Created by: Jacqueline Pearson, Ryan Stone and Cecilia Cabrera Sampe
Title: Enchanted Visions: Ode to Earle’s Fantastical Dreamscapes
Material Used: Acrylic Paint on Acrylic Sheets, Wood, Digital Print

Artist Statement:
As different artists came together, a shared admiration was discovered for the work of Eyvind Earle, concept artist for Disney’s classic, “Sleeping Beauty,” whose aesthetic was inspired by the depth created from overlapping patterns and planes in the art of medieval prayer books. With this common interest in mind, we decided to create a window into a similar fairytale world where good and evil coexist within the beauty of nature.

Since this was a project to be done in collaboration with AI, we told AI to generate images of a colorful and enchanted fairytale forest with animals inspired by the style of Eyvind Earle. We even inputted an image of Earle’s “Green Forest” landscape oil painting, 1989. But, to our surprise, AI gave very simplified images. We had to instruct it to generate more intricate ones. After many rounds, we finally got to a place where our references were decided upon. Another discovery that we made along the way was the fact that AI, with all the intelligence that it was suppose to possess, was not able to make anatomically correct animals, even in simplified styles. Some deer had an excessive number of antlers, another had the head of a boar, another was created with cartoon human feet, etc. This touch of imperfection was embraced and taken as another point of interest for our final piece.

Since AI was only to be considered the starting point, for our final work, we took pieces of every reference image and divided our forest scene into three layers to be painted with acrylic paint on transparent acrylic sheets. Our last layer, however, is a printed abstract background digitally manipulated by both AI and one of our group members. Our layers, encased in a manmade shadow box brings us back to one of our original inspirations, medieval prayer books. These books filled with colorful illustrations transported those lucky enough to own one, into a different reality. In this light, with each layer adding more depth into the distance, with every choice of realistic and unrealistic color, with every AI generated imperfection, and with a twist of Earle’s legacy, we strive to provide viewers a window into the stereotypical yet captivating and enchanting fantasy that many wish they could step into.