Mansfield Park / 曼斯菲爾德莊園

雖然我一直深受時尚插畫吸引，我的畫風卻不是以時尚為特色。要準備珍奧斯汀的「曼斯菲爾德莊園」插畫時，我突然想到時尚插畫是很好的起點，很適合奧斯汀筆下的女性角色。

I've always been into fashion illustration though my style is not fashionable at all. It occurred to me that fashion illustration would be a superb starting point when I was about to prepare the illustrations for Jane Austen's Mansfield Park because her ladies feel beautiful and want to be beautiful. 

        畫著畫著是很開心，不過這些模特兒非常有姿態，不僅身形美，眼神也都有故事。

     I had much fun drawing the models in the fashion magazine. They not only look beautiful but also make me curious about them. Their eyes tell stories. 

        她們寫字看書的樣子也好帥氣，就算和女主角范妮天差地遠，但我還是很高興可以做新的嘗試。

     I focused particularly on how women read and write. However, these models appear to be very confident of themselves. They are worlds apart from the protagonist Fanny, but it was still nice for me to take a new try. 

        這本小說到底在說什麼呢？簡單地說，就是乖女孩范妮從小寄住在有錢的阿姨和姨丈家，和乖男孩表哥艾德蒙青梅竹馬，不過長大之後因為新的角色出現在莊園裡，艾德蒙愛上了勢利女瑪麗，而瑪麗的風流男哥哥亨利則受到范妮的吸引，范妮看著自己深愛的艾德蒙被愛蒙敝，還要一邊抵擋亨利的猛烈追求，還好她的堅忍不拔最後換來艾德蒙的愛。

     What is the novel about? Simply put, the good girl Fanny was sent to Mansfield Park to live with her rich aunt and uncle when she was little. She grew up together with her gentle cousin Edmund. With the arrival of the new characters, her life began to change. Edmund fell in love with the beautiful but snobbish girl Mary Crawford while her player brother fell for the charm of innocent Fanny, who had to suffer silently from seeing her beloved Edmund blindfolded by love and make every attempt to resist Henry in the meanwhile. Luckily, her virtue and perseverance finally won Edmund's heart. 

        插畫比賽除了三張內頁插圖以外，還要設計封面，而且規格有嚴格的規定，其實剛開始我並不確定自己做得出來，不過我不想就這麼放棄，很幸運地友人幫了我一把，讓我可以達到目標。

     Besides the three illustrations for the story, every contestant was required to design the cover as well and meet some specific rules. In fact, I wasn't sure if I could make it, but I didn't feel like giving up either. I was blessed with Alex's help so that I could reach my goal. 

        范妮是內向壓抑的角色，在珍奧斯汀的作品中是較沒自信的女主角，不過我覺得自己很像她。

     Fanny is an introverted and repressed role. She is probably the least confident heroine in Austen's books, but I can relate to her because I see much similarity between her and me. 

        與其把重點放在她和其他角色的互動，不如把舞台都給她吧！她的慰藉除了艾德蒙外，就是書和花草，還有自己的書房。

     Instead of placing emphasis on her interaction with the other characters, I prefer to feature her only in my illustrations. Apart from Edmund, she took solace in books, plants, and her personal space, the East room. 

        像書裡說的，就算是快樂，范妮也安安靜靜地感受。

     As is said in the book, Fanny feels ecstasy in a quiet way. 

        做完插畫的那一晚，想到五年前在英國讀書的時候，急著想用自己以外的風格畫圖，老師問：你為什麼不用自己的風格呢？五年過去了，我終於可以用自己的風格，不論結果如何，我都感到欣喜，因為我嘗試了之前做不到的事。

     On the day when I finished the illustrations, I thought of the winter five years ago when I was studying in London. I was eager to borrow others' styles, so my tutor couldn't help asking, "Why didn't you use your own style?" Five years have gone by, and I am proud to be me when drawing. Whatever the outcome is, I am joyful all the same because I achieved what I couldn't in the past.