Fan-Art: Riikka and her King Richard III – King of Ghosts

Published November 23, 2011 | By CDoart

With Riikka, we present an artist from Finland, approaching the fan-art topic from the historic and a ‘fantastic’ side. Her wonderful creations tell an own story. But before we share the King Richard art, let us introduce

Riikka

to you in the following interview:

Regarding her amazing work, we could not prevent asking, if Riikka is a professional book illustrator or graphic artist.

I’m not an illustrator yet, I’m on training. I’m studying art […] in Finland. Yes, I’m a Finn and I had no ties to England and sometimes my fellow men think that my interest is quite odd.

As King Richard Armitage website, our interest not only is in King Richard III, but also in the actor, Mr. Richard Armitage. What is your connection and how did you come accross this actor, Riikka?

The first time I saw Mr. Armitage was a pure chance. I wrote on the Google’s search bar simply “King Richard III” because I was searching some new ways of approaching and I saw his face. Then I took a closer look… I thought he looked nice and some way he looked like King Richard in a way which no other actor before him had looked like.
At first I didn’t know his name but one of my friends knew and then I saw his fan page at Facebook…

What interests you most in King Richard III?

Well, that’s a tough one…
It’s quite hard to explain but I’ll try. I was 10 and a half when I and my mother moved to another town and to me it was hard to adjust to a new surrounding. Then one night we watched “Black Adder” and there I saw him and it was love at the first sight. Since I live in Finland there was not much of information about him in our library so I had to order all those books about him from USA or England. Because of the lack of information I made up stories about him and on some level I felt a strong cohesion to him and it helped me to carry on through the difficult times.

Would you like to share some of your favourite inspirations with us?

I have quite few of favorites but here are the very best:
Sharon Kay Penman, Freda Warrington and Joan Szechtman. They are all novelists who have made the best ones of all the Richard III novels.

Can you share a for you very special moment determining your interest in King Richard with us?

The most special moment in my whole life was when I entered into King Richard III’s museum at York. After 13 years of waiting I finally got there, it was like stepping through the gates of Heaven.

How did you come to do drawings / paintings?

I have been drawing since I learned how to walk and when my mother gave me a pen and a blank sheet of paper I knew at once what to do with them. I can still remember when I first saw King Richard I made a quick sketch about him and the rest is history.

Drawing and painting are like the air I breath if I would not be allowed to do them I would suffocate. And besides this every time when I want to see my dear King all I need to do is to paint my way into his kingdom.

King Richard is my only passion and all my art works are related to him in one way or another. He is my greatest inspiration and muse.

Do your friends / familiy / colleagues share your fandom / admiration for King Richard?

Some of my friends at Facebook are as big fans as I am but they live in England or USA, I have never met them face to face but we send emails to each other almost daily.

King Richard doesn’t have a strong foothold in Finland and many of my class mates or teachers don’t care so much to get to know of him.

Riikka, your picture series shows a whole back-story around her King Richard creation.

Yes, I have made up quite plenty of “sagas” around of my paintings. I have a quite wild imagination and I’m very happy to share my stories about Richard to those all who are willing to listen. In my stories he is known as “The King of Ghosts” and he rules all kinds supernatural beings at a mythical place called Medviga. But you must forgive my “simple lines” because English is not my native language.

We are very much looking forward to Riikka’s story now and hope, to get glimpses and more insight into her further stories and phantasies around King Richard III, her King of Ghosts!
Thank you very much for this interview and perspective of a dedicated King Richard III fan!

To optimally present Riikka’s wonderful picture story to you, we wondered how best to do this. So we came up with the following solutions:
We decided to give you different options,