Dark Agnes - Portrait
- DARK AGNES: Portrait - An acrylic painting, size 9 x 12. A spare time painting based on the sword woman character created by Robert E. Howard.
When I received this commission from Zebra Books to illustrate a paperback book, "The Sword Woman," my color sketch of the lead character, Dark Agnes, was based on her description in the story, which takes place in a fictional world comparable to that of The Three Musketeers; swordsmen with feathered wide-brimmed hats, pantaloons, and fencing swords. The stories were written by Robert E. Howard who is most famous for his stories about Conan, the barbarian.
The editor at Zebra Books had asked me to do some preliminary sketches for approval, and this portrait, which was in a rough color state, was among a half dozen other sketches that I did representing scenes from the stories in the book. She rejected them all, she wanted Dark Agnes to look like a female Conan, and every one else to look like barbarians! Though I argued against it, I eventually gave in and did it the "boss's" way.
So, Imagine yourself reading the story . . . Dark Agnes threw her wide brimmed feathered hat aside, flung her cape over her left shoulder, and flashed the point of her fencing sword at the evil, smirking face of Renault d'Valence . . . While my illustration on the facing page shows her wearing a metal helmet, metal breastplates, and wielding a huge broadsword! . . .
Robert E. Howard deserves an apology from the editor, and me.
A few years later, in my spare time I finished that initial rough color sketch of Dark Agnes. You see it here, framed.
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