See Sunderland artist's incredible sketch of Queen Elizabeth II to pay tribute following her death

An artist from Sunderland has shared a sketch of Queen Elizabeth II to honour her service to the country.
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James Routledge from Barnes, Sunderland, created the sketch of Queen Elizabeth II using just pencil following the death of Her Majesty Queen.

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Queen Elizabeth II ruled for longer than any monarch in British history, dedicating her lifetime to serving the UK and Commonwealth.

Artist James Routledge created a drawing of the Queen following her sad death.Artist James Routledge created a drawing of the Queen following her sad death.
Artist James Routledge created a drawing of the Queen following her sad death.

James, 36 decided to draw a sketch of the Queen to mark her historic death and as a ‘thank you’ for her service to the country.

James, dad to Matthew, seven and Emily, nine, said: “I’ve always supported the Queen, I was in the Scouts when I was younger and my brother is in the forces so I respect the Queen and the Royal family.

"Whenever I draw famous people, they mean something to me, so my Queen Elizabeth II drawing is important to me, it’s to show my appreciation and to say thank you for her service.”

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James, who works at the William Jameson in Sunderland city centre, has been selling his sketches for the last four years and is now starting up his own business, Routledge Arts, based at the North East BIC to encourage more children to be artistic and creative while boosting their mental health and wellbeing.

James honoured the poppy on Seaham beach during lockdown.James honoured the poppy on Seaham beach during lockdown.
James honoured the poppy on Seaham beach during lockdown.
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He added: “I started selling sketches to raise money for St Benedict's Hospice after I lost my mum to cancer, they’re amazing and it was a way of saying thank you.

"Just before lockdown I started doing art sessions at Barnes School to help inspire school children and then carried on doing sketches of people who couldn’t be together during lockdown – it’s all about helping people and as long as it brings smiles to faces, then I'm happy.”

James, who has previously drawn Captain Tom Moore and created a Second World War tribute to honour his grandfather using recycled material, originally did a sketch of the Queen for her Jubilee, but I wasn't happy with it so re-created the image for her funeral.

James and his sculpture dedicated to his late grandfather. Picture: James RoutledgeJames and his sculpture dedicated to his late grandfather. Picture: James Routledge
James and his sculpture dedicated to his late grandfather. Picture: James Routledge
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Following The Queen’s death, James started the drawing at 8pm before finishing at around 3am.

He added: “Art helps you switch off from everything and that’s the beauty of it, so hopefully I inspire others to get creative.”

For more information on James’ work please visit his Facebook page here or email him at [email protected]