Symbolism
The New King is a symbolic gestalt. It continues themes I began exploring in A Sprig of Mistletoe, The Family Tree, The Hour Glass of Saturn and a few unpublished drawings. It blends alchemical and heraldic motifs to create a feeling of nobility.
This drawing is another experiment with water color. One of the things I am most satisfied with is the pinkness of the ham. I am still trying to capture the essence of what bleached bone looks like in color. This pursuit began in my drawing Deer Skull and continues into the ale horns in this design. I like how it turned out here but I think it could have been less saturated to distinguish the horns from the candles.
In its completion I realize that I could have benefited from structuring the composition more carefully. Other things I enjoy about the drawing and wouldn’t change. The Fleur de Lis motifs are not proportional to each other and the pillars are not as completely even as I would prefer. I really like the motif drapery over the pillars, and it will be used as a motif in another drawing soon.
Material
The New King is a pen and ink drawing, drawn with a felt tipped pen. The stippling was with a Jin Hao 159 Fountain pen. The paper is Canson 98 lb 7×10 mixed media paper. The color was done in water colors.