4th semester Project week: Francesca di Napoli

Born in Frankfurt, Germania - 1465, her father was a merchant and her mother a smith. They made a decent living selling all sorts of goods, particularly weapons and pelts as well as raw materials all over Europe. When she was 2 years old, their caravan was ambushed by raiders from a distant land. Without realizing there was a child on board, the raiders pushed the lead cart into a nearby river close to the border with Italy. The wreckage floated downstream for what seemed like an eternity, until she arrived-although unbeknownst to her- to the hunting grounds of king Alfonso the 2nd, ruler of Naples. As the king and his hunting party were out looking for deer, as fate would have it; they found a small child at breaths distance from a large, black wolf. Was it taking care of this marooned child, or toying with its next meal?

They would not take a chance: They shot for the wolf and while it was a miss, it was enough to scare the predator away. Still, the king thought… How curious to find a child with a wolf. It reminded him of a long-forgotten story of how an empire was built.

Alfonso took her in and raised her as his own. She grew into royalty and was quickly accepted and loved by her court and subjects who dubbed her “Wolf child” or “Spirit of Romulus.”
She grew up with 3 siblings: Ferdinand the 2nd, Isabella, and Piero.

In her teenage years she dedicated her life to learning the ways of diplomacy and how to play the part of royalty. However she also took a keen interest in combat. She learned from several condottieros and sword masters such as the well renown Filippo Vadi, who also taught her to ride horses and reluctanctly introduced her to the world of Freelancing, a hobby she relished in, until 1495.
Her life seemed pretty normal; until Charles the V decided to invade Italy. His first target? Naples.

I had so much fun developing this character. I wanted to try and rethink the way I draw since im trying to make my art more stylized and what a better opportunity to do so, than project week! Once again facilitated by the wonderful Jenny Harder, who showed me the importance of colour values as well as a proper workflow to make my painted renders stand out more.

Thank you again so much for your valuable feedback! What a week!
I do recomend you guys check her out, Jenny's art is top of the line.
https://www.artstation.com/jennyharder