Wow, that subject line is the biggest stretch yet!

So the Caitlin’s Bedroom Alphabet Mural Death Slog has entered its second year! (See earlier photos by following the links above.) At this point, I never want to see the color pink again, ever.

As ever, click on the photos to see much larger versions.

I’m only really happy with the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I was worried about capturing Eric Carle’s colored-tissue collages in acrylics, but my Very Plagiarized Caterpillar came out really well somehow.

It’s surprisingly hard to find a classic, iconic-looking version of the Ugly Duckling. I went through dozens of Hans Christian Andersen collections before I found this one, by a Hungarian illustrator named Val Biro. It doesn’t quite have the Victorian look I was picturing, but the Duckling is right near Tenniel’s Queen of Hearts, Johnny Gruelle’s Raggedy Ann, and John R. Neill’s Scarecrow, so there’s no shortage of intricate old-timey pen-and-ink work around.

I really wanted to get (what I considered to be) the crucial moment of the Ugly Duckling sadly looking at his freakish reflection in the lake. It turns out this never happens in the Andersen original, just in the Disney versions! In Andersen, the duckling never looks at himself in the water until he’s a beautiful swan. And I wasn’t going to draw him as a beautiful swan. Still, I kept the reflection idea, though I’m not sure if it’s successful. I guess I can always paint it out if I sour on it.