Last year wonder | wander | women jumped into the joyful ocean community that was Mermay, an art and animation competition created by Disney animator Tom Bancroft, who also created Mushu from Mulan.
This year Mermay is bringing the heat with a tropical theme! Featuring judges like John Musker, the director of The Little Mermaid and Moana, and Tia Carrere, a fellow Pacific Islander who voiced Nami from Lilo and Stitch and who we adore for her many TV and film roles.
The Mermay team decided to go with a Hawaiian theme this year with prompts like #Lei, #Hula and #Coastal Grandma. Being tropical babies ourselves wonder | wander | women couldn’t wait to get started!
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| Lily model sheet, by Whitney Pollett |
This cute lady is the cartoon representative-mascot-Muse for Mermay, Lily - designed by Mermay hosts Whitney Pollett and Lauren Barger. She started as a 3D design by toy designer Pollett, then came to real life as a pen holder, and now she’s transformed into 2D as the Mermay 2024 symbol.
We drew her wearing sampaguita in her hair, as the sampaguita (Jasminus Sabac, or Arabian jasmine) is the Philippine national flower.
The theme for the first day of Mermay 2024 was “Lei”. The frangipani, or plumeria flower, is another plant we have in common with Hawaii. Here in the Philippines we associate it with funerals as its sweet smelling blossoms were often used for funeral wreaths, not like the welcoming festiveness of a lei.
Day 2 of Mermay was “Hula”, in honour of the iconic traditional Hawaiian dance and of judge Tia Carrere’s growing up in Hawaii and voicing Disney icon Nami. Back in the day, we would join all sorts of traditional dance performances with our sisters. Even aside from our own dances, we also did Tahitian dance and yes, the legendary hula.
Being off in our own island paradise, we were more interested in drawing our real surroundings (not to mention swimming and eating!) than in fantastical creatures. But we can never stay away from mermaids for too long.
The next prompt was “Dalí”, one of our favourite artists. Surrealism is irresistible to us as fans of fantasy illustration, and adding mermaids even more so. There's even a Disney connection, as Walt Disney himself collaborated with Salvador Dalí on a short film called Destino in 1945. It wasn't finished till 2003, but it continues to mesmerise.
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