Vagina Dentata Illustrations in Pencil!

I have been working on this brief for a while alongside all of my other work, including COP3, however now I have some more time to focus on these illustrations. During this time multitasking on other briefs I have managed to finish all my initial illustrations for the four portraits, these were done purely in pencil on regular A4 sketchbook paper. They were then scanned in and slightly edited (e.g. cropped and brightened) using Adobe Photoshop. I am really happy with all of these illustrations but I still have a lot of work such as colouring to do digitally. 

This is my illustration of  Barbarella. Fonda explained how she saw the character:

'The main thing about this role is to keep her innocent. You see, Barbarella is not a vamp and her sexuality is not measured by the rules of our society. She is not being promiscuous, but she follows the natural reaction of another type of upbringing. She is not a so-called 'sexually liberated woman' either. That would mean rebellion against something. She is different. She was born free.' 

I used a reference image for Barbarella's clothes/pose and face. I then drew her sat on a world, to fit into the theme of Sci-fi. I wanted 'space' coming out of her gun. I will work into these elements much more digitally.  

This is my illustration of Wonderwoman. 

 She is gifted with a wide range of superhuman powers and superior combat and battle skills. She possesses an arsenal of weapons. Her depiction as a heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and gender equality has led to Wonder Woman being widely considered a feminist icon.

'Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world.'

In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote:
'Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.'

This is my illustration of Princess Leia. Leia has been called a 1980s icon, a feminist hero and model for other adventure heroines.Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly describes Leia as a 'diplomat, spy, warrior, undercover agent.'

Mark Edlitz calls her 'a smart, feisty, brave diplomat and warrior' in The Huffington Post. Fisher told Rolling Stone in 1983:

'There are a lot of people who don't like my character in these movies; they think I'm some kind of space bitch. She has no friends, no family; her planet was blown up in seconds ... so all she has is a cause. From the first film [Star Wars], she was just a soldier, front line and center. The only way they knew to make the character strong was to make her angry. In Return of the Jedi, she gets to be more feminine, more supportive, more affectionate.'

This is my illustration of Ellen Ripley. Ripley is often considered one of the most significant female protagonists in all of cinema, and is a prominent figure in American popular culture. John Scalzi, film critic and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, wrote in 2011:

'She’s not a sidekick, arm candy, or a damsel to be rescued. Starting with Alien, Ripley was a fully competent member of a crew or ensemble — not always liked and sometimes disrespected, but doing her job all the same. As each film progresses, she comes to the fore and faces challenges head-on — she’s the hero of the piece, in other words... Ripley isn’t a fantasy version of a woman. Science fiction film is filled with hot kickass women doing impossible things with guns and melee weapons while they spin about like a gymnast in a dryer. As fun as that is to watch, at the end of the day it’s still giving women short shrift, since what they are then are idealized killer fembots rather than actual human beings. Ripley, on the other hand, is pushy, aggressive, rude, injured, suffering from post-traumatic syndrome, not wearing makeup, tired, smart, maternal, angry, empathetic, and determined to save others, even at great cost to herself. All without being a spinny killbot.'