Illustration Friday - Asleep

The topic for Illustration Friday: Asleep

This is Becca from my senior project. It's acrylic paints, and cut out paper. I found a lot of fun textured girly pink paper at Jo Ann's, so I had a lot of fun with this!

Henry VIII & Catherine of Aragon

Here is my work in progress of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. (And don't worry, I didn't forget about Mary I, she's about 9 in this image). The lady on the side will be Anne Boylen of course!

Illustration Friday - Soaked

Illustration Friday topic: Soaked

Basically what happens to my hair after it gets wet and dries. POOF goes the curls!

Royal Sketches

First off, I moved. So I wanted to show off my lovely new work space! (And yes, I roll around on the hard wood floors with my rolling chair all the time. Good thing no one lives below me!)
This first image is a rough sketch, well two, of King Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. It's said that he dumped her because he didn't like what she looked like. He saw a painting of her, and thought she looked pretty, but didn't think that the picture depicted her well once he met her.
On the left side is a drawing of Catherine Howard (how she would dress) and the left is Catherine Parr and her outfit. (5th and 6th wives of King Henry VIII)
Left side is Jane Seymour and her dress, and the right is Anne of Cleves. (3rd and 4th wives of King Henry VIII)
On the left is Anne Boylen, and the right is the 2 different caps that women would wear during that time. Anne was said to wear the French cap, while Catherine of Aragon was said to wear the English gable.
Here is an image of Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII's 1st wife.
This is a image I did a long time ago, the first idea I had for a portrait of King Henry VIII and Anne Boylen. Now I'm thinking it will be full length, and her head will already be off.
This I did earlier this year, it's Catherine Howard (the 5th wife of Henry the VIII) and a mock up of what the men would wear.
On the left (top) is Elizabeth I, and all her men. She was the Virgin Queen with a lot of proposals.
The left bottom is what I will be doing for Mary I. Her marriage to Prince Philip of Spain was never a happy one, and he left her a lot. In the background will be a open window, showing images of people burning, to symbolize the 300 people she had burned for religious beliefs.
This will be King Edward II. With his four children around him, and his wife with a sword to his neck. It is not known how, or technically when he died. All they know is that after she made it so he abdicated his crown to their son Edward III (only 14 at the time) he was imprisoned and she held a public funeral for him months later. But there is no real documented prof of how he was murdered, so I'm just going with the sword.
This image is hard to see (so feel free to click on it!) but it's Empress Matilda. She will be wearing her white gown, and in the back of her will be her family. Her husband will be the furthest back, flirting with a unknown women. The marriage was never a happy one, and he fathered many children outside of their marriage.

I'm having some difficulty with King George III and Queen Victoria with Prince Albert. I guess because nothing to outlandish really happened in their marriages. They both had a lot of children, and neither had affairs! I want to incorporate the fact the King George had dementia and was the King when the United States broke away from England though. I'm not sure how to do that yet, so I'm still working on it. Victoria and Albert might just have a happy portrait though. What's wrong with a happy royal marriage?

Walk for the Cure

Here are some illustrations I did for a Walk for the Cure benefit at my Mom's work last year.

Try some meat soup!

I just wanted to show off my mad sign making skills for Whole Foods. I'm a back up sign maker, and this week I got to show off my painting skills for all the world to see!

Royal Portrait's Illustrations

I have recently been feeling like I have been in a "artistic slump" if you will, and have decided that I need to do something to make me feel like I'm back in the art world again. I graduated a year ago now, and without a job in the arts, it makes a person feel like they're failing. Although I know I'm not, and have had a successful animation internship since graduating, I guess I just had some type fantasy that I would get an offer right away. Then after the offer (from Pixar of course) I would become a millionaire in San Francisco with all of my school loans paid off.

After many nights of denial, tears, and just plain whining, I have decided the only thing I can do to get out of this slump is to create a illustration series. What would that series consist of? Uh, English Royals of course!

I have been very interested in Royal history for a couple of years now. Pretty much after a drawing teacher of mine suggested that I read "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" (yes, I realize that has NOTHING to do with English Royalty) I did, and soon after wanted to watch the movie. Although it was not as good as the book, Netflix recommended that I watch "The Other Boleyn Girl" (something to do with Scarlet Johhanson I'm sure) and I was HOOKED on the Tudors drama! I started reading all the Phillipa Gregory books I could get my hands on, and quickly became obsessed with learning all I could. I was just amazed with Henry VIII, and all 6 of his wives.

Soon I was learning about all the children he had, and what became of them. Next thing I new I was learning about all the different families that have ruled, and what became of each of them. I was watching movie after movie, and reading books and articles about the royals! So, after weeks of investigation and thought, I have finally come up with 8 of my favorite royals to create portraits for. I won't deny that the royal wedding had some influence on this series, so I thought I would embrace this, and make the series about Royal Couples through the ages. Here are the royals that I have chosen:

1. Empress Matilda : The crown was suppose to go to her, but she was passed over and lived her life determined to get it back, and to make sure her son became King. This same determination and thought didn't really get put into her marriage though.

2. Kind Edward II : Was married to Isabella of France, and even though they had 4 children together, she wasn't a fan of his and had him killed.

3. King Henry VIII: Like and normal man, he liked new things that made other men jealous. His object of choice, his wives. He had 6, and most weren't too happy about being replaced, so he took care of that.

4. Mary I of England: The first (and legitimate) daughter of Henry VIII. She was made Queen and got married after being pressured into it. It was said that she very much loved her husband Philip of Spain, but the same is not said about his feelings toward her.

5. Elizabeth I of England: The Virgin Queen. The title may be debatable, but what's not is that she never married and never produced a child. Where's the couple in that? I'd say in all the proposals she got.

6. King George III: He met his wife the day of their wedding, but he never took a mistress and they had 15 children! If that's not romantic, I don't know what is.

7. Queen Victoria: She married a man she very much liked, Prince Albert, and they had a very happy marriage that produced 9 children. But after a short life together (he passed away only in his 40's) he left her in years of mourning. Who can get a woman out of years of depression? A cute boy of course! John Brown may have only been her servant in her children's eyes, but if so, why is she buried with his ring on her finger?

8. King George VI: His wife didn't want to be married to the royal family, and he didn't want to become king. But I guess in life you don't always get what you want, and even with his stutter he was made King, and she, Queen.

Don't worry. I'm not leaving out the happy couple, and will have a portrait of the newlyweds in their carriage ride through town, as well as a map of England pointing out some of my favorite hot spots in this royal country!

I plan on posting pictures of my concept work soon, and after each image is completed, posting that final image as well. My plan is to have all of my final sketches done by the end of this week, and then give each image 1 week for completion. They all will get 1 portrait, except Henry who will get 6 (1 for each wife) and Victoria who will get 2 (one for Albert, and one for her friend John Brown).

I hope this will not only get me out of my slump, but will also make some people amused. Which is why I went into the arts in the first place!