The Beast Transformation

The story of the Beast may not have the traditional qualities of the other villainous Truly Evil Transformations, but the true battle in Beauty and the Beast, I think, is the Prince’s struggle of good and evil within.
“…For she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment she transformed him into a hideous beast…”
In a Disney Animation book I have about the Villains, it even mentions how Gaston was a secondary “evil” character. The true evil of the story is in fact the beast.
The Prince’s appearance was transformed to match his dark, hard, selfish heart. The transformation may not have been by his own hand, as is the case with the other Villains, but it’s an evil transformation in that it brings his inner evil to the surface. (Which is the same as the other villains) His challenge is to realize the error of his way, and fix it.
As in all my Truly Evil Transformations pieces I wanted to show the object that was used in the transformation. In this case, the rose may not have been the object the Enchantress used, but it is the thing that, for the Prince, holds the curse and reminds him of why he is the way he is.
Surprisingly it wasn’t the Beast or Prince that took the majority of time for this piece but the background. I wanted to design my own version of the stain glass for this piece, and digitally drawing glass to look somewhat transparent and reflective is quite difficult. I wanted to make them look like actual windows, so I did a lot of research into how stain glass windows are made and shaped.
“…The old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress.” This story is unique in that it has a second transformation.
I love this piece, the story of Beauty and the Beast as well as both of these transformations because they reminds us of a very important truth;
“…For beauty is found within.”