Bluebeard: The Ensnaring “Romance”

‘Twas said he courted three sisters at the same time. But they were frightened of his beard with its odd blue cast, and so they hid when he called. In an effort to convince them of his geniality he invited them on an outing in the forest… Later they stopped beneath a giant tree and Bluebeard regaled them with stories and fed them dainty treats.

The sisters began to think, “Well, perhaps this man Bluebeard is not so bad after all.”

But the youngest sister thought if a man could be that charming, then perhaps he was not so bard. The more she talked to herself, the less awful he seemed, and also the less blue his beard.

So when Bluebeard asked for her hand in marriage, she accepted. She had given his proposal great thought and felt she was to marry an elegant man. ¹

This is the inspiration for the first Bluebeard spread, what I have titled The Ensnaring Romance. The ultimate goal seems to be for one of the three sisters to marry him. That would seem odd – surely it would matter whom he chooses to marry! I actually think he knew it would be the youngest. She had the least experience and would be far more easily charmed by his horse ride and picnic in the woods. By inviting the whole family, he upped his chances that someone would want him but this also showed him as thoughtful – please, look how good a person I am, I want all of you to like me!

What I Was Thinking

The goal of this spread was to show – and hopefully make the viewer feel – the tension of the woman being lured by a sneaky man into a marriage that probably won’t go well for her.

The Collage Elements

First, the absolute delightful luck of finding the Jared Leto photo. He generally plays men that are more mysterious and has that air about his actual person, as well. It turned out, he is also flipping cards in this image even though that’s not readily apparent without looking closely. Regardless, it is perfect because Bluebeard is thought to be a failed or reduced magician. I was also very happy with the images of the woman in this specific Anthropolgie catalog. She has a wide-eyed quality about her, making her seem innocent. There are also multiple photos of her in different outfits which will help keep the series united since I can use the same woman.

The Look and Feel

I wanted there to be distinct sides of the spread – his dark and her light. since I also wanted there to be overlap, to show that there is influence on both sides. He is attempting to charm her to him and her vibrancy is attractive to him.

• I used darker and lighter green paint in the framing and backgrounds
• The framing is added like stage curtains, the whole day is staged to fool these women and I also wanted to image to feel a little closed in
• I used fresh, bright colored flowers for her
• The white ceramic flower reads as ‘ossified’, covered over like his heart and magic, reduced from it’s former self
• The picnic elements on her side and his side are also lighter/darker (hat tip once again to Anthropologie and their artistic side for the surreal elements!)

Finish Notes

Overall the elements were good and I think I got my point across. His side feels ‘choppy’ – not cohesive enough. The elements themselves are fine but perhaps I could have placed them together better. Or embrace the bit of chaos since that’s what he’s trying to do!

Her side had a section of empty space which may have helped, giving the eye a space to rest.

Working Notes

• Soft matte gel wrinkles magazine clipping pages, maybe the medium has more water?
• Don’t paint over magazine images with it either as it dulls the colors.
• Matte gel is stiff and did not seem to wrinkle magazine images as much.

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The Bluebeard Series

• Bluebeard – Beginning Again
• Spread 1 – The Ensnaring “Romance” (you are here!)
• Spread 2 – The Search for the Forbidden Door
• Spread 3 – The Bloody Key
• Spread 4 – Do You See Our Brothers?
• Spread 5 – The Gruesome End

1 – Quote is from
Pinkoles Este, Ph.D., Clarissa. “Stalking the Intruder: The Beginning Initiation”. Women Who Run With The Wolves, Ballantine Books, 1992, pp. 40-41. (affiliate link)