Abaissé

by **Col.Despard** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:40 am

It's a nice compact skull, Cary...(I based this loosely on a photograph of Huxley) - a child skull would be eerie! Jehan really keeping us on edge. Chuffed you like the wallpaper - it's a bit crudely rendered, but again, a very loose adaptation of an 1820s advertisement for wallpaper. And eeeep - that rutabaga you linked to is incredibly creepy! It reminds me of a very M. R. James influenced short ghost story I read, involving the remains of a victim of the St Batholomew's day massacre...that gaping mouth and bandaged look.

You're spot on about the lighting, Pie - I used photoshop for this...if the light source is the candle, he should be backlit. The only way this could work is if there was some directional lighting out of sight in the foreground (I'm still working out how to marry flat image and photoshop light enhancements...the Jack-o'-lantern worked out better than I expected, though, so it's swings and roundabouts.

I'd *so* love to team him with a Merveilleuse girlfriend, MmeBahorel! There wasn't really a female equivalent to the Romantic anachronistic dressers, was there? If there wasn't, I'd love to see one anyway, as they'd be ridiculously adorable (as well as just ridiculous).

Merlin, I'm glad you see something sinister under the surface...Jehan is all about still waters running deep (there's an Irish phrase that translates as "waters under the ground" that suits him very well).

by **Cary** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:54 am

Col.Despard wrote:I'm still working out how to marry flat image and photoshop light enhancements

There are many methods of doing this, but off the top of my head:

1. Copy the picture onto a new layer, add light enhancements, erase the sections you don't want, to let the original picture show through. Alternatively, make a new layer on top of the original picture, paint in backlight with a paintbrush.

2. Mask the area you want to enhance (using the freehand mask tool), add effects, remove mask.

3. Use the burn/dodge tool directly on the picture (burn makes colours darker; dodge lightens them). Use sparingly; burn-n-dodging can look hideously amateurish.

4. For "circular" lighting effects, draw a circle using the circle tool. Set it to radial transparency, adjust the mid-point and fall-off, then set the circle to "add". Adjust circle transparency to suit picture. Alternatively, instead of using radial transparency, set the circle to "object feathering", feather the edges, set it to "add"etc.

Hope that helps.

by **Col.Despard** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:57 am

I'll try and use those, Cary - I know the key is using layers as tool, and that's where I think I'm falling down. I'll have to do some tutorials to really come to grips with it. I'd really like to come to grips with the lighting issue, as it seems such a potentially effective tool.

by **a_marguerite** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:55 am

Eeee, Jehan! How is it he can be so cute and so creepy at the same time? It's like the 'oh-gosh-golly-gee' expression he had in Cary's picture of the catacomb spelunking.

As always, I just love the way that you draw hair. I also love Jehan's expression here, as if he's just going, 'Yeah, I'm Romantic. I've got the skull to prove it.' On the one hand, I kind of want to ruffle his hair. On the other, he looks entirely too pleased that he's holding a skull.

The wealth of detail is extraordinary; the wallpaper is delightful, the stripes on Jehan's coat, the dripped candlewax.... eee, love this so much. You have got such an adorable Jehan.

The more you dress him like an Incroyable, the more I want him to have a Merveilleuse girlfriend

... don't tempt me. I have too much reading I've put off. >.<

by **MmeBahorel** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:30 pm

There don't seem to be correlations, unfortunately - we're entering the period where people seem to want to start to forget that women were ever wearing incredibly thin muslin dresses and greek sandals.

But I can't help imagining that Prouvaire with a girlfriend who has cropped hair and a red string tied around her neck. (and in my head she's taller than he is. *g*)

by **lesmisloony** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:03 pm

Ooh! The lighting is just magnificent! I love the way you draw Jehan with that button nose and his wonderfully terrible hair. He's just so precious. And I love that rutabaga as well--it's quite eerie. This picture is all-over perfect for today!

by **Col.Despard** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:09 am

I'm glad that Jehan has that unsettling edge, Marguerite! Enjolras is the only other really unsettling Ami, and that's in a totally different sense. I tend to look on it as largely theatre, but possibly an affinity there for something that does throw off our balance. I think being around Jehan is possibly a bit like being around Shirley Jackson's Hill House...there are things meeting in odd ways and angles that are not quite right, so your mental inner ear is thrown off balance. But always charming - delightfully dear.

Your Merveilleuse girlfriend sounds delightful, MmeBahorel! Thank goodness it wasn't a slightly earlier period when women were sucking on lead to get that wonderful pallor and posing with skulls to get that so very elegant Gothik vibe going. Did you ever watch the movie "Gothic", btw? So incredibly OTT - I absolutely adored it, even if it played havoc with literature and history. Gabriel Byrne - YAY! And Mary Shelly just finally deciding FTS as Byron and Shelly start to make out...oh, it was a hoot. I haven't seen it in years...have to see if it's out on DVD.

Loony, so pleased you think it had the Hallow's Eve vibe going! I admit I'm partial to Jehan's hair now that it's long...I was so chuffed to see Marguerite write the bangs into her latest story!

by **Col.Despard** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:19 am

This is a (late) Birthday Present for TheHighestPie...Enjolras showing that unexpected musical affinity suggested in her "Eroica." While he doesn't pay any attention to singing birds, I can buy the idea of an Enjolras with a musical ear...there is something about the quality of his voice that makes this plausible to me.

If that's too difficult, then remember that this was inspired by Marguerite's A Difference of Understanding,in which Enjolras defeats zombie hoards with his amazing Republican musical superpowers in his capacity as an incarnate angel. At least in Grantaire's fantasy world.

As is evident, I have never in my life drawn a violin before. The results may be terribly amusing to Pie, who plays one. Did several versions of this playing around in photoshop.

by **lesmisloony** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:24 am

Oh my goodness, I scrolled down not sure what to expect and when I saw this I gasped. In a really good way. His expression is so gorgeous and (as a violist) I say the violin looks utterly splendid! Oh my gosh, so gorgeous. His eyes are so pretty! Your really seems to be perfecting himself in every picture--physically, I mean. He's so consistent and every time you draw him he's more incredible than the last.

by **Col.Despard** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:34 am

Thanks Loony! I'm especially pleased that I didn't make a fool of myself in terms of depicting the instrument - I just went with what the reference photos I was using seemed to show. I'm so lousy at hands that, of course, I had to pick something in which they're a major focus. I did enjoy it, though, and wouldn't mind doing a full length version of Enjolras playing (because, as I said before, the visual is rather hot IMHO).

by **MmeBahorel** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:01 pm

He is so gorgeous. I have no other words at the moment because it's almost as good as the sex pictures.

by **MmeJavert** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:34 pm

Ooooh, it is beautiful. I really love the serene expression he has -- actually it does kind of look like he's making love with his music, as weird as that sounds. It's gorgeous.

(also. Loving his striped cravat!)

by **merlin_emrys** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:26 pm

I love how he almost looks like he's glowing. This is so beautiful, confirms once and for all the notion that Enjolras with a violin is hot. He could charm the moon from the sky with that face and his musical skill.

by **a_marguerite** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:26 pm

I love your Enjolras in all his forms, but this one is absolutely stunning. His hands and eyes are wonderful and, even though I love your pretty princess Enjolrati, this one looks delightfully masculine. Maybe it's the way you drew his expression? Eyes on the future/conductor, but thoughts clearly with the eternal. The shading is beautifully delicate and mmm, love the cuffs!

Also agreeing that the image of Enjolras playing the violin is delicious. Mm, musical!Enjolras. I think there's a fic somewhere that has Enjolras playing a cello, which was really quite <3. I believe he named his cello Patria.

by **Mamselle Miss** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:54 pm

Allow me to sit over in the corner and be jealous for a bit. I can't draw to save my life, but I do like looking at your stuff.

I love his expression in this, he's very dreamy. Like, his mind is clearly somewhere else.

Abaissé

Occasional Pics: Belated Birthday wishes for Marguerite

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