“Goldilocks and The Three Bears” by Scott Gustafson
Limited Edition Signed Print: 3438/3500
Published: Greenwich Workshop, 1993 SOLD OUT EDITION
Image Size: 19.25" x 22”
Selling Price: $500
About the Art: "We had a lot of Golden Books when I was a kid, but I didn't have access to the great illustrated classics right away. I discovered them when I was in high school. The first time I saw N.C. Wyeth's illustrated Boy's King Arthur, I said, "this is what I've been looking for!". My work is a combination of realistic-looking, cartoon-like characters, such as the three bears, and very realistic children, whom I base on many different models. Usually I never get exactly what I am looking for from my young models, so i have to break their images down and reassemble them on the drawing board. My goldilocks model never quite yawned like that. The bears, however are actually my wife, Patty. She stood around in Mama and Papa Bear suits until I could capture the exact postures I wanted."
About the Artist: Among the first artistic inspriations for Scott Gustafson were the cartoons of Walt Disney and the Warner Bros. by the time he finished growing up in Marengo, Ill., Gustafson was convinced that he wanted to be an animator. It wasn't until he was halfway through high school that he discovered the book Boy's King Arthur tucked away in a corner of the library. Its illustrations by N.C. Wyeth galvanized him, making him realize that this was the sort of detail, color, and vibrancy he had been looking for all his artistic life. Gustafson pursued animation throughout his years at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the Columbia College, also in Ill., though he still sought illustrations by Wyeth, Arthur Rackham, Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and others. It was not until he discovered the realities of the animation industry that he started to consider fine art illustration as a career option.
His classic, opulent approach to his work eliceted immediate response, and soon his work was appearing in magazines as diverse as The Saturday Evening Post and Playboy. His work came to the attention of book publishers, and he began to illustrate anew such classic children's books as the night before Christmas, The Nutcrakker, and Peter Pan. At that time he also illustrated new volumes like Alphabet Soup and the Animal Orchestra.
As Gustafson's readership grew, so did interest in his work as a subject for collector's plates. He has created more than a dozen paintings based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes for this purpose. Today Scott continues to explore the delights his paintings can bring to the young and old alike. He works and lives in Chicago with his wife and son.
; "Goldilocks & The Three Bears by Scott Gustafson")