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"Cinderella" Animation Concept Painting Original Art (Disney, 1950)

Isn’t it gorgeous? This is one of Mary Blair’s original concept paintings. From Peko_chan over at Flickr:

Mary Blair - “Cinderella” Animation Concept Painting Original Art (Disney, 1950). This exquisite concept painting by Mary Blair features Cinderella’s castle in all its regal glory lit up against a dark night. Rendered in tempera on heavy illustration board…

Pekochan’s also put together a wonderful Mary Blair gallery. Do any of these look familiar? (Note: all descriptions are from Peko_chan’s gallery.)

Bippity Boppity Boo! - More Cinderella Concept Art

Cinderella Flees the Ball - More Cinderella Concept Art

Concept piece of Wendy Darling and John Darling

Mary Blair was a very influential animation artist who provided concept art for a number of Disney works including Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and, of course, Cinderella. She even influenced the design of the It’s a Small World attraction at Disney! She also worked as a children’s illustrator, working on such titles as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss (The Carrot Seed) and was posthumously honoured as a Disney Legend in 1991.

Interested in seeing more of Mary Blair’s artwork?

Last year, Disney released a new picture book version of Cinderella - this time using Blair’s art. There’s also a Blair Alice in Wonderland book.

John Canemaker has also written a marvellous illustrated biography, The Art and Flair of Mary Blair. The book even opens with an almost ‘Once upon a time’ feel…

“Let us begin,” writes Canemaker, “with a contemplative self-portrait of Mary Robinson Blair, a charming watercolor made soon after she married Lee Blair in 1934, when both were in their twenties…”