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SciFi and Fantasy Art: Tristan and Isolde - The Red SwordFor those who don't know the famous story of Tristan and Isolde or didn't see the movie "The Red Sword", some reminders of the original story (I did not see the movie, but I think that some details - or more - defer):
The King Mark of Cornwall found a gold hair carried by a bird and required his nephrew, Tristan, to go and bring back the owner of this hair (Isolde-the-fair) for being his wife. In the purpose to guarantee a good wedding, Isolde mother prepared a love filter for her daughter and the King of Cornwall. But during the crossing of the see, Tristan and Isolde drunk by error the magical filter and fall in love together. Isolde married the King of Cornwall and Tristan returned to his home and married another lady, White-Hands Isolde, but will never touch her. Near to death by a poisoning wound, Tristan asked his brother-in-law Kahedin to bring back Isolde-the-fair to him. If the mission succeeded, Kahedin will hoist a white sail on the ship. If not, he will hoist a black sail. The mission succeeded, but White-Hands Isolde, jealous, said to her husband that the sail was black, and - by this new - Tristan died. Arriving too late, Isolde-the-fair died of sorrow. A vine stock and a rosebush, planted by the King Mark on their tomb, get interlaced each other for ever, sign that love survives to death for ever.
This legend, composed at, more or less, the same time than the King Arthur legend , was song by the minstrels in the European Courts.
I wanted to do something looking really like a medieval illumination, so I choosed to illustrate this medieval story. It was fun but very long to do: there are so much details (original size 27 x 36cm, 10 5/8" x 14 1/8").
It tooks 2 days for searching the documentation (I wanted to be as near as possible of the medieval reality): the dress of Tristan's wife is inspired by a tapestry of the serial "the lady and the unicorn" (yes, ladies were wearing these kind of funny hats), the boat is a mixing of several illuminations, the pillar capital is drawn from a pillar of the Church of Déols (France) and the large border is inspired by another illumination.
It tooks 4 days to draw and paint this picture with gouache and golden marker on a heavy watercolour paper.
I'm sorry about the bad quality of the photo: I did the best I could but it is far away from the original picture. Many details are lost, for example the reflects in the panes of the window, the veins of the wooden floor, the subtle transitions between the waves, etc. And the border is a bit twisted, because of a bad perspective when I took the photo (I didn't succeed to correct it with Photoshop) I hope you'll like it, nevertheless. | |
 |  |  | | | Date | Name | Comment | | | 19 Jun 2007 |  John R Farley Jr | I agree! The vines and flowers at the top and sides must have taken a long time, but they look so tight. I like the looks of this painting.   Anne Wipf replies: "I like the medieval illuminations which inspired me. Thank you, John, for your kind comment." | |
| 19 Jun 2007 |  Gregory D. Lyons | Your border, and the Lady's dress, are both gorgeous. Wonderful. Anne Wipf replies: "Thank you, Greg. They took a long time to do (as well as for the column). Really pleased you like it. " | |
| 26 Jun 2007 |  Andrea Lanzoni | The medieval here Gothic style is recreated very well. Personally, I would have given a coloured (gold and blue) background to the decorated border, though. Gothic art decorations were really complicated and intricate, but at the same time they had a perfect symmetric order, so it's really hard to imitate them and you did it very well! Furthermore, it would have been nice if the border and the picture scene interacted somehow (for example you could have drawn some more vine growing up over the pillar to join the border). I read about the Tristan and Isolde tale a long time ago but forgot it so, thanks for refreshing my memory! Sorry if I've been too long and critical.  Anne Wipf replies: "No, you didn't. I tried to do someting like old medieval illuminations, and in real illuminations (especially those which inspired me for this picture), the border and the picture don't interact in any way." | |
| 10 Jul 2007 |  Anna 'Calealdarone' Szypszak | The border is absolutely amazing. However, I do agree that it would probably look even better with coloured background. Still, I like the style and the whole idea. Most probably because I read the story of Tristan and Isolde many, many times and I like it a lot. Good job.  Anne Wipf replies: "Thank you, Anna." | |
| 4 Aug 2007 |  Nelleke Pieters | I love how it looks like a paitning in an medieval book!! Lovely ^-^ Anne Wipf replies: "It is what I tried to do. Thank you for your nice comment." | |
| 6 Oct 2007 |  Jean Bascom | Anne, I love this! And you really did a wonderful job replicating the medieval style. You continue to impress me! Anne Wipf replies: "Thank you, Jean, you make me confused!..." | |
| 5 Jan 2008 |  Maryam Gousheh-Forgeot | Bonjour et bonne anée ! Meilleurs voeux pour 2008. This painting is so beautiful. It's the first time I read the famous story of Tristan and Isolde... it's a sad tale! I love medieval illuminations. Specially the sense of semi-2D persepective, the way they painted repeated patterns on textiles (like the curtain behind the bed) etc. You did a lot of research and work on it and it turned out very nicely. I specially love her dress... it's a shame some details are lost on the photo, I wish I could see better the pattern on her skirt, but I know it's hard to photography a delicate painting. All and all, I like it very much Anne Wipf replies: "Thank you so much, Maryam, for your lovely comment. Happy New Year to you!Yes, Tristan and Isolde is a very sad tale (as many medieval tales... I hope to illustrate the one of "The Song of Roland de Roncevault" soon...) And, yes, it needed a lot of researches to do this picture... but I love medieval illuminations..." | |
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