Ophelia’s Flowers

Spoonflower Floriography Design Challenge entry. The language of flowers was big in Victorian times but dates back even further. In the famous scene where Ophelia has finally had enough and goes off the rails, she speaks to Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes in flowers to express her grief.

Rosemary, to remember her dead father, Polonius. Pansies come from the French, pensées, for thoughts. Fennel means infidelity and columbine flatters with insincerity. Rue is bitter and means regret, repentance and sorrow. Daisies for innocence. And, now withered, violets mean faithfulness. ~ Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5

This is a departure from my normal abstract, doodle and geometric patterns so far. I first did watercolor versions of each flower Ophelia mentions, and then used those as models for a grungier, grittier style from a tutorial I found by Lisa Glanz.

Here’s Lisa’s tutorial, How to Draw Adorable Characters in Procreate Using Texture Brushes

The image below an early watercolor version I created.