Phedre's Marque Final Version

More about this concept at my blog entry - Designing Phèdre's Marque.

I cleaned up version of the previous sketch depicting Phedre's marque with Illustrator:


If you happen to use this marque for your Kushiel-inspired fan things, I'd appreciate a credit to me as the artist.

I've been working on my own version of the cover to the novel Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey.  Rather than use the established marque, I thought I'd design my own version just to give the image an even more unique flare.  Also, I've always felt the traditional marque was far too literal when reading the description:

"With some effort, I recognised the underlying design, which was based on a very old pattern, the briar rose. Somehow Master Tielhard had kept the dramatic vigor of the archaic lines, yet infused them with a subtlety that spoke at once of the vine, the bond and the lash. The thorny lines were stark black, accented in only a few choice hollows with a teardrop of scarlet - a petal, a drop of blood, the mote in my eye."
(Phèdre no Delaunay, Kushiel's Dart)

I took heavy inspiration from some of my favorite fan versions, including elegaer's versions, which you can view here: