Last week I was asked if I could draw a picture of my Honours and Doctoral supervisor and friend Andi Spark, to the theme of ‘Queen Sparkle’. I’ve known Andi for over a decade now; through two states of location and multiple states of being, through one divorce, one marriage, teen angst, one grandchild, one bachelor’s degree, and two doctorates. Of course, i said yes. Genuinely honoured to be asked to contribute something formally. I was drawing pretty much straight after the call.

With a turnaround of less than a week I had time to explore, but not all the time in the world. 5 pages of drawing and thinking had given me enough to get started. Maybe more than enough.

I wanted to try an Art Nouveau style and found an Alphonse Mucha piece with the general composition I was looking for. Below, thinking of creating a comic that might be read in more than one direction. Initially, only a linear trajectory, from left to right.

considering adding another dimension, up and down.

moving images around, adding some, deleting others. looking for interrelations

I wanted to get across in a striking way something classical. the idea of queen being about justice and power, in addition to all the nice soft sparkly things.

Adding the centrepiece

Change blend modes- check the composition. not bad for a start.

At this stage it was now Saturday late afternoon. I’d gotten the call on Wednesday. Time was running short. I switched gears to drawing mode and continued.