I Illustrated Wagner's Ring Cycle

I recently completed an illustration series based on Richard Wagner’s epic cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung, or The Ring for short). I illustrated each of the four operas in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. Each one took around 3-6 hours to complete from start to finish.

The first image is a look at all four of the final images from my Ring Cycle series. Instead of showing them in the order I drew them, they are in the order that the actual Operas occur. (And for those who are interested, I drew them in the order of 4,2,3,1).

The first full illustration is my interpretation of ‘Götterdämmerung;’ (Twilight of the Gods), and I have included a gif of my art process for those who might be interested. The second piece is for the Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) opera. The third in the series is titled 'Siegfried'; the man who upon lying eyes on the naked Brünnhilde at long last experiences fear. I included some process of that piece as well, since it was a lot of fun to paint. The final illustration is Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold). I wanted to capture the moment when Alberich, embittered by the mockery of the Rhein Maidens, curses love and seizes the golden glow of the Rhine Gold as the sun rises.

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