Charlie Kirkham

The inspiration for this came from the Greek myth of Princess Andromeda chained to a rock, rescued by Perseus. It links into the themes of waiting to be rescued that I am exploring in the George & The Dragon series.

Showing how strongly environment influences artwork the drawing , this drawing began in September 2022, shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Somehow, my princess slowly morphed into a version of a young Elizabeth II.

This drawing is a slight departure from the previous ones in that it relies more on the tonality created through pen and wash. I’ve used my trusted 0.05mm nib too though! The scale remains intimate coming in at 25x26cm. Using heavy handmade rag paper allows for lots of layering, it can hold a wash really well.

What was the inspiration?

Andromeda, similar to many other mythological princesses, is a foil for the hero. She’s unlucky enough to be chained up and waiting for a sea monster before a heroic rescue takes place. It made me ponder all the waiting time in these old stories. What is the monster (in my case dragon) up to? What’s the princess thinking?

This drawing plays with the idea of waiting times. It looks at the interaction between Andromeda and Dragon while they’re waiting for their cameo appearances in the hero’s tale.

The crown is big and heavy, Andromeda here is very much a queen rather than a princess. The weight of the crown echoes the severity of the situation in which she finds herself. Dragon is similarly bedecked with jewellery. They both wear similar bracelets and chains to hint at a commonality in their roles. I wanted to drawing to feel like an informal interaction between the two characters.

It was enjoyable working on this one, which has now formed the basis of laser etchings and collages. Still curious about how I made it? Comment below with your questions.