sketchbook update

Empress Matilda and King Stephen

I have been working in my A1 paper, but I’ve been out and about this last week so have been back working in my sketchbook. I have always enjoyed history – particularly of the early medieval period – and have recently listened to a couple of podcasts about Empress Matilda, or Lady of the English as she was known, and “The Anarchy”, the civil war caused by the battle between Matilda and her cousin, Stephen of Blois, for the English-Norman crown. As I think I have mentioned before, I read a lot of historical fiction when I was in my late teens, and was a huge fan of the author, Sharon Penman. When Christ and His Saints Slept was a favourite of mine, all about this turbulent time in the 12th Century.

Trying to find anything authentic to draw, so something that hasn’t been created by a computer, has proven quite difficult but I found a couple of images from 14th Century texts, and one of Matilda from a cigarette card, which while somewhat reminiscent of a Disney princess, used the same colours as the Derwent drawing inks that I have, so I used that too. I ended up using the same inks for all three drawings, hence the purple gown on the rather portly King Stephen (my error in proportions – he wasn’t that short and chubby in the original) but I used mulberry juice for the background of the right-hand Matilda. My friend grows mulberries and the ripe fruits make a fantastic pigment, although it’s not recommend if you’re wearing anything pale or about to greet guests, as the blood-coloured juice stains both fabric and fingers!