The Warrior Queens is a book project I finish almost a year ago but publishing is sometimes a very slow and sometimes painful to wait for. This was an interesting project with a lot of exact reference and historical documentation that had to be followed exactly to the letter.
It's a historical look back at six bad-ass queens who used their prowess and cunning to defeat some of the most powerful armies of the day. The cover was equally challenging to create a cover that had all of the queens and gave no importance to any one of them. Also during the process, we had to adjust any appearance to reflect the historical reference in dress , weapons and geographical locations to be accurate. The first step was to collect and categorize all of the reference. This I could not have done without the able and diligent Studio-mate Forest and Intern Dana Sanchez. They wanted a large portrait of the queen and a complicated battle scene that stretched across the spread. First step thumbnails.... then line sketches... with I tried to keep not quite finished as to give the final drawings a bit of spontaneity. Something that's very hard when theres so much time in between sketches and approvals.
Boudicca was queen of a tribe of Celts called the Iceni in eastern Britain in 60 CE. She led an uprising against Caeser's forces, and died shortly after its failure, believed to have poisoned herself. She is considered a British Folk Hero.
Hatshepsut was a female pharoah in 15th century BC, who ruled and dressed as a man. She stabilized the government, put funds into infrastructure and roadways, and invested heavily in programs to spread the wealth among the common folk. Despite this, after her reign, memories of her were destroyed by the following leaders, who did not want to admit how well a woman ran things. Archaeologists found proof of Hatshepsut’s reign in the early 20th century when they discovered a pit filled with destroyed statues of the kingly queen. Her statues were toppled, her name had been hacked away, and every evidence of her rule was either disguised or tossed.
The Queen and her sister, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, defended ancient Vietnam from Chinese occupation, around 100 BC. They fought on the backs of elephants, and the Queens breasts were said to be so long, that she tied them up in cloth behind her back.
Zenobia was queen of Palmyra, in today's Syria, in 270 CE. Palmyra laid between the Roman and Persian empires. She took large amounts of land from the Roman army. She eventually enraged Rome so badly that they sent everything they could after her. She was forced to surrender, and with her life spared, was taken back to rome in chains to be a “good roman wife” to a senator.
Artemisia, 5th century BC, played a key role in the battle of Salamis between the Greeks and Persians. She was Greek, but fought for Xerxes and the Persians.
Amanirenas, 40-10 BC, was the Queen of the Kush Kingdom, in modern day Sudan. She was a true warrior and fought at the front lines in conflicts, losing her eye in one such battle with the Romans. Nubians were found to use special antibiotic yeasts in their beer brewing, and everyone after childhood drank this special brew that protected them from infections or sickness.
A special thanks to all of the folks at Boyds Mills Press. And to the fabulous art director Barbara Grzeslo for thinking of me a giving some space to get something that was so much fun....
Available now on Amazon