The Portland Opera likes to bring in local cartoonists to see their dress rehearsals; in return, the cartoonists draw the opera they’ve seen. I participated back in November, drawing Hansel and Gretel. And this Monday, I saw Turandot. Here are my Turandot drawings (click on the drawings to see them bigger):
Here, we see our hero, whose name is something of a mystery. He spent a lot of the opera hugging himself in his big leather trenchcoat.
Here, the hero struggles to ring a gong, while three colorfully-dressed city bureaucrats try to talk him out of it.
Thanks to Portland Opera for the chance to do this (and for the free food!).
Mike Russell has a complete summary of Turandot’s plot in cartoon form! (My favorite line: “Don’t get up or anything!”). And Matt Grigsby has several drawings from the production. This is just the start of the Turandot drawings — there were a bunch of us there. If you’re interested in seeing more, watch the #pdxoperacomics tag on twitter.
UPDATE: And here’s a third drawing:
Good drawing — but what’s the symbolism in the outsized hands (other than the fact that the hero keeps hugging himself)?
I am generally not much of a fan of cartoon drawings, but I really like these. they are very… emotive? A lot of “feeling” is packed into these simple drawings (so maybe they’re not simple after all)
Dreidel — The way they staged it, the hero was far and away the most “masculine” thing on stage, almost to a ridiculous effect. (The other male characters were mostly enfeebled in some way or other). So doing huge hands was my way of exaggerating that.
Also, in one of my doodles drawn during the show, his hands came out big, and I liked the way it looked.
Excellent! I dig the big hands.
The hero is Calaf, he is the son of the deposed king of the Tartars. This is my very favorite opera! I love the drawings, especially Ping/Pang/Pong trying to keep Calaf from ringing the gong. It’s Calaf who sings “Nessun Dorma”, probably the best-known of all Tenor arias with the goosebump-inducing “Vincero! Vincero!” at the end.
The last one makes me think of this:
http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/2/2d/Orphan_First_Form.png
The first form (out of 2) of the final boss of Final Fantasy 13. This is the concept art, so it doesn’t look 3D like the real thing. You also don’t see the bottom part (the long monolith-like ‘tail) much of the time (only when it “changes mode” where it outright hammers you with the monolith, bringing you to low-health, before putting itself back in an upright position, with the tail hidden in an opaque pool of something).
The story behind Orphan is interesting, to say the least.
“Residing within a pool in a deep sleep, Orphan is the main power source to Eden, enabling it to siphon power from other fal’Cie to keep Cocoon afloat. By the game’s end, Orphan is awakened from its rest after Galenth Dysley’s defeat, fusing with him as it emerges after Menrva dives in to complete the fal’Cie’s birth. Fused with Barthandelus as it rises from its rest, Orphan reveals having the same desire to use Ragnarok to destroy Cocoon as a means of summoning the Maker, even if it would means its own death; Orphan’s true desire was to be killed all along, living so long in keeping Cocoon alive yet unable to die and in a state of unbirth. In fact, through Barthandelus’s Pulse propaganda, Orphan was setting up its own executioners by the time it could be born and thus be able to die. ”
Now our farfetched does that sound?