The Phoenix Queen

This is a promotional illustration for an illustrated children's bio about Mary Queen of Scots, tentatively titled "The Phoenix Queen," as the phoenix, rising from the ashes, was Mary's emblem. This project is currently on hiatus, due to health problems the author is having. But I still have hopes that this will someday see the light of day- Mary needs me as a champion!

Mary is at the top, with Bothwell, her third husband, being the duellist in the green doublet, with Darnley- her second husband- being the fop in rose. At the bottom are her enemies Queen Elizabeth and William Cecil, Elizabeth's chief advisor. I did this several years ago, but this is still one of my favorite pieces- since I tried to capture the same epic feeling found in Sanjulian's paintings. [link]

Other studies for Mary can be found here- [link] or here. [link]