that she chooses to act and do what she believes is right, instead of going along with the flow; she believes she has more important things to do than sitting around looking pretty. So I tried to show that she's not buying into that idea by having her dress be something simple that she can actually move around in, rather than a more ornate dress like Blanche wears. (Not that I have anything against fancy dresses-I mean, have you seen the dress in the new Cinderella movie?!? Or Christine Daae's beautiful poofy dresses? Or Marianne Dashwood's wedding dress? Or-okay, I'd better stop now. Not great for moving around getting things done in, but GORGEOUS. There's a place for that, of course. :) I just don't think a poofy fancy dress is true to Jane's character.) I also wanted Blanche's dress to show her personality-appearances and impressing others are very important to her, hence the fuller skirt, fancy sleeves and bright colors to draw everyone's attention to her. 

So those were a few of my thoughts making this design! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week when I will hopefully have a completed t-shirt to show you!