Portraits, lipsticks, cocktails and wicked!

My friends and I were super keen for a day in London so we got the 9:30 train, which gave us plenty of time to take touristy selfies on Westminster bridge before meeting everyone at the gallery. 

 

I had been to the national portrait gallery many times either with family or college, but for some reason I had never gone upstairs to the Tudor section. It was quite surreal seeing all these famous paintings that you learn so much about at school. Not just in art, but history too. Ive always had a bit of a fascination with Anne Boleyn, so I was very excited to see her famous portrait in there. It stood out as it is so simple compared to all the extravagant and lavish paintings of Henry VIII and other monarchs.

There were several portraits of Elizabeth in the gallery, but a couple really stood out to me. I had seen both of these paintings online before hand, but they were so much more beautiful and striking in person. The first of the two was actually the first that I saw of Elizabeth- it was the portrait that was done of her on the day of her coronation.  I actually found it quite sad to look at as it really captures her innocence before she was queen. Apart from her outfit, her appearance is very plain and simple. I love the colour scheme in this piece- her golden dress goes perfectly with her long, flowing hair. The jewels in this painting are pretty subtle in comparison to later images, there are just a few black and red precious stones with pearls placed here and there, as opposed to being completely drenched in them. As fabulous as she was, I like this piece because it shows her as just a girl before she became an established queen and fashion icon. It shows us that her love for fashion and beauty grew as she got older and gained respect. 

 

The other portrait that stood out to me was a painting done of Elizabeth in 1592 after she had become the virgin queen. She is much older and actually looks quite worn out- however, this could have just been the painter’s interpretation of her. I feel that this piece is contrasting to the last image as I personally think all innocence is lost in this portrait. Up until she became ‘the virgin queen’ her reign was very stressful and a lot of people wouldn’t take her seriously and I think this is reflected in her expression. Her outfit it much more grand and extravagant, as if she is making a conscious effort to uphold the image of a dedicated and powerful queen.
  

 

Not only was the actual structure of the dress much more extravagant, the embellishment on the dress is too. It is completely covered in precious gemstones and pearls- which I love!! Id like to maybe incorporate this in to either my hair or make up design.

To finish off the day, we went as spent far too much money at the Mac and Ilamasqua stores on Carnaby street. We then went for burgers and cocktails before watching Wicked! It’s such an amazing show. You can’t beat the atmosphere in a theatre and I can’t wait to be a part of that one day.