As the whole country, nay world, mourned the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, I felt a strong desire to show my appreciation of her greatness by putting her image on canvas.  I really wanted to create the painting quickly, inspired by the not entirely unexpected, event.  Although deeply affected by her death, I did not feel overwhelmed by sadness or weighed down by grief.  The black mourning was overshadowed by the bright glory of her reign, the strength of her kindness and understanding, her dignity and calmness.  She kept her majesty even in old age, and it seemed fitting for me to focus on her in her dotage.  Studying more recent photos I chose a black surface to represent her passing but brighter colours to radiate her strength of character. I decided upon pastels as my medium because I can work quickly with them, but found myself using pastel pencils as I strived for more definition.  This is is a swift piece of work, and perhaps not as close a resemblance as it could be, but I have achieved my aim which was to capture the moment.