THE BLACK CAULDRON (1985)

 I typically don’t have a problem finding inspiration whenever I am creating a piece for any show. In fact, it’s usually the opposite, but not always and in some cases, I have too many options or ideas. This piece was part of the former, because the theme for this show was ‘Back to 1985’. With such a broad theme, I went against my instincts and took a recommendation from a friend (thanks Alice), which is how I settled on Walt Disney’s adaptation of Lloyd Alexander’s ‘The Chronicles of Prydain’, formerly know as ‘The Black Cauldron’ (1985).

The holy grail of layout sketches...I had so..so..so many..

The film itself is not necessarily mired in controversy, but it was the last film to be produced in the original Animation Building at the legendary Burbank studios before they moved production to Glendale. The film which was the first of Disney’s animated features to use computer-generated imagery and, also received a PG rating (after frightening scenes were cut), hurting its box office performance. It was such a black eye for Disney, they didn’t even release the film to video until 1997. 

Yikes.

 

Since then, the film has become a cult classic (it’s even currently available on Disney+), most likely in part to it being a much darker film which Disney was known for during a short period of time in the 1980’s (see The Secret of NIMH, Watcher in the Woods, or Something Wicked This Way Comes). Being a child in the 80’s, the band-aid was ripped off completely and without warning. 

'The Horned King', his Gwythaints, and his castle (naturally...where else would a king reside?) 

For those unaware of the plot, I’ll try to paraphrase in the shortest spoiler-free way possible. 

Our story starts with a young apprentice named Taran (Grant Bardsley), and his master Dallben (Freddie Jones), who are charged with the care of a clairvoyant swine by the name of Hen Wen. When Hen Wen alerts both Dallben, and Taran of the imminent danger imposed by the return of the Horned King (John Hurt). Taran is then given Hen Wen and told to hide her from the Horned King, who seeks to use her powers to locate the legendary Black Cauldron. It is along this journey, Taran meets several characters from princesses to denizens of the forest, and even a trio of witches. 

 

I started the piece in much the same I always do…completely lost. 

I haven’t seen the film I think since it was released, as it wasn’t even available to watch at home until 1997 over a decade after it was released. I remember my parents taking me to see it at I believe the drive-in, and that was really my only reference for the film. I recalled the plot with accuracy; however, the details were…murky.

Thankfully Disney+ has the film available for streaming, and after a rewatch, I had my missing pieces. 

The biggest struggle I had with this illustration was nailing a layout. I wanted it to be either simplified (as to avoid getting hit with copyright infringement), stylized, or narrative. I even did something I tell myself NEVER to do, and that’s google what has already been done. I don’t like to do this because I feel it could easily influence me or leave me feeling dejected.

Oddly enough, with this film there really isn’t a lot of artwork outside of the original to draw inspiration from.

 

'Taran of Caer Dallben'', 'Princess Eilonwy', 'Fflewddur Fflam Ministrel of Minstrels', and 'Hen Wen'

With that I set to developing my layout which thankfully didn’t take too long. I really wanted to avoid detail in this piece but eventually…I gave in. I concluded early on that it wasn’t going to work without diving in deep, so…I went with it. 

I started first by sketching out everything rather loosely and then going back in and tightening everything up. I wasn’t sure how I was going to proceed stylistically as I wanted to make sure that the characters had volume, something the animation lacked (for technical reasons). This proved to be somewhat of an undertaking, and I determined to ditch the outlines I spent so much time on and instead use color for definition and provide the volume I desired. 

For some of the characters I had to model myself (like the Horned King’s hand) or create a composite for reference (as with both Taran and Eilonwy). It was challenging, but overall, I think it was successful.

There were also some details though that I had to discard for various reasons outlined below. 

The first item omitted was the skeletons, or ‘cauldron-born’. I wanted to place them just below Gurgi, but as I began to work on them, I realized they were going to be entirely too difficult to see (given the scale). The other issue here was also the perspective of the piece. While I was using a lot of layering, and ‘double exposure’ type work here, I felt that I needed to re-ground the illustration at this juncture as we visually lead back to the cauldron. 

The second item omitted were, unfortunately, the witches. 

I wanted to include them in the clouds that oversee Dallben’s home but felt it legibility was going to be an issue, and due to time constraints I figured, I could always add them later if I wanted to. 

 

'Gurgi', and 'The Black Cauldron' of legend (and title of the piece)

Upon completing the piece, I sent it over to SGX and had them produce a proof for me so I could determine what, if anything needed to be changed/altered/etc. Thankfully the piece legible, so thankfully no edits were needed. 

I started the piece in Procreate* on January 6^th, 2025, and completed it on February 17^th, 2025 totaling one hundred and thirty five (135) hours, and eight (8) minutes. 

*additional work was also done in Photoshop, but it was solely layout editing, and size manipulation. 

 

Final 12" x 18" framed image on white pearl linen

The 12” x 18” image (printed on White Pearl Linen, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Back to 1985’, an online exhibition paying homage to the films, television, and other media giants from the same year.  The group show opens online March 11^th, 2025, and at this time the prints are exclusively available via the gallery, so please check their website for all remaining works related to the show including mine.

 

For more information, or to see a catalog of my other work, please visit my online store here. 

You can also find me on various social media platforms below doing a multitude of other artistic things that include hand lettering, and the occasional sculpting, crafting or painting.

 

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