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saeriellyn — Escape from Caer Colur
Published: 2010-07-07 18:59:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 15298; Favourites: 270; Downloads: 275
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Because every fairy tale needs a "rescue the girl" moment, even those whose heroines usually sniff at that sort of thing...From Castle of Llyr, third in Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain: Taran and his companions, having come to retrieve Eilonwy from her enspelled state at the strongholds of Llyr, must escape from the crumbling castle as their thwarted enemies seek to destroy it and them.
Painter IX, with thanks to geoectomy-stock [link] for running references.
And can I just say that the "guy carrying unconscious girl" is one of the most difficult damn poses on EARTH, and would love it if some of our talented stock photographers would do about twelve hundred more of them, because most of what is out there involves them snogging or giggling at each other, cute and all, but not helpful in this instance.
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Comments: 63
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I like both versions as they show Taran's love and concern for Eilonwy.
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I can't decide whether I like this or your 2007 black and white drawing better; they're both beautiful, and both convey very effectively Taran's love and concern for Eilonwy at the moment when she needs him most.
There's a scene in the movie Lost in Translation that could serve as a visual reference for some versions of that pose. It wouldn't fit here, because Scarlett Johansen's character in the movie is supposed to be drunk and exhausted, but still aware enough to put her arms around Bill Murray's neck and tuck her head into his shoulder, whereas Eilonwy was completely insensate at this point in the narrative. Anyway, there's a decent still of the scene here .
There's also this somewhat iconic scene from the final episode of one of my favorite animes, Record of Lodoss War, that's more like what you're doing here, but of course being anime it's more stylized. (It's a bit NSFW -- both Parn and Deedlit are a little the worse for wear, and the damage to Deed's costume verges on hentai.)
I think maybe the trickiest part of this pose is the position and curvature of the girl's neck. Something seems a little off about that here; it looks better to me in your older black and white version, but that one shows Taran just in the act of picking Eilonwy up, and he has his arm higher up on her back, supporting her head and neck. Which would be great if they had the luxury of walking out of Caer Colur, but the way he has his left arm cradling her upper torso in this picture is more conducive to running without dropping her.
One thing to consider if you do get to do this scene in the graphic novel is having Eilonwy's torso tilted a bit more toward Taran, so that her right shoulder is lower than her left and fits partway under his arm, and her head rests on his shoulder. If I were trying to carry a girl like this while running, I'd want to do it that way so as to protect her from the possibility of a neck injury.
Of course, the text of The Castle of Llyr says he carried her over his shoulder, which is less romantic but a good deal more practical when running.
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Yes, it's far more practical to just sling an unconscious person over the shoulder; a completely limp body is heavier and more unwieldy than anyone gives it credit for, and we can assume her clothing here adds additional weight and encumbrance.
I've grown far less fond of this one over the years for a variety of reasons. If I had it to do over I'd probably just re-do my original in color, adjusting the composition at the same time; the cradle-hold makes more sense when he's just picking her up, and this scene would benefit greatly for some careful thought about lighting comp and setting (my backgrounds tended to be afterthoughts - the graphic novel is curing me of some of that, and I'd like to rethink quite a lot of my old paintings in that light.)
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Redoing the pencil drawing makes sense; the moment when he first lifts her up is one I think you'll want to show in the comic anyway. The over-the-shoulder carry is less visually appealing -- you can't really convey tenderness through that pose, and that element of T&E's relationship is rarely more apparent than it is at this moment. If you just show a girl being carried slung over a guy's shoulder, viewers seeing that image out of context are more likely to think she's being kidnapped than rescued. (There's actually a fetish for that, with people collecting stills from various movies and shows or creating drawings, usually with the women tied up in some fashion -- Rule 34 of the Internet at work.)
There is another variant I've seen that could possibly work, and be a plausible interpretation of the text as well: see here . It might not work as well without a very large disparity in the characters' stature, though. The artist was being true to the text in that regard; Alfred Harrington is supposed to be about 6'8", while Allison Benton-Ramirez y Chu is less than five feet tall. The one detail that's off from the scene as described in the story is the jacket; it's his jacket, which means it ought to cover her well past her waist and conceal her hand except for maybe the fingertips. (Alfred and Allison's daughter, Honor Harrington, is the heroine of one of the longest-running and most popular military science fiction series in existence, to which the short stories in Beginnings are prequels.)
One bit of advice I've heard for drawing tricky poses is to sketch the character(s) naked first, then paint clothing over them once you've established that the pose is anatomically plausible and where everything goes. But you probably knew that already, having a heck of a lot more training and practice at art than I do.
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Yes, every sketch starts with undraped figures - the artist word for "naked", lol, though it really is more accurate since the latter term implies at least some finished anatomical detail; what they really constitute are very rough gestural placement of head, torso, and limbs before clothing wrinkle lines and such start showing up. On the fb page I have a few timelapse vids that show comic pages from sketch to final in a few minutes - hunt them up if you'd like to see the process. /My/ process, anyway; certainly methods vary, and often my rough sketches are incomprehensible to anybody but me. You should see the frames I'm working on now - just messes of blue scribbling bc I draw on top of the same pose three or four times without erasing the former iteration. (As an aside - I'm bowing to the excellent arguments in favor of the guys hoisting a semi-conscious Eilonwy onto Melyngar halfway through their journey, and it's a damned difficult set of poses that I can't find good references for - THANK YOU VERY MUCH. )
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I'll check out some of those videos sometime soon; the processes of drawing and painting interest me, even though I haven't practiced them much in a very long time.
Speak as one of the people arguing for the inclusion of that scene, you have my sincere gratitude. As to visual references... hmmm. There's a similar moment in the 2010 version of True Grit, at 1:51:40. I don't know how helpful it would be -- it would be nice for this purpose if it had been shot from a wider angle. The equivalent scene in the 1969 version, at 2:10:50 , might work better. If you think it would be useful, I could download a hi-res copy of either or both films and take screenshots of the relevant moments. I'd expect to find similar scenes in at least some other Westerns, but that's not a genre I watch a lot of.
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Aggghhh!!!!!! That's beautiful! I can't believe there is gonna be a new movie!
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Love the lighting and saturated colors, and the hands are wonderful! One quibble: I feel like Eilonwy's head and neck should droop farther back 
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You're probably right, and I'm still not very satisfied with this particular piece, but until I can get a couple to pose in exactly the right way, I fear it'll never be what's in my head.
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I think that most actual running for your life when carrying an unconscious girl would involve a fireman's lift, which would leave one hand free for balance, etc. However that would not make nearly so pretty a picture - this is fantastic! I really like your version of Rhun; it's the first time I've grasped what that 'moon-faced' description could look like.
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I LOVE TARAN'S FACE!!!! My God, FINALLY someone made a truly attractive Taran. He kinda reminds me of Prince Adam (The Beast) from Beauty and the Beast's Disney movie. He just looks so damn MANLY! His jaw, his neck, his shoulders, his hair, that look of panic at making sure the girl he loves will survive!
God, I am such a romantic sap! But I absolutely love this painting. Painting, right? Anyways, I just wish there could be more people showing Eilonwy as the beauty she is and the surprisingly cute/masculine Taran as he is in this photo.
I also really like Gurgi. He's so cute! He kinda looks like a slightly humanoid Scottish Terrier!
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Hands away, woman; he's MINE. 
LOL thank you for the enthusiastic praise. I'm totally dissatisfied with this painting now, but it's nice to know other people like it. Especially other romantic saps like me out there.
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One of my favorite book series! You did a good job portraying them!
Amazing scene as well.
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By the way, I will be commenting and faving on your other prydain works.
great job!!!!!!!!!
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Oh my goodness thats perfect!!!!!
Lol i love Fflewddur's expression!
Lol i can see how difficult it would be to draw that! Great work!
instant fav>
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It always makes me happy to know theres others who love the Prydain Chronicles as much as I do, I love this so much
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I LOVE PRYDAIN!!!!!!
Omg guess what?
TarEil, FflewHarp, GwyAch,
THATS what!
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Those are pairings, right? Which pairings are they?
Sorry to ask such a stupid and obvious question XD
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So beautiful and so gorgeous! That is one of the coolest parts in The Castle of Llyr. Now I will have picture to help me along when I write my own "escape the crumbling Castle" chapter! YaY! Muse is content again.
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*antennae up* Do I detect another fanfic writer?
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You do! Not a very good one, (thinks I,) but still... I think (I can't be sure...) I've read some of your fanfictions.
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YOU'RE BACK ON DEVIANTART!!!!!!!!
How long HAS it been (about six months since the Valentines' Taran+Eilonwy picture, actually, but TOO LONG, 'cause you're a fabulous artist, and I don't know what the Prydain art fanbase would do without you!!)
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Okay, hold on, sorry: it's only been a week or two at the most!! Lolz... silly me...
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incredibly well done! and yay to the always risky drawing gurgi!
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Ouststanding work, stunning and very realistic expression and incredibly dynamic poses, really a wonderful painting
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It is great to see your more painterly style again after all the (still wonderful in their own way!) comic pages. The textures on the stone, and the play of light on the various different surfaces (buildings, clothes, skin, hair) is so beautiful, and so spot on.
Eilonwy's HAIR is so beautiful and eye catching. I love the shade you use, the soft wave to it, and how bright it looks. So lovely! Also, the limpness of her dangling hand and her feet really convey her unconsciousness well.
It's also interesting to see Taran looking much more grown up than he does in the recent comic pages, getting through those awkward teenage phases and growing into himself. His eyes are SO striking. And I love the light play on his hair - the firelight on one side and the moonlight on the other. It looks amazing. His running pose is also fantastic, really full of movement and determination. (Also regarding pose reference - I've been known to pause movies on a particularly useful pose!)
Is that Rhun there? Hullo hullo Prince Rhun! He really looks quite how I picture him.
I also am very impressed with that sea-spray. It looks amazing, and it really conveys the menace of the encroaching water.
Really a very impressively lively, cinematic illustration!
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Don't you just hate it when you can't find the right reference photo? GAR.
This is a gorgeous painting. The costume designs, facial expressions, hair, and background look very real. *is envious of Eilonwy's hair*
I see you side a bit with Disney when it comes to Gurgi's design (the doggish look)
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Disney's was much too cute, but I do think Gurgi has some very doglike character traits. I read somewhere that the very word "Gurgi" sounds a little bit like the Welsh for "dog-man". The ape-like depictions of him bother me. What would an ape be doing in celtic Britain? (Ok, I guess you could make the case that he's just lower on the evolutionary scale, but...) I mean, I don't think it's coincidence that he's always being described as smelling like wet wolfhound. Blah blah blah, but yeah. He's totally a dog.
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I can also really sense the urgency.
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Brilliantly done, makes me wish I had half your skill.
It almost looks like an oil painting, which is great.
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Great picture - really dramatic stuff. You draw Taran and Eilonwy really well - and I think this is the first time I've seen your take on Gurgi - he looks great - I totally agree he should look more dog like. I'm going to have to draw more Prydain stuff - inspired now!
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Yay! Can't wait to see what you come up with. As for Gurgi, he's in a couple more of my pics...my box set cover, and my "Tempting Fates" are the ones that come to mind. I've always thought Gurgi's character was very doglike and am dissatisfied with depictions that make him look too ape-ish.
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Insti-favE!! (Well, if that were an option).
I love this! I love your Prydain art, and I absolutely love that you go back and rework your old pictures and redo scenes. I love your pencil version of this scene, and I quite enjoy seeing two takes of the same scene by the same artist. IT adds something even more special to it, I think.
For the pose, did you consider looking at ballet stills? I know there are a couple of ballets (Romeo and Juliet, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty, sometimes Swan Lake) that have scenes of man carrying unconscious girl that might be helpful. But I think you did a damn good job of drawing it (and appreciate how you drew the characters, especially Taran- he's so expressive (and easy on the eye 
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I do consider this one of my best renditions of Taran. It makes my husband jealous, lol.
Thanks for the tip on ballet. I never would have thought of that.
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LOL.. Husbands are silly like that sometimes (mine responded when I showed him, "AWESOME!" and then, "I could totally pull off a Taran look.")
You're welcome. I only know because a few people I know like to do that, and because I like to save pictures for future use alot.
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LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. Ever consider doing any Westmark-based artwork?
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I couldn't really get into Westmark. I liked Mickle, but the story itself was too political for my test. Never got past the first book, and that was years ago.
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They were pretty heavy on the politics, but still pretty good reads. I recommend giving them another try if you're ever inclined to do so
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Yes, above. I didn't like Westmark when I read it as a kid, but I really dug it later.
On the other hand, I loved the Vesper Holly series as a kid, and those don't seem to stand up as well.
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I have yet to read the Vesper Holly series, but I'd love to. Still digging Westmark and Prydain after all these years.
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Like the others said, your art always makes me smile. There is precious few Prydian art out there and it's nice to see someone acknowledge their awesome. You have really nice art and a nice style. <3
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