Ghosts of Impossible Things: Artwork for "Third Wheel" by Glassdarkly (Shapinglight)

[red_satin_doll]

"Third Wheel" (Buffy/Angel, Darla/Angel) is Glassdarkly (aka shapinglight)'s entry in the 2015 IWRY Marathon, and inspired an art binge.

These banners in turn provided the inspiration for my icon set in slayerstillness Challenge 57.

This is the second story by shapinglight I've made posters for; the first being posters for Casablanca, for Round 19 of seasonal_spuffy.

Teasers:

Click to view full-size (except icon #9)

1 - 2)  

705 x 669 each


3)
665 x 588

Confession (and warning for Angel-unfriendly thoughts): A year ago I said I "couldn't" do Bangel art. I've already proven myself wrong on that count, but I think it's significant that the primary power dynamic in this story - or at least the most intereting one to me - is not Buffy/Angel, or Darla/Angel but Buffy and Darla. I'm surprised by how few fics I've read draw on the parallels the series made between Buffy and Darla right from the opening scenes of WTTH (but then, I'm not a Bangel shipper so it may well be that there's more out there than I realize.)


If anything, the least interesting aspect of "Third Wheel" is, for me, Angel himself. He's a - well, a bit of a mope, and frankly just a little self-centered. (HIs first response to Buffy's nightmarish dilemma - and it is horrifying for both Buffy and Darla - is violence, then brooding and tears, as if he were the one most affected, not she. But to be fair, he does rally and prove himself to be the better man at the end.) Sometimes I have a hard time understanding why two such interesting, clever, powerful women as Buffy and Darla were drawn to him.


"Third Wheel" actually reminds me that I'm really not sure I ship Buffy with any of her canon lovers; it also adds weight to the argument that Darla, not Buffy, is Angel's "true love".

Without (hopefully) giving too much away, shapinglight's description of how the situation initially affects Darla reminds me of how it feels when I feel an epileptic seizure coming on, and I love how that specificity of feeling, and the precision of her language and the details, give the weight and substance of "realism" to a fantastical story.

Lobby cards:

4 - 5 )              

                                                388 x 300                                                                        298 x 401

6 - 8 below are what I consider the "alt" versions (which sounds a little nicer than "rejects" doesn't it?)

6)
550 x 750



7 - 8)
      600 x 552 each


9)

And of course, an icon to go with.

Sources:

The background textile in #1, 2 & 7 a detail of an 18th Century bodice in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute.
Vintage card "frame" in #7 & 8 courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

Black filigree layer in #4 by scoobyatemysnax for burnedbreads

Check out my Resources post for screencap sources.
Regretfully, I've forgotten the original source of the gold frame in #1, 2 & 5.

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Comments

[chasingdemons.livejournal.com]

Things to learn about first: Layer masks, clipping masks, adjustment layers. Using softness or hardness of the brush for effect. Using opacity of all layers including adjustment layers for effect. Truly wondrous things can be done with layer masks. The layer blending mode is very key too, although that's a little harder to get comfortable with. Probably my favorite tool is the smudge tool. I use it a lot inside the layer mask. As you get a little more comfortable, gradient maps are amazing!! Overwhelmed yet? I don't use filters a ton, but everyone works differently. Comlodge and I have noted that we each have a very different set of favorite go-to tools. Have fun!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Things to learn about first: Layer masks, clipping masks, adjustment layers. Using softness or hardness of the brush for effect. Using opacity of all layers including adjustment layers for effect. Truly wondrous things can be done with layer masks.

Thank you for the tips! I should print this out or at least jot down the tips in my notebook.

I have watched some Lynda.com tutorials and whoa, there is a LOT to learn. And I haven't even watched any tutorials for Lightroom yet, which might sweetie also got to store the photos (because again, Elements organizer was a pain.)

I've watched some tutorials on gradient maps and smudge tool so at least I have some idea what they do. I get itchy watching tutorials, I want to download the information into my brain NOW, thank you very much. (I think I'm not used to tutes because with ipiccy there are no real tutorials so I had to learn by doing. Which has definite drawbacks!)