A kingdom conquered. Surrender to the darkness just to save your people. A princess garbed in a black cloak like funeral garb. Twilight Princess is a bleak story. Through their use of leading lines and facial expression, Icezimy is able to convey the profound sorrow of a princess whose kingdom has been lost along with much of her hope in their art, “Princess Zelda – Twilight Princess”.
Looking at Zelda’s face, you see only profound sorrow. Her bright blue eyes are nearly covered by her lowered lids. The watery color calling to mind the tears that surely must be there. Yet she keeps them inside, she must be strong for her people. Zelda’s normal radiance is shrouded just as the light of Hyrule is.
The most interesting element of this art is the purposeful use of leading lines to demonstrate Zelda’s sadness. Leading lines is a composition technique in which elements of a piece of art or a photograph seem to create lines leading the viewer’s eyes to a specific place. In this piece, a multitude of elements use this technique. In addition to Zelda’s eyes, which already invite our eyes to follow hers downward, her hair cascades down from her head just as the tears she contains threaten to. The strands fall down in nearly straight lines. Her royal chin is also titled down following her gaze to the floor. While she carries on, she cannot keep her chin up. Who could under the crushing grip of twilight?
Even her accessories draw our eyes downward. Her necklace points like an arrow through her heart, straight toward the ground. And her crown, the symbol of her people’s faith in her. Its design normally speaks of strength, but in this case, each diamond tip points down to the dirt Zant and Gannondorf have crushed her kingdom into.
I think very few of us can imagine the sense of loss and hopelessness this version of Zelda feels. A loss she likely feels lies on her shoulders. In their art, Icezimy invites us to feel a sliver of that sorrow through their use of expression and leading lines. The amount of emotion imparted is immense, which is a testament to the artist.
