Antony and Cleopatra

This one is almost like Hamlet or Midsummer Night’s Dream for the sheer convenience of a having one iconic symbol that connotes the play. Like a skull for the Hamlet cover, or the ass’s head for Midsummer Night’s Dream, the asp with which Cleopatra kills herself is instant shorthand for Antony and Cleopatra. As I have elsewhere, I used a black-bordered Victorian bereavement card for the background. A hundred years ago, mourning families would write invites to the funeral on cards like this one and mail them out. The orange snake is, I believe, from my old Yoda action-figure. The colour of the card and the placement of snake gave me the chance to set this one apart by using black text instead of white as I did on all the other covers. Sadly I had to crop out most of the black border of the bereavement card, but I’m still pleased with the overall effect and the chance to do something different with the type. The dynamic, side-widing motion of the snake is also pleasing (it is actually molded this way to fit around Yoda’s neck) and I was also gratified with the effect of the shadow from the slightly raised bend of the snake. The segment mold-marks on the snake are also a nice bit of detail that my fading eyes didn’t notice until I’d take the photo and enlarged it.