My Entries for Round 3 of btvsats20in20: TARA MACLAY, A WOMAN FOR ALL SEASONS

[red_satin_doll]

My original claim for this round of btvsats20in20 was Tara in S4, but starry_night kindly allowed me to expand that.






    Teasers

10 Themes
Full Body	Minimalism	Heartbreak	Yellow	Matching Background
Fear	Grunge	Favourite	Touch	Mod’s Choice
5 Category |MAGNIFYING GLASS
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5
5 Artist's Choice
AC 1	AC 2	AC 3	AC 4	AC 5

Alts and extras will follow in a separate post and oh boy do I have alts.

Comments - including honest critiques - welcome. (You can't be harder on these than I am.) If you're wondering what I was aiming for with the Fear icon, my inspiration was clockwork_hart1's Tough Love Tara-POV fic "Shadows and Light".

My mom is coming for a week long visit tomorrow so if I do not reply to comments, that's why.

starry_night if you need to disqualify my entries, I understand and that's ok. I'm really not fussed about that. I learned a lot, and quality time spent with Tara Maclay is NEVER time wasted.

I would love to make more Tara icons, and more Willow/Tara icons. Oh goodness I could go on forever. But I've realized two things: 1) 20in20 isn't a good fit for me. 15 would be more like it. I have alternate versions but I run out of steam and then realize I have to come up with five more new ones. Ugh.

2) that my days of icon making are numbered. My new bifocals make it so much harder than before, slower; and I find myself thinking in terms of banners and large artworks as a consequence. The icons for Full Body, Touch, Cat 1 and Cat3 all started life as larger artworks. Which I will show off in another post because....

3) I FINALLY made artwork from the final scene in Dead Things that I'm happy with. (Thanks, ipiccy!)

Comments

[debris4spike]

As I expected - stunning and well worth the wait!

I love the Full Body ... great cropping, and words. I love that scene ... wish their friendship had been able to really grow, without other problems over-shadowing it.

The image on Fear is lovely ... as is your work on Mod's choice. Hard to do justice to that lovely original image, but you have managed it.

Love Cat 1 especially - there is something about that image that capture both the loss that Buffy is going through, as well as how Tara always felt she wasn't a real Scoobie. The colouring is also great in Cat 3 & 4 ... and truly beautiful in AC 4

Love AC 1 ... I know you have a special respect for hands, and this is a great reminder of what their relationship was about when it was at it's best.

Wonderful job.

I know that the voting is going to be impossible again this month!

OOoops - forgot to wish you all the best for your visit with your mum.

I shall be sorry if you don't make more icons, as your work is both stunning, and has inspired me to stretch my boundaries.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the detailed comments sweetie - I was thrilled when I saw this come in my inbox yesterday! I wish I had time to give this justice, but with mom coming - I can say thank you, and the ones you pointed out are amoung my favorites. You were definitely among the people I had in mind while I was making these.

I love the Full Body ... great cropping, and words. I love that scene ... wish their friendship had been able to really grow, without other problems over-shadowing it.

I love this one too (I had to snag it for myself!) and yes to everything you said there. I have been wanting for two years to do something that captured that scene but never could, so to finally do so made me so happy. I had to make much larger versions first in order to get this - I can't wait to trot those out (I keep thinking what a powerhouse Tara would have been in S7.)

as well as how Tara always felt she wasn't a real Scoobie.

And I wasn't even conscious of that, so glad there's more "there there"!

I love the coloring in AC4 as well - I tried to decide between that one OR Heartbreak and couldn't so I went with both. She has such a lovely face - that and the fear cap, there's something about her, the architecture of her face is amazing - like a mountain, something eternal, something beautiful but not "dainty" or just surface-pretty.. I fell in love with Tara and Amber all over again making these.

inspired me to stretch my boundaries.

Really? And that's my prize right there! I'm not sure what I've done but I'm glad. You're a talented artist and you have so much heart, such compassion for these characters, and for the neglected ones (Joyce, etc) that I hope you keep going in those directions because it shows in the love you give the characters. Your Full body is still one of my personal favorites.

I don't think I shall give up icons, but I'll be doing more large work alongside. It's just easier to see.