A lone figure travels across the desert at night on foot, his world lit by a brilliant moon. His thoughts and schemes are his own. So distracted by his plans, he does not notice the figures following him. Nor does he see the sandstorm, sweeping across the sands to rip through anything it encounters, yet the Warlord has a mission. 

This is the second of seven prints inspired by the travels of Marco Polo, in conjunction with the 60th year celebration of Doctor Who. “Warlord in the Desert” is available here exclusively at Redbubble, in a variety of prints, posters, another merchandise.

So how did this print come about?

When considering how to approach this project, I had to ask myself what really stood out about this story. The whole point of illustrating a project is to bring interesting visuals to life, so I had to focus on what was most visually appealing about Marco Polo’s adventures. I settled on showcasing the different landscapes, rich vistas, the exotic locations that were the byproduct of his travels. 

As an example, the first print in this series, “Mongols at the Pass”, also available here on Redbubble, takes place up in the snow covered mountains, whereas the adventures move to different locales, such as the desert. I think it’s a big part of the reason people have wanted this one to be animated and in colour. The visual opportunities are just too rich to pass up.

Note: the image above is of low resolution for the purpose of this article only, as the actual image is high resolution, perfect for the prints available.

The Marco Polo Collection will continue next time with “The Cave”…