Julie d'Aubigny - A French Opera Singer & Swordswoman 1673-1707

This is a Cartoon Illustration of Julie d'Aubigny. When I first heard her story I was in an awe, like she was an incredible woman. Like 16th to 17th century, that`s an era where women weren`t exactly treated fairly, and she spent her life according to her own liking. She was a "Swordswoman" in that era. She was bisexual & fully expressed herself giving no mind to what other people say about her. She was flamboyant and a really inspiring woman to this day!

So ya, after I heard her story I went on looking for her reference pictures on Google. And I came up with these features for her. Like her Dress & Hairstyle, I saw many, many Sixteen & seventeen French Styles clothes & hairstyles. For the pattern, I just drew what came to my mind. Regarding the feathers on her head, I saw lots of her reference pictures she had them on top, so I drew them as well plus they looked good with her hairstyle.

I put a sword in her hand to show she was a Swordswoman. I wanted to dress her in men`s clothing, to show her as a crossdresser because this is one of the few things she was really known for, but then I just stuck with the dress because it shows that she was a French lady, plus I really wanted to make a 16th-century style dress, so ya 😅. Her other hand is in the air, I made that because that`s the Opera singing stance in most of the reference pictures of opera singers, I saw. I made her facial expressions kinda stiff & smug because that`s how she was. Literally an Amazing Queen slaying.

If you`re interested in this Illustration & want to experiment with it or just wanna use it as it is, I would recommend downloading the original file from my Adobe Stock Portfolio!