Queen Of Hell

I am back with another behind the scenes look at my latest work. As per usual music gets my creative magic flowing, this time I wanted to show my hellish side. These images will be the start of a Hell Queen series, proceeding to show more of a darker muse as it progresses. For this shoot however, I stayed simple and focused on the props.

The main prop was the crown. Not glamorous and bold, instead, I wanted to keep natural with gold being a part of the colour palette. I began my forage outside to collect twisted willow which makes for an awesome crafting material. I also gathered some branches from the thorn bush to add the finish to the crown. Plum tree cuttings were used as the base, being easy to bend into the shape of the crown. Garden wire is what holds the cron together, then as I added the willow to create the desired twisted and whimsical shape I was able to weave these branches into the crown. The thorns were applied to the front section for that added edge to a Hell crown. Can not say this is the comfiest of crowns but nothing that a hellish creature can not handle. Though some insults to the thorns when adding them to the crown were often projected as I continued to get stabbed.

For the four spikes I cut two chopsticks in half, sanded the top and painted them gold. These were also held into place by the garden wire. Finally I used children's rubber snakes that were painted the same as the chopsticks and applied to the sides of the crown. Serpents are ideal for that powerful ruler appearance, which were often used as a statement piece and respected by the royal ancient Egyptians.

For the set I initially was not certain about how I wanted it. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I did not want standing positions which lead me to thinking about the use of a chair. I did not want any chair though, something with character that I had not used in my portraits before. Fortunately, I do not live in a conventional house with a standard interior. For this instance a chaise longue came to mind that was resting upstairs. It was such a delight to drag down the stairs during the night, bashing the walls and knocking the wall pictures. Who needs a quiet night after all?

Reference art, videos and pictures aid me with posing ideas. However, nothing prepared me for sitting in this chair. After much sliding down it, tripping over my unforgiving dress and accidentally kicking a skull followed by various “oh shit” remarks as the camera took the photo, I managed to produce somewhat of an illusion of comfort and as though I had this under control.

A little bit of creative chaos keeps life interesting.