The Queen of Hearts Original Painting

Hullo everyone,

wishing a happy Yule to all - and a quick update on my latest Alice in Wonderland-themed painting, based on the designs of playing cards; this one is also inspired by the Queen of Hearts from John Tenniel's original Alice illustrations. I'll be exploring the use of the reversible playing card style design in depth over the next few weeks in several other paintings and prints, and if anyone's wondering, I do plan to do a gothic "Queen of Black Hearts" design as well (mainly because I can't help myself indulging the idea!) ;)

"Off with their heads!"

8 1/4" x 11 3/4" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper version
available to buy here

I'll be posting more designs up as they get made, and some may be on sale directly from this blog or from my eBay and Etsy stores, if you're interested!

Thanks for reading!

~Alex

Moving to Tintagel

Hullo folks,

First, an apology to those followers expecting updates this month on the Malice in Underland mailing list... I moved in November to Tintagel, Cornwall into a little studio in the village, and as they say, moving home is one of the most stressful things you can do (although the guys at myremovalquotes.co.uk were amazing, and handled my artwork like Fabergé eggs on cushions! I highly recommend them to anyone else). The new place was a little basic, no washing machine or phone line for nearly three weeks, so my ability to update was limited to grabbing an hour or so in the local country pub with a hot chocolate, making use of the wi-fi. In short, I got almost nothing done on the updating front.

In between trying to claw back my mod cons, I did manage plenty of time to take in my new home, Tintagel. Famous for being the setting of King Arthur's birth (according to Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King) and the ruins of 'Tintagel Castle', the village is also associated with Sir Francis Drake and Earl Richard of Cornwall, who built the castle whose remains stand today on Tintagel Head, once connected to the shore by a spit of rock, and now only accessible by a narrow wooden bridge. The scenery is truly dramatic and fairytalesque! I couldn't think of a better setting for some mythical inspiration:


Besides being a National Trust heritage site and place of 'outstanding natural beauty', Tintagel really does have a focus on fairytale and fantasy for the folklore buff. "King Arthur's Great Halls" can be found here - "the only building in the world dedicated to the Arthurian legend" apparently, inside which is a stone chamber complete with round table and throne, and 72 stained-glass windows depicting events from the mythology. You can find local art, an apothecary, and shops selling all sorts of fantasy collectibles including fossilised fairies, Green Men, tapestries and swords (although the National Trust visitor centre and shop doesn't sell any locally-made goods). The weather can be a bit wild as I've discovered, but nothing has been able to put me off. I'm in love with it.

Besides my 'studio' being at the moment a bit like a warehouse full of boxes inside a box-making factory, I'm slowly getting back into what I was supposed to be doing before I left - that is, art. As usual I'm overflowing with ideas, without the time for them all to be born, but I will be able to crank out a few new things in the next few weeks now that the moving flurry and inevitable quagmire of arranging for bills to be sent here instead of there and washing machines to be plumbed in, etc. has been safely crossed. What I'm thinking of doing is setting up a couple of separate blog pages for some of the different avenues of ideas I'll be wandering down, but keeping the Malice in Underland blog as my general blog for everything, including thoughts, ideas, events and updates on the latest work.

I'm pleased to mention a couple of new Alice in Wonderland-themed prints will soon be for sale on my eBay and Etsy pages (probably after Christmas), and that "Time for Tea" (see my last blog entry) is now available for purchase as a print in the same places. New original Alice paintings will be up for sale on eBay this week and next.

I'm looking forward to being able to put on my sculptures and Wyrmlings a "hand made in Tintagel" label. . .

Thanks for reading!

~Alex

Mad Hatter Painting

Hullo folks, the latest madness:

Mad Hatter: "Time for Tea", 9" x 12", acrylic on stretched canvas

I've been checking out some cubist paintings lately; I've never looked into the style much before, but after reading about what cubism is and how it creates an image 'indirectly' out of contrasts of light and shade and geometrical shapes, I was intrigued. It wasn't exactly straightforward to paint a cubist picture: I had to deconstruct and reconstruct what I was trying to depict beforehand - 'mangle it up' a bit, which the audience can reconstruct for themselves in their own way. Some cubist pictures are more abstract and extreme than others... but I prefer less rigid/geometric kinds - those with human figures and ambiguous faces (like Picasso's "Weeping Woman" or his "Massacre in Korea").

Anyway, carrying on an Alice in Wonderland tack, I decided to make some small paintings with a cubist 'flavour' to them. The first - and most irrisistible - has to be the Hatter. A misplaced face and twisted fingers seem to lend themselves freely to the idea of insanity or a multiple personality or a broken mind! I've also got plans to try Alice, a Cheshire Cat and a White Rabbit in this style. Please let me know what you think. . .

Thanks for reading!

~Alex

Black Rabbit of Inlé Sculpture

Hi folks, after a short hiatus to finish up at university (whew!) I'm trying to get back in the groove with my sculpting. Since a few enquiries over the months about when the next Watership Down-based sculptures would get made, I thought it was time to make a Black Rabbit of Inlé. It's the first time I've done him and I was aiming for a similar style to my previous El-ahrairah sculptures, but more stately and enigmatic than the devil-may-care rabbit trickster folk hero. Here he is:


He's made from polymer clay with an internal wire armature, glass, paint and varnish. I will be making more Watership Down OOAKs in the near future, and they're all for sale, price details can be given if anyone's interested by contacting me through my website Malice in Underland.

I thought I'd add an excerpt from Watership Down concerning the Black Rabbit himself:

"...The Black Rabbit of Inlé is fear and everlasting darkness . . . he is that cold, bad dream from which we can only entreat Lord Frith to save us today and tomorrow. When the snare is set in the gap, the Black Rabbit knows where the peg is driven; and when the weasel dances, the Black Rabbit is not far off . . . he will come in the night and call a rabbit by name: and then that rabbit must go out to him. . . Some say that the Black Rabbit hates us and wants our destruction. But the truth is . . . that he, too, serves Lord Frith and does no more than his appointed task - to bring about what must be. We come into the world and we have to go. . . We go by the will of the Black Rabbit of Inlé, and only by his will. "

- Watership Down, Richard Adams

Previous examples of this style for the El-ahrairah sculptures:

"El-ahrairah" OOAK #1
Status: sold

"Prince with 1000 Enemies" OOAK #2
Status: spoken for

More to follow soon!

Thanks for reading.

~Alex

Alice in Wonderland Curios - "EAT ME", "Drink Me" OOAK Sculptures

Hullo folks: many thanks to all who recently signed up to follow my Malice in Underland art blog. It's very encouraging to me that so many of you are interested in my creations! =)

I'll take this chance to mention some of my latest Alice in Wonderland-themed OOAKs... these "Drink Me" and "EAT ME" sculptures I've made lately:

This sculpture is mixed media on solid trophy-quality mahogany plinth base, and features a genuine vintage Victorian 3" tall glass bottle with "Drink Me" tag, 2" "EAT ME" cake in polymer clay with pink icing, and a "tiny golden key" that's a miniscule 3/4" long. This one's currently available to purchase here.

And some more...


All the bottles I've used are vintage Victorian poison or elixir bottles, and the cakes and keys will all be in miniature. All of these are for sale, so if you're interested, do drop me a note! They're so much fun to make I'm sure there'll be more to come, though it depends on finding the right kinds of bottles to use.

These Drink Me, EAT ME curios are based on Alice's first experiences in Lewis Caroll's Wonderland:

"However, this bottle was not marked 'poison', so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off...

...Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words 'EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. "Well, I'll eat it," said Alice, "and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'"

- Alice in Wonderland

Thanks for reading.

~Alex Pribnow

Steampunk Sculpture - Around the World in 80,000 Days

Hullo folks, I've been a bit stumped for steampunk sculpture ideas of late, and to help my flagging creativity, I decided to take Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 days and make something inspired by the title... so I changed it to "Around the World in 80,000 days" and tried to come up with something that would tie in. The answer? Steampunk snails!


I've got four more steampunk snail designs to make based on the ideas I came up with, so I'll post them up when they're done. The theme is, of course, steampunk and travelling. Each snail will be using some steampunk-powered method or other to get around the world in 80,000 days.

This sculpture is about 2 1/3" inches high and 3 1/2" long and made from polymer clay, real shell, copper wire, aluminium wire, cogs, suede, glass, epoxy resin and crystal laquer.

I'll be putting the snails in my Etsy store very soon if anyone's interested in a purchase. =)

Thanks for reading.

~Alex Pribnow

Kitsune Art Geisha original and custom paintings

Hullo folks:

Just a quick update on the 'kitsune Geisha' paintings I've been making lately - you can often find them for sale in my eBay and Etsy stores; I'm also open to commissions on these pre-designed poses, if you'd like to choose your own kimono colour/design scheme, and kitsune mask colour too, of course! =) To commission, just drop me an email through my site, Malice in Underland (contact details can be found on "The Artist" page), and let me know what sort of commission you'd like. Commissions cost £25, plus low-rate postage and packing (and I'll ship to any country!)


These are original hand-painted watercolours on real papyrus, often with gold, sepia or Chinese White embellishments. My personal signature in Japanese kanji appears on the papyrus in traditional 'rouge' ink. Each painting is approximately 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" or slightly larger, and will be shipped in a protective cellophane sleeve and strong board envelope.

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Alice in Wonderland ACEOs by Alex Pribnow

Hullo folks,

I recently had a set of ACEOs printed and made ready for sale of some of my popular Alice in Wonderland designs. These include Alice, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, and the Caterpillar. These ACEOs are open edition, 2" x 3" in size, made from strong glossy card with a Pribnow signature motif on the back. The print quality and detail is fantastic - I know you'll love 'em!







This is just a selection of the ACEOs currently available for sale; you can find more in my eBay store, the "Malice in Underland Emporium", or on the Malice in Underland website.

If you'd like to buy some, and you'd like them signed, please get in touch with me through my site... I can even write a personal message on the back of them if you wish! More Alice in Wonderland ACEO designs will follow soon, I'm sure. ;)

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Alice in Wonderland Paintings on sale

Hullo folks, just a quick reminder that my Alice in Wonderland original paintings and prints are still very much for sale and up on my eBay merchant's page:

Click here to view Underland Art on eBay!

I usually paint one or two paintings per week in between commission work, which are listed for 10 days on eBay in old-style auction format. All bidder identities are kept private. I often donate 10% of the final sale price of originals to various childrens' and human rights charities.

"White Rabbit Time Warp" original watercolour painting; just one of many gothic Alice in Wonderland paintings for sale by Alex Pribnow.

My Alice in Wonderland art prints are also available to buy cheaper than originals! Keep a lookout on eBay for Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Jabberwock (and others!)
There may also be prints and originals for sale not listed on eBay on my personal website, Malice in Underland.

Thanks for reading.

~Alex Pribnow

Pet Charicatures: Blofeld's Cat

Here is no.1 in a new series of prints called "Legendary Pets", which will be available soon to purchase from the Malice in Underland website. He's a charicature of a Persian cat in a classic Bond Movie 'Blofeld pose' (who doesn't think of Blofeld when they see a white Persian kitty?)


There'll be more to follow soon, including a three-headed Chihuahua ("Chihuaberus"), British Bulldog, Siamese Twins and a claymore-wielding Scottie (among others...)

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Octopussy art: blue-ringed octopus painting

In preparation for making traditional woodblock prints, I've been looking at the blue-ringed octopus as a print subject: beautiful, colourful, visually complex... and the octopus (or tako) has long been a subject of Japanese art and folklore, making a woodblock of the blue-ringed perhaps the perfect debut design?


Looking at Hokusai and others' depictions of the octopus in classic Japanese art and woodblock, tako are often depicted as attackers or in amorous encounters with diving girls, sporting inscrutable, alien eyes or bird-like beaks. While hanging on to the essence of the Japanese-style octopus depiction, I'd like to focus on the octopus itself, concentrating on the form, beauty and archetype. So I've decided to make a series of experimental paintings to explore it, some of which will be for sale in my Etsy shop; using the experience to draw up a design to best compliment the woodblock print process.

To help in my study of tako art, I'll be happy to take on paid octopus commissions in watercolours. If you'd like to commission, please contact me through the Malice in Underland site for pricing details and discussion.

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Custom Welsh Dragon paintings

I'm offering commissions on Welsh Dragon paintings at the moment (see sample below):


Commissions start at £79 for this design in watercolours (A4 size on Bockingford watercolour paper), but custom commissions of the Welsh Dragon are welcome, including commissions in oils (prices start at £280 for an A4 size varnished frame-ready oil painting).

I'll also be offering custom Welsh Dragon Wyrmlings, one-of-a-kind sculptures of newborn dragons hatching from real eggs:

And there will be a selection of ready-made Welsh Dragon Wyrmlings to purchase in the Malice in Underland store soon.

To commission a Welsh Dragon painting or sculpture, please contact me through my site to discuss your request: www.maliceinunderland.co.uk

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Alex Pribnow interview on Whohub

I recently took part in an "e-interview" for Whohub.

You can read the interview here.

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

"Ryujin" up on the London Undergound

My first public exhibition art space with ArtBelow appeared at the start of this June on the London Underground's Marylebone Station. I had a hard time choosing which piece to exhibit, but in the end, Ryujin really impressed the folks at ArtBelow and I figure he was the most striking of the final choices, so we went with the "Dragon King".

"Ryujin" in situ, Marylebone Station, London

The ArtBelow website is undergoing some brief refurbishment, but I should have an artist profile on there soon with links to Malice in Underland and a place where art prints of Ryujin can be purchased directly from their site. They've already run exhibitions in Tokyo and the streets of Berlin, and I'd love to get a space in a Tokyo station at the next opportunity for some Alice in Wonderland-related work...

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow

Wyrmlings by Alex Pribnow: No.1 - Welsh Dragon

My first OOAK Wyrmling sculpture is ready! He turned out well for the debut design, I think.

The Wyrmlings series currently has about 23 species on the list so far, so why a Welsh Dragon sculpture first, you ask? Well, I guess having spent most of my working life in North Wales means I'm probably the most familiar with y Ddraig Goch. He seemed a good starting point, and his basic features are all there on the Welsh flag. I studied the actions and faces of other baby reptiles as they hatch to figure out a realistic pose and expression (such as licking the eye). He was great fun to make, and I'll definitely be making more of these, graduating to more complex poses and emergences as I get to grips with the materials. Next in line is the English Drake... I can't wait to get started on that one.

"Welsh Red" OOAK (one of a kind) Welsh Dragon Sculpture in mixed media.
Sculpture measures 6.5" from tail to head, and comes with a base made from mahogany and rock-effect polymer clay. Price: £160

About this Wyrmling:

The "Welsh Red"
(Draco Rufus)

"An often-seen dragon of mild but proud temperament, nesting primarily in Snowdonia (particularly in old abandoned slate mines and caverns, or in high cwms)."

More Wyrmling species to follow soon. Wyrmlings are commissionable too - please contact me at www.maliceinunderland.co.uk to request one!

Thanks for reading!

~Alex Pribnow