Of course, if you know Sophie, the focus of her article for CA was Commedia. But not just commedia, but how to work commedia for the modern audience. So not only did I get a sneak peak at what she wrote, but I was asked to make an inspired piece for the cover.
The first thing I did was take into consideration all the magnificent classes that both she and her husband have taught about how to bring commedia to the people. Everything from writing scenari to how to create a stage and lighting when you have nothing.
I then searched for a period illumination that I could work from. In this case, I chose a Flemish painting depicted the Commedia dell'arte troupe Gelosi and Isabella Andreini.
With this in mind, I then decided that I would make the picture a little taller so that I could add Magus's idea of stage lights at the bottom, and to show the make of the curtain at the top being held on a rope. The next part was to place people in the roles of the characters, and at Sophie's request, the capicomico of various troupes took the roles.
As for the manner of drawing style, since the CA is done in black and white, I figured if I drew it to look as if it were a block print, it would look much sharper than if I did painting or shading. So I studied a few block prints of the time period and went to work.
The characters, from left to right, are as follows: Avalina from Vagando Stolti, Abigail from i Scandali, Virginio from i Genisii, Rhonwhen from i Sebastiani, Sophia the Orange from i Firenzi, Katrusha from Le Mezze Lune, Anton from iSebastiani, and Niccolo from i Verdi Confusi.
If you want to know what all the fuss is about, stay tuned for the upcoming issue of the Compleat Anachronist! There is some exciting stuff that awaits within!
