"kay leaves the palace of ice"

“kay leaves the palace of ice” from the “snow queen”.


this scene depicts the moment when kay has solved the snow queen’s puzzle & has become his own master as well as a won a new pair of skates. however, he’s not ready to grow up & leaves the palace of ice with gerda.  

the window is based on the famous rose window in chartres cathedral. 

the snow queen wears a victorian dress & a norwegian headdress.


the original painting is india ink, watercolor & oil pastel, as well as black acrylic paint. acrylic absorbs light rather than reflecting it so i rarely use it. i like my paintings to have the luminosity that watercolors impart. however, i used always used it on the snow queen’s hair. i wanted to her to be devoid of light, like a black hole. i also used it on a few of her interiors. it’s flatness gives the stained glass the illusion of glowing light. the painting measures 14″ x 17″. it was painted on strathmore bristol smooth 100 lb. paper. i wrote about this paper here: you can buy a print of this painting here: etsy prints!