HM The Queen, Diamond Jubilee Portrait

Recently I've been working on a very special portrait, which I can now show to you as it's finished, hurrah! To commenorate HM Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee this year, I've been working on a portrait which I will soon be selling as limited edition prints and carefully selected merchandise. I think I lost count how many diamonds I had to draw, but it's fair to say my hand was numb by the end of it!

I also took pictures of each stage of the illustration process so you can see how the portrait developed, as personally I always find it interesting to see how other artists work.

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first I begin by sketching the outline and then I start shading the eyes first, as these are the focal point of the face.

Once the face is complete, I move on to the hair. It's very intricate and takes hours of concentration!

Next I focussed on the crown. This was very fiddly as there are so many diamonds and jewels (and yes, I did draw each individual jewel!)

After the face, hair and crown are finish, I move onto bigger areas such as the decolletage, necklace & medal (again, I drew every single jewel and setting in her necklace individually) and dress.

After 3 days of solid drawing and one very numb hand, this is the finished portrait.