After last week’s web crush—Rejected Princesses, for those out of the loop—I suddenly had a memory flash by in my mind. Back before I had my own Tumblr (which seems longer ago than it was) I kept tabs on a few people who I swore to follow once I set up an account of my own. Unfortunately, with the passage of times comes the passage of promises forgotten and—what I’m saying is that I didn’t end up following anyone from that set of people. Yet one of them continued to appear on my dash, year after year, and although I haven’t followed her yet, she played a huge role in raising my standards for historical accuracy in drawings.

Researched period costumes? Disney princesses? Why, my friends, I could only be speaking of the extremely talented Shoomlah.

They’re all beautiful, but this is one of my favorites.
(Art by Shoomlah @ Tumblr)

Artist Claire Hummel, better known to me as Shoomlah and a certain part of the internet as “that one person that makes the Disney princess art”, stakes her claim in the Tumblr/DeviantArt circuit as someone who is serious about her art, but is also serious about having fun with it. With such a following, gaining some criticizers and naysayers along the way is par for the course, and while some may complain or make vague posts, Hummel basically tells these detractors to shut up. With art! And while some may not believe it’s the “high path” or whatever, I love an artist that’s willing to step in and tell their fans when they’re nitpicking at unimportant details.

However, just because Hummel isn’t willing to put up with the internet’s BS doesn’t mean that she’s not receptive to criticism. One of the best examples of this is with her historical design of Pocahontas. After receiving critiques on her first design concerning things like age and the ever-present romanticizing westernization has given us over the years, she returned with a much different outlook on the Native American princess; a more historically inspired and accurate representation. With grace, Hummel thanked those that helped her, and due to Hummel’s learning experience I, and probably countless other watchers, learned something as well.

Also, steampunk Sailor Moon? Silently prays for this to be another series.
(Art by Shoomlah @ Tumblr)

In addition to producing great art, Hummel also provides her followers with lots of great resources. One that I particularly appreciate is her historical fashion master post. As someone who, for better but probably worse, mostly relies on Google image search for some idea on what period garb should look like, a list like this is invaluable to me. Also, I really appreciate the sewing resource portion at the end. Although I’m not really a cosplayer, I understand the struggle in finding correct materials for period garb—thank you, Ren Faire.

And on top of all of the great art and how strongly she supports those who are learning about historical and steampunk fahsion, she’s also a fan of Myst. That pretty much gives her an instant pass in my book.

Be sure to check out Shoomlah’s Tumblr here and her DeviantArt page here!

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