Yesterday´s Queen

One, two, three flowers of hydrangea…
And look, suddenly there´s a path to yesterday!

Could one even time travel through that flower path... and then meet the Queen of yesterday?

The work called “Yesterday´s Queen” was created many years ago. This drawing was designed to have vintage style that resembles a bit of those old recolored vintage photos from the past. This work became also a combination of both vintage style and flower theme.

In addition this drawing also had a bit of mythology twist in it. And what an inspiring subject it was! Trying to imagine that Queen of Yesterday when drawing...

This drawing was created with pencils and selected colored pencils like the orchid themed vintage drawing from the previous article (mystic glow of the orchids). Also this drawing is presenting grayscale facial features with colored flowers.

It is always so exciting to see what the partial coloring does to the drawing! The balance between grayscale and color is a great way to affect the atmosphere of the drawing and emphasize certain elements. In this case especially the flowers and the crown were really highlighted by coloring only them in the drawing.

After the drawing was completed, I added some real hydrangea flowers on top of the drawing. That gave then a complete new dimension to this work!

I also wanted this vintage drawing to have light blue color combined with the gray, and hydrangea flowers were then selected to complete this drawing. Not only the hydrangea flowers are blue, but they are also associating strongly with flowering - and that way they are also reminding of those past blooming moments that will become vintage memories.

At the same time the hand drawn flowers in this drawing had a bit different style compared to for example the previous orchid themed  drawing. In this work I was aiming instead more for the look of a bit artificial or "fake" flowers. Like the ones one could see in some of the old vintage photos. I wanted the Yesterday´s Queen to have few of those fake flowers that are a bit "unreal" and ageless, so that they would also symbolize the time that seems to have stopped. In some old vintage photos there´s that mystic atmosphere, like looking into the yesterday - and in the same time not being so sure if the flowers in the picture are real or fake.

For that reason the flowers were also left quite more plain comparing for example to the orchid themed drawing. In the detail pictures below that more rough and almost a bit imaginery style is seen in the approach, for example in the lines and shapes of the flowers.

Following that same mentioned rough style I have also drawn few of imaginery decayed leaves into the drawing that are left gray and uncolored... Those yesterday´s decayed leaves were a little detail and addition into the drawing, telling story of those already faded yesterday´s flowers. They are almost like a hidden message from the past. And in this case that´s also a message from the year 2012 when I created this vintage drawing.

Also the yellow and bit darkened golden crown was a symbolic addition to the drawing. Below in the picture there´s detail where one can see the hand drawn crown, parts of those drawn "fake" flowers and gray decayed leaves - as well as those fresh real hydranges flowers on top of the drawing.

Creating this work was like building a collage. And in those moments, when all the elements are finally coming together, it feels like the real and unreal could merge!


Remembering this work today with you was like walking that path of hydrangea flowers...


And that fragile path of flowers was taking me there again. In to the yesterday.

Wishing you all a wonderful and inspiring moments that some day just might be, your most precious vintage memories.
 

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