CBC – Art of Shaima

The wait after the first season is finally over, with Season 2 of Anne being released this month. My hopes of hearing more of Jerry’s (Aymeric Jett Montaz’) cheerful singing this season came true as well. 🎶

At this point I’ll put a SPOILER warning for those who haven’t finished the second season yet. 🙂

I briefly touched on this on my Twitter, but I thought that Moira Walley-Beckett, the writers and rest of the creative team for the show have continued the wonderful job they did last season. Everything from the scenery, to the details in the costumes and props were lovely once again. I realize that there are people who still don’t really care for this version of Anne of Green Gables, as they find it to be much darker than previous adaptations. Maybe because its my love of Victorian novels (as well as the Edwardian era) and my interest in the historical aspects of how society and its people functioned then, the culture, etc. that I don’t find the show to be “dark”. To be honest that would be my only criticism of season 2, as I personally found it lacking in that ‘atmosphere’ it had both with the shots and musical score from the first. Nevertheless, I still found myself looking at each scenery, the shops in every location, what people were doing in the background in every episode. It would be a shame not to, given the lengths the creators of the show have gone to in terms of trying to keep to historical accuracy. I enjoy having the books I read as a child as a starting point, to which the show now provides more detail and expands the world as it would have been given the era, the country, town and/or community. It’s still an adaptation of the books, but one that I can thoroughly enjoy as an adult. 🙂

The one thing that most reviews covered this time around was the relevance to modern time, notably with the characters of Cole and Sebastian ‘Bash’. I was also pleasantly surprised at the depth of character development we got given the number of episodes. My emotional stability was definitely challenged (trying to keep the waterworks to a minimum) with the glimpse into the lives of the adults like Mrs.Barry and continuing on to other characters who might have been previously overlooked like, Prissy & Billy Andrews and even Josie Pye.

11.07.2018_sketchweb_Shaima — Sketchbook Anne S2 – Billy Andrews (Christian Martyn)

The Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery were books I read in primary school; those thin $6.00 paperbacks (I believe from Bantam Books) with those lovely covers. I remember a couple of adaptations to the screen over the years, most notably the one with actress Megan Follows was probably the most popular among fans. I was therefore thrilled to finally get to see a new version come to a series from CBC, simply called ANNE. Living in Canada, we got to see the series last month before its premiere on Netflix, which was a bonus in its self. 🙂 Having finished watching the first season and hoping it gets renewed for a second, I have to say I’ve found a new favourite in my collection of period dramas. I love the new take on the series, everything from the cinematography, to the cast, and costumes. It’s a beautiful adaptation, so take a look if you get the chance.

I of course took the opportunity to create some artwork inspired by the series while I was watching the show…

Kindred Spirits_2017_ShaimaIslam — *Kindred Spirits*, colour-pencils & markers on paper, 7×11″, 2017

The cast chosen for this show were all equally talented and need I say adorable in their own ways, but I thought I’d choose Amybeth Mcnulty (Anne) and Dalila Bela (Diana) for this piece.

Gilbert Blythe_2017_ShaimaIslam — *Gilbert Blythe*, markers and microns on paper, 7×11″, 2017

I think everyone reading the books remembers why we loved Gilbert so much when we were growing up; childhood crush, a sweet & memorable character, what else is there to say really? 😀 I think Lucas Jade Zumann was perfect for the role and satisfied everyone’s expectations; a hard role to take on, especially after the fans holding Jonathan Crombie’s version to heart all these years. I have to say though Lucas, just like the rest of the cast, has become a new favourite of mine.

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Art of Shaima

Tag: CBC

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