The Red Death: Party Like It’s 1399!
Remember that time a deadly plague swept through the land, and many cynics felt they were untouchable? And remember how death, arbitrary and brutal, took even those that mocked it in its cold embrace? That’s the kind of poetic justice Edgar Allan Poe reveled (and excelled) in. You knew I was talking about Poe, right?
The Masque of the Red Death (1842) is one of Poe’s most famous short stories. In it, he created not only the deadly plague that killed thousands in the fourteenth century, but its very personification in an uninvited party guest, wrapped in a shroud, and wearing the face of death.
This character, this gaunt harbinger of doom, was so striking, so powerful an image, that over fifty years later, Gaston Leroux dressed the main character of his 1910 novel, The Phantom of the Opera, in the red vestments, once again to strike fear into the hearts of revelers.
And yet again, fifteen years later, when Lon Chaney created his own, horrific makeup for the silent film version of that novel, he wore the face of death and a blood red cloak. He was regal, and terrifying, and he has left an indelible image burned into the brains of moviegoers for almost a century now. And that image, with all of its history behind it, is the one I chose to recreate for this week’s watercolor practice. Because drama!
If you’ve read this blog before (thank you to all five of you) you know I love drama. And you cannot get more dramatic than Death in a flowing red robe, carrying a staff with a tiny version of his own head mounted on top, and a big, feathery Hello Dolly hat. My plan for for watercolor practice this time was to use a limited palette, cold pressed paper, and no inks whatsoever. I wanted to see if I could put together an image without the crutch of an inked outline.
As well, instead of an ink wash underpainting, I mixed a cool, desaturated green-grey watercolor and used it to create contrast through values. Over all of this I splashed the very theatrical blood red colors that make this particular monster what he is. Did it turn out the way I’d hoped? Some of it I like, but I also see opportunities for improvement. That’s why it’s vital to keep trying things you’re uncomfortable with. So you can improve.
And that is why I also tore open one of my cherished MEGO action figures and went at it with paint, glue, and a heat gun. I wanted to make my Red Death action figure look just a little more like Lon Chaney’s movie version. Basically, I needed to add some drama.
Perhaps even more nerve-racking than working on the watercolor without inks, modifying this figure meant potentially ruining it. But you have to keep trying things you’re uncomfortable if you want to improve. Which is what Michelle and I have been trying to do these past three years locked away inside the studio like the revelers in Poe’s story, barely any contact with the outside world. As long as we can manage to avoid the cold embrace of The Read Death, we should be able to continue this party.
If you want to watch me work on the watercolor and the action figure, here’s this week’s video: