The Art of the Disney Princess [Hardcover]

Glen Keane (Introduction)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up

Every little girl has a favorite Disney Princess--and for that matter, every grown-up girl, too! In The Art of the Disney Princess, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world have re-imagined their favorite princesses and portrayed them in a variety of mediums. Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Cinderella are newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. This artwork has been created especially for this museum-quality book, which is sure to delight art lovers, Disney collectors, and any prince or princess who ever believed that fairytales do come true.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423123719
• ISBN-13: 978-1423123712
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 10.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Art > Drawing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fan art book essentially, January 11, 2010

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of the Disney Princess (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:30 Mins

This book is more on fan art than concept art. That said, you won't see any sketches from original Disney artists. The illustrations of princess are based on the artists' interpretation. I don't recognise the names of any artists other than Glen Keane, who wrote the introduction.

The princesses included are Snow White, Tiger Lily, Belle, Ariel, Pocahontas, Mulan, Aurora, Jasmine, Cinderella and even the newest Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

The variety of style is great. There's art created from acrylic, collages, gouche, water colour, digital and there are even handmade dolls and photographs. What I didn't like is the quality of the illustrations, which can be quite varied, depending on the skill level of the artist contributing. Remember after all, this is sort of a fan art book, although I have seen better fan art books.

While some are beautifully drawn, there's not one that truly stands out. Most of the pieces stay on the wholesome track, although someone did try to break out of the box with Snow White in a futuristic skin-tight outfit. There's another one, which I think didn't work well, had Snow White fixed onto a deer's body much like a Centaur. The idea might not be bad but the technical execution (which should not be mistaken as style) could be better, which happens some other pieces. I also realised that manga style chibi eyes don't work well on princesses, or maybe because it's not done right (by a Japanese artist).

The ones I like are the ones which stayed true to the original designs but done in a different style. There are two artists Dan Beltran and Eric Tan who created simple vector illustrations with nice compositions.

This book could be so much better if the selection is stricter. It's recommended only if you're really interested, like seriously interested in Disney princesses.

Probably 3.5 out of 5 stars.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fairest Art Book Of Them All, October 25, 2009

By 

Alex (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of the Disney Princess (Hardcover)

As a fan of Disney art, I pre-ordered this book not knowing much about it. I was extremely happy with what is inside. This book isn't artwork from the production of films the involve Disney Princesses. Instead it is a book of various artist's interpretations of their favorite Disney Princesses. It is incredibly creative. Flipping through the pages is like taking a stroll through a Disney art museum. I've had the book for a few weeks now and I keep flipping through it because it's so wonderful. I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Disney Loving Art Students, July 1, 2010

By 

Brenna Kathleen - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Disney Princess (Hardcover)

I saw this book before it came out at the D23 Disney Expo and received it as a birthday gift a few days after it was released.

The moment I saw it at the expo I knew I had to own it. I'm not too keen on the cover art (it might actually be my least favorite), but the other pieces inside are amazing. I love every different artist's take on the princesses, and was pleased with some of them that nodded to other well-known artists (like some of the princesses drawn in the Art Nouveau style of Alphonse Mucha and a portrait of Belle that resembles Francois Boucher's Rococo painting of Madame de Pompadour).

As an art student I have frequently visited this book for inspiration on different styles, media, and techniques.
There are several pages in my copy that have permanent place holders in them (like my favorite, the Mucha-esque Snow White) that I like to use as references for some of my art projects for school.

If you don't mind giving the artist some creative license to make their own interpretations (Some classic Disney fanatics may not like some of the more outrageous sci-fi/contemporary takes on them; even though I consider myself one of said fanatics, and I don't mind as long as people don't "sex" them up) you're sure to enjoy looking through the pages of different images of some of the most beloved Disney characters.