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btvs_hush challenge #272: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
dragonydreams, rua1412 and debris4spike for their superb entries. I looked at those entries the other day when I was voting and was so excited I almost forgot to breathe for a second. No, I'm not kidding. (Yes, I do need to get a life but never mind that right now.) They were all so much of a piece with one another; delicately atmospheric and melancholy, aesthetically pleasing and intellectually engaging. I wanted to know who made each of them and HOW, for goodness sakes; what were the artists thinking at the time, and how closely if at all do my perceptions match what they hoped to achieve.Deadline for challenge 273 is Tuesday May 20th.
I never guessed that the Willow icon was Deborah's. She's a wonderful artist (see the Servalan icon I snagged for confirmation); but I thought I "knew" her style in general. This icon is on another level entirely. It suggests feminine mysteries revealed, from within a cave, the womb or a strange ansd rare flower. Becoming, but tenatively so. Rua's icon is a bit more subtle visually and I almost overlooked it at first; but there really aren't many nice Xander icons out there that I've seen, and I slowly fell in love with it. Which is a big deal because I'm not easily drawn to images of men, and Xander is an interesting character but hardly my favorite. This icon makes me want to cry; good lord, the expression on his face. He's so terribly young to be so old. He seems middle-aged already (is that what happens to children growing up in a war zone?) The effect at the corner reminds me both of a watercolor painting and the corner of a newspaper tossed on the curb. Old-tea coloring.
And likewise Dragony's Giles icon - so, so old, so melancholy; autumnal, fading, isolated. A reluctant parental-figure who was himself poorly-parented but is somehow expected to guide these children; a Watcher whose emotions and intellect are at constant war with one another, neither side quite winning out in the end; a man who wants love, who wants to connect but has no idea how, and who thrusts family and love away each time it comes to him because it's all he knows to do.
You may be shocked to read that #5 in that challenge was my alternate choice; I have no idea who made that one. Yes, I came within a hairsbreath of voting for a Bangel icon - of the EoD/Chosen kiss, no less. It's a simple crop - no distractions, the golden background gentle pushed back from the figures; the visual platonic idea of a "kiss" in our culture. You needn't even know the characters, the fandom or the context to get that far. A good icon starts with a good image. But again, this is muted, slightly hazy; the autumnal coloring suggests a relationshipp that exists somewhere between the lands of "perhaps someday" and "never will again".
2) I feel much the same sense of excitement looking at the entries for
slayerstillness challenge # 24 :the pleasure of trying to decode the icons, sift through the layers of meaning and intent - so much to unpack here. Voting deadline is Tuesday May 20 so do vote now, if you can bear making a decision. Again, very much an "all of a piece" feeling to the entries, which is all the more astonishing given the fact that the prompt was a "free for all". The artists could submit anything they liked, so I'd expect, well, a free-for-all in the literal visual sense - and yet a sense of (inter)connection is very much apparent here. Muted colors, subtle textures, the importance of line. Certain characters and themes are much in evidence: Willow and Giles, Bangel and Spuffy are all present and accounted for. I have a few favorites but I'll reserve gushing until after the winners are announced.3) Sign ups for round 1 of
btvsats20in20 icontest are now open - the deadline is June 4th, and themes can be found here. The comm is still open to anyone wishing to be a co-mod or banner maker. Thank you to debris4spike for making sure this was on my radar, and to bangel_4e for going above and beyond in answering all my questions and offering support, advice and feedback. oh_cheezit has posted her S7 Spike, Spufffy and Beneath You icons for this first round: SO LOVELY.I don't know yet if I'll sign up for this round; I'm still taking my time learning about these 20in20 challenges; they seem daunting to me, but so did slayerstillness, otherworldlyric and btvs_hush at first. icontests have definitely pushed me to improve my own work both by doing and by the example of other artists.
4) Due to lack of entries dragonydreams extended Otherworldlyrics challenge 172 extended one more week - and you know what that means: I will be nibbling my fingers anxiously until May 23rd second-guessing the entries I sent in the other day and wondering "Should I switch one? I should totally switch one. No, I shouldn't. Yes, I should dear god the freakin' agony (was that supposed to be a secret? Um....) We all have one more week to get in our entries inspired by the Cure's "Watching Me Fall".
I had to read the lyrics of that song a couple of times before it sunk what was going on in it: a guy describing himself pick up a prostitute in Tokyo as is he's having an out of body experience. (Hey, I've never hired a sex worker, so what would I know?) She's described as if she were a stereotypical movie hooker, a doll, a siren or seductress rather than a human being - and he's the one "falling". Ok, so this guy has an itch to scratch and the money to buy himself an hour with a sex worker who is totally dehumanized in the song and he's complaining? Waa-waa, poor little me with my male priviledge and superior economic status and yet I'm morally helpless...oh give me an effing break. This is stuff is straight out of Genesis. Hey, dude, here's an idea if you're feeling dehumanized by the experience: start by treating the sex worker you hired for the hour as another human being. Knowwhatimean?
Honestly, that song is just begging to be deconstructed. Possibly with a sledgehammer shovel a few well-made icons.
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Date: 2014-05-21 06:58 pm (UTC)The Willow image was used by adding a frame ... I had a lot of help when I had to use them for a StarTrek 20in20, and that was one of the frames I had to use! It is plain white, so I added colour to the outer 3/4, to give a different image. So I worked on the 2 images, then copied the frame to use as a 2nd layer over the basic. The icon I'm using here of Spike was with the same frame, but kept in white.
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Date: 2014-05-27 12:16 am (UTC)You really did a marvelous job adding color to the frame of the Willow icon! I prefer it to the plain white - so sophisticated! You're doing some phenomenal work.
And congratulations on your win at btvs_hush! The winners also happen to be the icons I voted for, including yours - it was the first one that caught my eye. Lovely colors, diagonal composition, shading, all in perfect balance; great sharpness and clarity; and the co-ordinated edge along the left and bottom was a great finishing touch. a bit of decoration without seeming too much.
I actually thought the Spike one by Rua_1412 might possibly be yours but I wasn't sure. Or possibly the Joyce one? But now I'm thinking the Angel one because you remarked on what a great shot it was. I actually tried to make an icon from that, it has all the elements of a great icon - strong image, rich darks - but couldn't.
Mine are #4, 8 and 10 - one of Buffy, two of Willow.
http://btvs-hush.livejournal.com/284929.html
I want to put up a post about the slayerstillness icons first, so hopefully I can do the btvs_hush one tomorrow.
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Date: 2014-05-27 10:18 am (UTC)Yes, (shock!!) the Angel one was mine ... as was the Joyce one. I also did one of Buffy but it had text ... oooops! I was working on some 20in20 as well and they had to have text, so I just carried on with the words.
My Spike 20in20 are up here... I shall be interested in your thoughts on the work ... one or two I was not happy with, but I know its because I didn't really experiment with colours etc.
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Date: 2014-05-27 06:59 pm (UTC)I did a LOT of variations of the Buffy one, the red Willow icon was a happy medium - not the most stylized nor realistic of the batch. I think I like extremes of stylization more than most people do? (I think you do as well, with your black and white line drawing icons.) The last one I also had abstracted versions of, but I just loved the way her eye looked in that one, the very clean black and white of it.
I thought someone might think the Joyce was mine - it looks very much like other icons I have done, and I admired the perfect balance of darks and lights in it. I did wonder if it was yours. What about the naturalistic Spike icon?
any much work would have lost the image, so it was more of a "crop & tidy" than icon making!
Exactly, the image is already fantastic, adding anything is gilding the lily. I tried to do an Angel icon much like yours, except cropping much closer to the face. I couldn't do it. Male faces and bodies are hard for me - I get uncomfortable or disinterested very quickly. And I might think the actor very handsome or have enjoyed the performance and admire them. But working with stills is another matter.
OTOH, Rua's Spike icon that looked like a painting had me staring at it, wanting to know how that look was achieved. I admire people who can capture men in their icons, I'm just not there yet.
you are great are experimenting with colours and tones
Oh thanks! But some of the time I spend playing with color variations could perhaps be better spent on learning how to improve the clarity of my images, doing layers and textures and so forth. Or it could be more profitably spent doing housework....Nah.
I was working on some 20in20 as well and they had to have text, so I just carried on with the words.
I feel your pain! I was working on three different challenges at the same time and got really confused what I was doing for what sometimes!
And I just peeked at your icons - YAY! Wonderful work. I shall leave my thoughts on your journal tonight or tomorrow, promise.
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Date: 2014-05-27 08:06 pm (UTC)To me the male body has lovely lines ... it is the shaping and toning that draws me in. I want to highlight those, and tend to prefer the softer image of a female .... so that one of Joyce was typical of that theory.
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Date: 2014-05-27 08:48 pm (UTC)I've been looking for an excuse to use this gif.
To me the male body has lovely lines ... it is the shaping and toning that draws me in.
Oh indeed it does - or it can. My sweetie studied artistic anatomy in art school and did a lot of painting, drawing and sculpting of nude male models from live models - most of whom were retired, aged, not in great shape; or were but, um...yeah....
Get myself out of the hole I'm digging myself in here...I think what you mention, shapes, tones, lines, are why I'm drawn to Sarah's face in the late seasons rather than her more rounded face in the early seasons. She's too thin in the late seasons but there's the planes of her face to play with, so much shadow and light. Early seasons Sarah is the same problem I have with Michelle (Dawn) - how to make icons without making their faces look like dumplings? *lol*
So, I think I understand. One needs surface planes and shapes to work with. That's why I thought an icon of Angel's face would be terrific to play with. *le sigh* next time.
so that one of Joyce was typical of that theory.
But it has a nice balance - the set of her mouth, her curls; and I liked the color you chose precisely because it's the color I asssociate with Joyce, neutrals - a warm camel or fawn color. Buffy wears the same color a lot but especially that long leather coat we see repeated in S7 - from Him to EP and End of Days.
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Date: 2014-05-28 07:12 pm (UTC)Yes, I have a real thing for shoulders and arms .... although add a nice smile and you definitely have a winner!
I'm not fond of "sweet" people ... so again I think that the softer lines of the girls, such as early Buffy, make me think of those characteristics. (I worked with someone who was so, so sweet .... while stabbing you in the back!)
Glad that the colour tones of Joyce worked ... but that was, as ever, guesswork .... I must be getting better at guessing ... LOL
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Date: 2014-05-30 05:47 pm (UTC)*lol* You are welcome! how about Joyce and Spike in Becoming:
I can appreciate what you mean about shoulders and arms. This week I've been working on my 20in20 icons of Buffy and I can (and have) spent hours on the architecture of Sarah's nose, brow, cheeks, etc; the bones just beneath the flesh, the way the curves and angles intersect. And I don't think she's that pretty or sexually attractive, but she's interesting to look at. Or hands - I love hands, and all the hand symbolism in the show. If I tried to explain it rationally, I couldn't.
Also, shoulders and arms come with hugs!