Pencil Sketches, PG - The Coat

[ivrogne transfiguré]

Is it just me who actually finds Grantaire more attractive than Enjolras in this picture?

Not that that's a bad thing at all, don't get me wrong, Enjolras is plenty pretty enough. I think maybe his sort of pretty is too ... archangelic, or whatever, and almost unnatural. Whereas Grantaire is a nice human guy. Maybe he just seems much more accessible or something.

Anyway, I love this pic. The symmetry and the contrast are awsome. I wish I could draw half as well as this.

[MmeBahorel]

I have nothing coherent to say - Enjolras' hair is hot; Grantaire is hot; fencing jackets are hot.

This is v. nice to wake up to

[a_marguerite]

I see what you did there with foils! What a sneaky, sneaky pun. Hugo would be proud.

The fencer in me just adores the 19th century fencing jackets, and I am extremely fond of Enjolras's glove. I have no idea why I like it, but I do. It's fab.

Love Grantaire's hair here- it's kind of scruffy, but a nice, actually flattering length and has stringy tendrils in front the way Enjolras's hair sort of waves over his forehead. His expression is brilliant too- he's engaged, he's present and he's trying not to show just how excited he is that Enjolras is actually engaging with him. Enjolras seems to be in warrior priest mode already.

[merlin_emrys]

Beautiful! I love how Grantaire's dark and scruffy self contrasts with Enjolras's smooth, bright, intensity. This makes me really look forward to fencing this evening.

[Col.Despard]

Thanks, ivrogne transfiguré - I'm rather pleased that's how it worked out, even though I do prettify Grantaire rather too much! (Scruffy as opposed to repulsive). He's usualy more approachable than my Enjolras, who grows ever more stylised I fear.

MmeBahoreL, so glad you enjoyed - a small repayment for your latest writing installments!

Marguerite...ah, what could I call it but "foils", given, their instruments and situating them as opposites? I'm so glad you like - I get intimidated with subjects like this, given I know you and others are fencers...it's like the musical instruments all over. I did do a bit of research on French outfits of the early part of the decade, but possibly not enough to get it entirely right...it's more an approximation and I'm open to correction!

Merlin, I'm so glad the contrast worked as I intended it to look!

[Aurelia Combeferre]

Ooh. Grantaire looks good in a scruffy, rugged way. And Enjolras is pretty as ever.

Like the idea of them fencing. But I don't know if Enjolras would ever consent to spar with Grantaire. Under normal circumstances that is.

[Abelarda]

Beautiful. I love all the contrasts and similarities between the two of them...

***

Being equal with Enjolras seems suprisingly strange, but Grantaire knows how to use an opportunity. During the fight all the differences somehow disappear; there are only twin blades, cutting through the air with similar grace.

The chances are even, no matter if the foil slips from one's palm and hits the floor. They both bend down instinctively. Enjolras is faster: he passes the weapon to his opponent, smiling slightly. A simple courtesy, thinks Grantaire. But when their hands meet, Enjolras's touch burns his fingers and suddenly there is no possibility to win.

Grantaire would gladly die just to repeat it.

[Col.Despard]

Glad you liked it, Aurelia! Yes, they would be unusual sparring partners...although there are indications that they both play singlesticks. It could have been early in their acquaintance before they became set on different paths, but now we have Abelarda's fantastic drabble which works so beautifully with it...it might have been one of the few times they could meet as equals, if Enjolras could be pursuaded to spar with him.

Didn't really have my head on straight on Friday, so headed out to BFFs for the weekend. And drew a pic of Courfeyrac. Because Courfeyrac makes everything better.

[Aurelia Combeferre]

The best part of this sketch has to be Courfeyrac's HAIR!

And the fact that he seems to be so jovial in that dire situation.

[MmeBahorel]

Aww, Courfeyrac, so cute! Poor dear's lost his hat again

[Euphrasie]

Courfeyrac *does* make everything better! He could make appendicitis an orgasmic experience.

[a_marguerite]

I agree- Courfeyrac does make everything better! He's so charming here- dressed to go to a picnic, not an insurrection against the government, but clearly enjoying himself. I just love his hair, and how he's delighted that he's on a barricade, holding a gun. Such a smile!

[MmeJavert]

Awww, Courfeyrac. That smile is infectious. I want to run my fingers through his hair (and try to find his hat for him, aww)

Also realised I never commented on the other one-- Grantaire is hot. I mean, really hot. When Enjolras inevitably rejects him again I'd gladly take him home and try to cheer him up. <3 In the meantime, damn, I can just imagine them sparring like that. *squirm* Something about 19th century boys fencing turns me on, just a little.

[Col.Despard]

Aurelia, my friend agrees with you! When I showed it to her, her chardonnay nearly went down the wrong way as she chuckled and said "the lad's got some serious hair going on!" When I suggested he might have attacked it with a curling iron "as was the style of the times" (Granpa Simpson voice), she said no...it looked natural. He probably just had to scrunch it a bit after washing.

MmeBahorel - ah, yes, we know all about the hat! I'm having fun looking for one, btw, even if I'll need to go later in the century. You can get repros, but I'm looking late Victorian to Edwardian. Something to wear at an angle. And I'll need to bring a curling iron to Paris, and side part my hair!

True, Euphrasie...although I could think of much more entertaining things to do with him than undergo an operation

Marguerite, I was happily doodling away the embroidery on his waistcoat, when I realised that it probably wasn't appropriate funeral wear, looking altogether too festive. So this will have to be one of the pre-June 1832 scuffles. You have to worry about a bloke who worries about taking his hat to a rising...perhaps losing it here is what prompted his need to remember to grab it in 1832?

Glad you liked the "foils" pic! I half had your "Avenir" characters in mind when I did it, MmeJavert - I've been meaning to do a pick-me-up-pic for you for some time featuring these characters, and this idea finally occured.

[Cary]

Love the two new pics! I'd have to agree with ivrogne transfiguré and say that I'm partial to Grantaire in the Foils picture for the simple reason that he looks so... beautifully, imperfectly human. (I rather like to think of Enjolras not only as an ideal, but the ideal that makes you appreciate the rest of the Amis as the flawed characters they are). As always, I love looking at your rendering of cloth - they always flow so well (would it sound weird if I said I liked Grantaire's sleeve a lot?).

And I like cheery Courfeyrac, loser of hats (though with hair like that, you don't *need* a hat) - it captures his personality so well (the incorrigible cheekiness? the flippancy? the energy? it's all there). His waistcoat, btw, is made of win.