Princess Kazia

I'm very pleased to say that Kazia won the competition! I'm very thankful to the judges and to everyone that helped me out with feedback on this piece! The link for the original contest is here: [link]

The Lady Kazia is a fixture in the world I've created for my ever-in-progress graphic novel. She rules over but one principality of a confederated nation called Dragostahd, and is only one of two female heads of state amongst seven. As the name might suggest, I'm striving to give this area of my world a sort of generalized Eastern European bent in terms of culture and style. Her particular province, Khorbany, is primarily composed of a cold, rocky stretch of shore. Most of their trade comes from fishing and whaling. Khorbany scrimshaw is highly prized and fetches a high price beyond Dragostahni borders. It is expected of this particular royal family to know what hard work is, and how harsh life can be in their province--unfortunately, this drive to understand the common people led to an accident in which Kazia's father, the former prince died when their ship and a sea serpent decided to chase the same pod of narwhals. It was in this same ill-fated event that the young princess lost her left arm. While she is extremely lucky to have survived, it has had a nasty impact on her personality and too ready to dwell on the unpleasant realities of life. She wears a narwhal pendant as a symbol of her regency; for in truth, she only occupies the throne until her younger brother comes of age, at which point the princess will be happy to retire from the spotlight.

Not all princesses are particularly young or pretty, and I tried to show a little age in her face (as in clearly adult as opposed to existing in some ageless void of youth) as well as some of her bad attitude. Mixed media--watercolor, colored pencil, pastel and acrylic.