Ophelia #5

And now we have what Ophelia is famous for: drowning. Ophelia drowning (or about to drown) are the most common images of Ophelia, so I wanted to use a different view point and a more dynamic composition to set mine apart.

The sheer garment she's wearing is problematic since I had to make up a lot of the folds. It comes off as more of a stylization of fabric, in my opinion. It's something new and different, though, so that's good. The bubbles were also very hard to render realistically. I like the idea of things underwater, but my executions are never very...watery. Her face isn't quite right, despite working from a photo-reference. I do like her hair, though.

Watercolor on cold press.

Ophelia #4

The title of this piece is Rue. Ophelia stands at the body of water she will eventually drown in while holding rue and reflecting (literally and metaphorically).

Out of all the Ophelia pieces, this one probably has the most thought put into it. I was reading a lot of essays about Ophelia to get ideas, and many people thought that Ophelia was pregnant. When Ophelia is mad and handing out flowers, each flower has a symbolic meaning. The flower Ophelia gives to herself is rue, which in Shakespeare's time was used for abortions. The word rue also means regret, which I think is an appropriate emotion for this scene. I made a reference to the Arnolfini Portrait in Ophelia's dress in order to suggest her pregnancy.

Watercolor on cold press.

Ophelia #3

This piece is about Ophelia losing her grip on reality. My illustration professor gave me the idea of showing her backstage in a theater. We can't forget that Ophelia IS a character in a play, so it's rather clever to show her divorce from reality as her sort of breaking the fourth wall during the play. She's also arranging the flowers she's about to dole out.

The blending is a bit better in this one than the last piece. I'm mostly disappointed in how Ophelia turned out. I had a really great reference for her crazy face, but it just didn't make it through (probably because I work so small). I also wish her hair had been more disheveled. The flowers also read as too dull.

Watercolor on cold press paper.

Ophelia #2

This piece shows Ophelia right after her father has died. The three empty doorways represent the three men in her life that are now gone: Hamlet, Laertes, and Polonius. I really wanted to drive home the point that she's ALONE.

This painting gave me a lot of technical problems. There are lots of layers that needed to be blended together, which is never an easy task. It's just hard to go back in to a blended area and try to re-blend with more paint.

Watercolor on cold press paper.

Ophelia #1

This is the first in a series that focuses on the character of Ophelia from the play Hamlet. This piece takes place at the beginning of the play and shows how Laertes and Polonius influence Ophelia's identity. It is meant to take place at Ophelia's vanity, hence the reflection. I think the symbolism is pretty obvious.

This piece is much larger than I usually paint, and on hot press, which I don't like using. Also, I couldn't for the life of me get Laertes to look right. I re-drew him several times, but had to give up once the paper started to get icky. I like how Polonius' face turned out, though. And even though it's a bit bizarre, I like the colors I used for the flesh tones. I wanted an eerie feeling, and I think that comes across. The clothes are abysmal, though.

Watercolor on hot press paper.