I've been working on some bigger projects lately, and took some time to just doodle these illustrations which ended up turning into a whole project of their own! You can see below the original illustrations in my sketchbook, they ended up being back to back which I thought was a shame as they were supposed to be a duo which was my initial inspiration for turning them into proper pieces of their own. So I photographed them with my iPad and completely re-drew them in Procreate.
Originally I just wanted to draw Elphaba in a nice woodland scene as it's currently Autumn, and then decided to draw Glinda in a similar style surrounded with air elements purely due to the fact that she travels by bubble (with the Mucha inspired art nouveau ring representing the bubble Glinda arrives in during the show)
It wasn't until I was halfway through digitally colouring Elphaba that I began to think about it a little more deeply, and I looked up which direction traditionally corresponds with which element. I should point out here that it varies depending if you're in the Southern hemisphere (as obviously everything becomes inverted, as North is hot and South is cold, whereas it's the opposite way for the Northern hemisphere). But for me in Europe, West corresponds with the element of Earth, and North corresponds with the element of Water. And the more research I did the more I realised this couldn't be a coincidence!
Elphaba is obviously the "Wicked" Witch of the West, so obviously that firmly plants her as the element of Earth. I was immediately reminded of a quote I'd read by Wicked's costume designer Susan Hilferty:
"If you look at the Elphaba dress up close, you’ll see that it’s not black. It’s actually filled with color. The color that I was responding to was from looking at stones in the earth and gems. The design of her dress is layers that are built with over 40 yards of fabric that are stitched together to have a continuous sense of being from the earth. It’s created to look like the lines you would see in a chunk of earth."Gregory Maguire, the writer of the book Wicked that the musical is based on, also mentions several times how Elphaba has an earthy smell about her, and obviously her green skin is very representative of the earth also. The element of Earth is also representative of "solidarity", which is a word that fits Elphaba very well - most of the trouble she finds herself in is due to her unwavering beliefs, she refuses to back down from her morals that she holds so dear, and she is fiercely loyal to those she loves.
Although I didn't draw him, it's worth baring in mind that Fiyero (Elphaba's love interest if you're unfamiliar with the plot to Wicked) would also be represented by the element of Earth as he is from the Vinkus/Winkie Country which is located in the West (which is how Elphaba becomes the witch of the West as she takes shelter in his family castle Kiamo Ko). In the original novel Fiyero is prince of the Arjiki tribe, and it's detailed how he lives off the Earth in a much more natural way than the rest of Oz (which marks him out as 'other' and is part of why he and Elphaba bond). Although he doesn't have that back story in the musical, he is turned into the Scarecrow which one could argue is also representative of the element of Earth as it's whole purpose is to guard the crops growing from the Earth. ALSO going back to the book, part of Fiyero's culture that marks him as Arjiki are the blue diamonds that are tattooed over his body, and diamonds and gemstones are obviously formed deep in the earth. Which is why I made sure to include a cluster of blue gemstones in the drawing of Elphaba to represent him!
G(a)linda Upland is the witch of the North as she hails from Gillikin Country. Although I had originally taken Glinda's bubble to represent Air, bubbles are obviously formed by water so once I made that connection it made perfect sense! Whereas I'd given Elphaba a warm, earthy colour palette, I cooled things right down for Glinda's illustration which further contrasts her against Elphaba. Water is representative of 'fluidity' and 'emotions', which again suits Glinda's personality perfectly: she is ruled entirely by her emotions and makes all of her decisions based on how she is feeling, and is the most fluid of all the characters as she makes the biggest change throughout the story line - she goes from hating Elphaba and being judgemental and conceited, to being one of the most empathetic characters who loves Elphaba with her whole heart.
I'm quite tempted to add to these and perhaps draw Fiyero! (and Nessa? And Boq?)
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