Yes, yes, I have been promising the next installment of The Inspector Panda mystery, The Case of the Picturesque Panda, and so here it is! Yes, yes.
This is, perhaps, the bones of a story I have been wanting to write, that has been canoodling around in my head for a while, that of a young panda that emigrates to France in the late 1800’s, and becomes a favorite model of the Impressionist painters. I’m hoping that her story will shape itself within the Inspector Panda story, so that I can write it, and illustrate it with paintings done in the style of various late 19th century painters.
Meanwhile, Inspector Panda has a mystery to solve…
…and so the story begins…
…of a young panda’s arrival in France, and all that followed…
And just to pique your curiosity, here is the painting that Babette is searching for:
Portait of the mysterious “Madame ‘P’ “
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!
Meanwhile, pandas are playing around the interwebs, in celebration of Pandamorphosis!
Kirby’s Lane
Cordelia Calls it Quits
Cordelia’s Mom Still
and more to come (um…as soon as I write them!)
So keep being the Bear, and Panda ON!
Bob T. Panda
Hmmm..that painting looks familiar…Sargent? I like gggggrandma’s hat with the bamboo sprig. Did she find work as a model perhaps? By the way, Pandamorphosis has arrived and I love it! Everytime I go through it I notice more things. What medium did you use for the original art? It has a very interesting texture.
Yes, indeed, that is the famouse Sargent portrait of Madame P, a mysterious model that started appearing in paintings in late 19th century Paris, in studios up and down the left bank. Art historians have been searching for paintings of this model, in hopes that they can learn more about her. It is believed that she also modeled for James McNeill Whistler and Toulouse Lautrec. There are rumors of paintings of her by Degas and Cassatt, although they have not surfaced as yet.
So glad Pandamorphosis has arrived! The original drawings were done in color pencil, one of my favorite media, if a tad on the labor intensive side. Later this summer, I am setting up a page on Fine Balance Imaging’s website, in order to have reproductions of the drawings available for sale. I just saw the proofs for the ones that are being printed as Kickstarter rewards, and they are really lovely. Once I get that set up, I also have plans to add prints and posters of the “recently discovered” panda paintings by famous 19th century artists.
For some crazy reason, my comments are not connecting. I will try again later
ok that worked. Here we go: Love Great etc grandma’s hat with the sprig of booo. Is the painting, um,a Sargent? Did she become a model? Oh and Pandamorphosis est arrive! Love it and see different things each time I go through it. What is the medium of the original art?
So much to love here!
Mr Wu getting the cookies. Mei-Mei’s outfit – especially the hat! French Mehitabel.
But Madame P is brilliant. I love these Panda Artworks. Can’t wait to see the collection 🙂
So many painting to …um…discover, so little time. I’ve heard rumors that Madame ‘P’ also posed for Degas, Cassatt, and Lautrec. It is also believed that later in life she posed for Magritte and DuChamp. Our team of Art Historians are …um..researching to discover where they are located.
Hope there are plenty of cuppycakes to keep your “researchers” going!
Me too! red panda, red velvet, please.