More Variations on a Theme

[red_satin_doll]

Congrats to the winners of otherworldlyric round 170 ("Bad to the Bone") xclaire_delunex , kwritten and chic_c for deconstructing a testosterone-drenched song marvelously and beautifully.  Question: Is Claire's winning entry of Elena in TVD? I have no idea but dear lord that image - that expression, I want to get to know this character - and HOW is it possible to get such superb high quality resolution in an icon?

Congratulations also to the winners of slayerstillness round 22 ("A Room Full of Emptiness"): tempertemper, teragramm, kwritten, rua1412 and debris4spike!

Entries for the next rounds for both are due this Friday, May 2.  I sent in my entries for slayerstillness a while back and have been sitting on my hands for nearly a week wanting to show them off, win or no win.  OWL?  Well, I'm working on something; we'll see if any of them turn out to my liking.

Icons after the cut but first, a little sneak peak:

I want to give a special shout-out to debris4spike's entries this round of slayerstillness, especially her Cave Buffy icon (#15, also on her journal). Beer Bad is a very underrated episode, IMO. Check out beer_good_foamy's meta as to why, if you still need convincing. The scene where Cave Buffy is first revealed to us in the episode still gives me shivers, particularly in retrospect; Cave Buffy foreshadows The First Slayer as well as the newly-resurrected Buffy in Bargaining, wandering dazed and disoriented in a town that went to hell in her absence.

I was just starting to play with the "splash" effect on Photobucket that allows me to add and erase color from an image but worried that it was too "simple", not sophisticated enough, everyone's been there, done that, etc etc...and then I saw Debra's Beer Bad icon that uses this subtractive effect very subtly and skillfully to wonderfully dramatic effect; so she unknowingly gave me "permission" to continue to play with it.

I was feeling that I'd run out of tricks as far as Photobucket was concerned and hit the wall of it's limitations as a program until I wondered "What does this effect do...?" to myself the other day (aka a couple of months ago but who's counting, really? In my world, time is rather, shall we say, elastic.) Oh, it does this:

1) 2)   3)

Rather nifty! Not quite out of tricks yet, then, after all.

4)

I actually made this one origin for the slayerstillness challenge # 22 that just ended, which focused on negative space around characters. (Hey, it takes skill to plan for a challenge five days in advance and still manage to miss the deadline by a whisker, kids.) You're probably tired of hearing me say "This is one of my favorite icons I've made" but I love how this came out. Such a happy accident and unlike anything I've yet made. I have never made an image before that ended up looking like a screenclip from a hand-tinted early 20th century photograph or movie frame. And I'm not sure that I could possibly reproduce it.

I loved the idea of Dawn's red sweater representing her beating, bleeding heart full of love and courage, and the only thing a still-disoriented Buffy can focus on in that moment. Summers blood is indeed the blood of champions. (Sadly, S6 downplays the trauma both of them would "realistically" experience going forward in relation to one another. What in the world must that do to a person? To Dawn? Her sister sacrificed her life before her very eyes then is brought back from the dead just as suddenly and shockingly.)

More icons for the challenge I missed using the "splash" effect. Of course some Anne and Empty Places icons, naturellement:

5 ) 6) 7) 8)

No I wasn't listening to Martha Reeves and the Vanellas when I made #8, but I am a native of Motown.  And now you can't get the song out of your head either, can you?
The font is one of my favorite's PB's "Acme".

9) 10)  11)

Clearly I am a fan of multiple color variations. You can blame my college-era fascination with Monet for that. I don't think this set is anything that hasn't been done before, but I wanted to use the subtractive effect to suggest the way depression (hopelessness, grief, despair, apathy, spiritual and moral exhaustion) actually feels, as well as to focus on the negative space around her.

12) 13) 14) 5) 16)

Another thing I am clearly a fan of: using quotes from one season, in this case Ken's comment to Buffy in Anne, with images from another to tie them together across the years (#14 - 15).  And ff OWL ever uses Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" for their prompt, I've just shot myself in the foot posting #16; but whenever I watch EP or look at screencaps from it, that song is running through my head. I like the concept of 12-16 and the overall look; I like the composition, the slump of Sarah's shoulders and the way the coat, which she first wore in "Him", seems to hang off her meagre frame. I love the way the floor in # 13 shines as if it were newly-varnished wood; and the brilliant violet-blue of the lockers in the background sunlight, especially in #16, and how those details make Buffy's despair feel a little sharper. But I'm dissatisfied with the clarity of the images; too fuzzy and not on purpose. That is one aspect that I still have a lot to learn about.

Lest you think I'm all about the angst and gloom, this one began as another attempt to do a negative spaces icon for Slayerstillness and went...in a different direction.

17) 18)

Now it can be told: It wasn't the oppression of her captor's that broke through Buffy's apathy in Anne. It was the realization that even in Hell, you are constantly subjected to advertising. In fact that may be the very definition of Hell. (That and the whole hopelessness deal.)

What are some of your favorite "effects" in whatever editing platforms or suites you use, Gentle Reader? What have been your moments of serendipity and happy accidents?

Comments

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

he saw the "evil" of rebellion, and the order of calm ... and chose to go with that,

Especially after his own period of rebellion as "Ripper" - which I think was a fantastic addition to his backstory in season 2, but made his failure re: Buffy, Willow and Faith that much more egregious IMO.

And I do understand being bullied! Oh goodness, do I ever - from kindergarden onward it was nonstop in school. NONSTOP. I walked into school a very excited, outgoing little girl who loved to read and learn, and slowly turned inward. It wasn't until I was in 11th grade that after years of "turning the other cheek" as my mother had taught me, I turned around instead, faced a boy who had been harrassing me and dared him to fight me right off the bus. He got embarrassed and mumbled "no" and walked away with his head down. It was very empowering.

But my tendency to hide and withdraw has not gone away, I still tend to be very private, don't like parties or crowds unless I'm "putting on an act"! If I have a presentation to do, something to sell, to cook, to show someone around, I can "play the part". Sit me on the bus in the city or at a party with no "role to play" and I clam up again.

HOWEVER, I have treated myself to the expensive ticket, and am dreading the after show bit, as I know that the people there will overwhelm me. However, maybe for James I can fight through the 35+ years of pain.

Good for you! You deserve the treat! And I have faith that you can do it - it will be overwhelming but that's ok. Remember why you are there and what you want for yourself. And have fun!

Are you going alone or do you have a friend or buddy going with you?

Yes, Buffy is like fine crystal ... beautiful, serving a great purpose in this world ... yet can get dirty, or broken. And, sadly, we all like the perfect crystal ... not the scratched and cracked one.

It's like the old saying "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of. Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of." Boys have been give permission to roughhouse, to get dirty, to make mistakes that girls haven't been. Girls are supposed to be nice and neat and supportive and get it right every time. (And how else do we learn but by making mistakes?)

Buffy's a mix of the two, like all of us are, and she has to negotiate between the snails and the sugar under countless pairs of scrutinizing eyes. She's crystal, yes, but also steel; some people only see the steel, some only recognize the crystal, and so she is endlessly underestimated, until she begins to underestimate herself.

But then I love antiques, old china, old buildings, etc because they are worn and flawed - flaws have stories to tell!

[debris4spike]

I enjoyed school until I was 9, and then one girl managed to make my life "Hell" ... she isolated me, made worse by my own faith which kept me from being allowed to d some things ... but because of that, she used this as the perfect excuse that I was not to be allowed friends. Hard to realise then how clever she was - and although mum & dad went to the school, much was put down to "teenager" life.

But it has left me with a feeling of needing to be isolated ... I know I run away first so I can't be thrown out of the group ... Like Marcie in season 1, I want to be invisible, as I was when I was at school.

College helped as I had a good group of friends, but casual contact is still impossible.

No, I shall be going by myself, but fandom of James has "made" me do things I always was either told not to do (artwork, cos of my colourblindness, and writing, because of my poor English language skills ... and that was teachers!!). I have been to his "days" he has done in London, but they are more structured ... but I'm going ... and hope I remember to breathe while I'm there!

Yes, some of Buffy's problem were, like me, she believed what others told her ... and seeing Giles' respect for her final decision was lovely to see.

Oh yes, I love antiques - my trip to London will also be to museums, again .... I wish some of the exhibits could talk to me. And, as for my house ...it's a good thing I'm single, as there is so much here I don't have room for another person's things!!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Hard to realise then how clever she was - and although mum & dad went to the school, much was put down to "teenager" life.

Children are amazingly clever AND cruel, how viscious - they learn so early how to wield power over others for the fun of it. I'm very sorry this happened to you - no one deserves to be bullied and tormented. (The worst part about it in school - you see them every day, there's no escape.)

I know I run away first so I can't be thrown out of the group ... Like Marcie in season 1, I want to be invisible, as I was when I was at school.

I have this awful pattern of shutting myself up, wanting to belong but not knowing how to, or doing so then dropping out. I identified with Marcie as well, except the difference was that she complained that she was invisible, I wished I were so people would leave me alone!

College helped as I had a good group of friends, but casual contact is still impossible.

That's me almost exactly.

And what in the world is this nonsense about "poor English skills"? Morons - your language skills are just fine in my book!

I have been to his "days" he has done in London, but they are more structured ... but I'm going ... and hope I remember to breathe while I'm there!

You'll be fine, I'm sure! I do hope you have a lovely time and yes, breathe deep when you need to.

Oh how I would love to go to London someday! I want to spend a lot of time at the V&A, if I ever get the chance.

there is so much here I don't have room for another person's things!!

Partnership can be overrated, trust me. *lol*