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© Kristina Gehrmann

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OMG! My "Tudor Queens" series is finished! This is the eighth and final image in the series.
The last time I attempted a series (The Seven Virtues, in 2005) I stopped after image 3 of 7 and never finished it. But this one was so much fun, I could paint those Tudor queens all over again!

There is so much artifice in the portraits of Elizabeth I. She wears giant dresses that seem to weigh more than her with all the jewels and ornaments. And those elaborate wigs, huge starched collars and detailed headdresses! How long it must have taken to get dressed like this?! Perhaps a bit too long to do it every day. So I'm going to assume that the decorative excesses were mainly for representative purposes (as Queen of England she was practically obligated to look more splendid, rich, and fashionable than everyone else around her), and that she actually wore much simpler outfits on most days.

Enough about dresses! You can read the story of Queen Elizabeth on the addictive Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabet…
There's also a fun-to-read biography: "Elizabeth" by Carolly Erickson, who also wrote about Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII, and Catherine the Great.

I put her in a forest setting because I think the real Elizabeth would have liked this - a relaxing rest from restrictive court life, nothing artificial here. And because my gallery needs more green paintings anyway.
I feel like I'm finally starting to figure out the gorgeous sunlight-shining-through-green-leaves light.

Pose and dress referenced from lockstock
Smile referenced from LongStock
Photoshop and Wacom tablet, as always. Took about 20 hours.

Thanks for looking

Description
© Kristina Gehrmann

------------------------------------

Follow me on Facebook!

My web portfolio!

INSTAGRAM

ETSY SHOP

------------------------------------

OMG! My "Tudor Queens" series is finished! This is the eighth and final image in the series.
The last time I attempted a series (The Seven Virtues, in 2005) I stopped after image 3 of 7 and never finished it. But this one was so much fun, I could paint those Tudor queens all over again!

There is so much artifice in the portraits of Elizabeth I. She wears giant dresses that seem to weigh more than her with all the jewels and ornaments. And those elaborate wigs, huge starched collars and detailed headdresses! How long it must have taken to get dressed like this?! Perhaps a bit too long to do it every day. So I'm going to assume that the decorative excesses were mainly for representative purposes (as Queen of England she was practically obligated to look more splendid, rich, and fashionable than everyone else around her), and that she actually wore much simpler outfits on most days.

Enough about dresses! You can read the story of Queen Elizabeth on the addictive Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabet…
There's also a fun-to-read biography: "Elizabeth" by Carolly Erickson, who also wrote about Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII, and Catherine the Great.

I put her in a forest setting because I think the real Elizabeth would have liked this - a relaxing rest from restrictive court life, nothing artificial here. And because my gallery needs more green paintings anyway.
I feel like I'm finally starting to figure out the gorgeous sunlight-shining-through-green-leaves light.

Pose and dress referenced from lockstock
Smile referenced from LongStock
Photoshop and Wacom tablet, as always. Took about 20 hours.

Thanks for looking