Elicit a sense of wonder

See how Cathleen McAllister paints two witches running for their class at the Botanical Academy

See how Cathleen McAllister paints two witches who are running late for class.

Lately I’ve been getting into gardening and growing plants. There’s something magical about watching seeds grow into herbs, healing a sick plant, or seeing new leaves grow.

So I decided to try my hand at a magical academy of botany! I wanted to tackle an establishing shot that shows characters interacting in addition to a detailed environment design. If you watch animated films, you’ll find that establishing shots like this are very important to convey the mood of a place. Establishing the environment as well as showing characters interacting is a great way of telling a rich story, while also taking care of some world-building.

I chose this composition inspired by a recent trip to Hogwarts at Universal. Walking up to Hogwarts, even in a themepark setting, was so magical that I can only imagine how a kid would feel entering. I wanted to convey that sense of wonder in this piece.

In this workshop, I’ll demonstrate how lighting, composition, detail, and characters all work together in an exciting establishing composition such as this one.