Can I be an Elizabethan?

Today in Sharon's lesson we started to briefly look at symbolism and what certain objects meant to the Queen and why they were used. Our task for outside of lesson was to look for a modern day elizabethan portrait that we felt included some form of symbolism from the Elizabethan period. and then create our own with things that we felt symbolised who we are as a person.

I picked this portrait as I felt that it created a sense of power even though there isn't much going on within the image. Dark colours were often worn by the Queen as it was a show of wealth and power. Only people that were incredibly high up were allowed to dress in dark clothing. Another thing is the high neck piece. Although the Queen stuck to ruffles around the neck, the pearls that were used are just as symbolic. Pearls are known for their purity so in many of the dresses and hair pieces that the Queen wore, pearls could be seen all over. Also the gold around the eyes is a show of wealth which is another colour that was used often within Elizabethan portraits.



This is another image that I am in love with. The dress, the hair, the make up everything is absolutely gorgeous. Although the style of the dress isn't something that would have been worn, the colour is something that would have been worn often. The make up is the iconic pale face, red lips and high forehead. The hair is something that maybe is slightly different as to what was popular however I think it works well with the over all look. I also like the small pearl decorations as I feel that it just ties the look together.



After doing a bit of research I felt that I had an idea as to what I wanted to include in my own Elizabethan portrait. I decided that I wanted to keep it simple so rather than go all out I picked 3 things that I felt described me the best. I kept my hair and makeup simple as I am not the kind of person to go all out. One thing that the Queen might of worn was an ermine cloak, so I decided to try and recreate my own version using a blanket. What wasn't planned was the design of the blanket although I think it fits in really well with the Elizabethan theme as it's filled with little filigree designs. The next item that I chose was my laptop. Originally on the screen was the netflix logo as I love to watch tv and get broaden my imagination, however it didn't show up as I had hoped on camera so I just placed it so that it was open. The last object that I had was two make up pallets from Kryolan as make up is the thing that I want to learn every aspect of and it is a way to express myself. I tried to use a pose that would look as though I had just stepped out of a real Elizabethan portrait. I think overall the image turned out really well and I feel that it describes me well as a person.