GIP and Haiku You
(Original haiku)
At last, I get to give a greatly anticipated GIP its moment in the sun. ::grins:: I'm proud and pleased to present my long-awaited, much-celebrated Viggo/Elijah icon by alchemilla. ::fanfare::
This one has quite a history. ::chuckles:: It started when I fell all over Alch's "viggo elijah otp" icon. She'd had it for a while by the time I discovered it, and when I told her I would have stolen praised it if I'd seen it when it debuted, she, in typically generous fashion, gave it to me on a silver platter. That's when I did one of the most stupid things I've done on LJ. I told her I couldn't accept it, much as I wanted to (and believe me, I wanted to!), because she'd already been using it and people no doubt thought of it as hers. I didn't think it was my place to appropriate it, even with her consent. I have kicked myself about that ever since. I still think it's one of the best icons she's made, and she's come up with some outstanding ones. She made it look like a real moment, an expression by them, together, and that's no easy task. I may have done the right thing by not keeping it, but to this day, I hate having done it.
Alch then offered to make a new icon for me, and in due time, she created a beauty. It reminds me a great deal of the one I coveted, although I don't know if she deliberately set out to make a similar one. There is, however, a noticeable difference, in my mind. It's one of mood. I think this icon has a darker feel to it. Considerably darker. And I'm just fine with that. ::grins:: It's not sinister, it doesn't suggest that either of them is evil or cruel, but it comes from a deeper place than the other one. Here, they're coloured by experience, something that becomes richer, more powerful for each of them as they return to it. And they continue to do so, because neither of them can leave it. The need is there, in the edges, in the shadows. Undenied by them, stated in brow, cheekbone, set of mouth.
This icon has been modified from its original version... I'd like it to be clear that I've altered the image, so any blame should come straight to me. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I now have a few more tools for editing graphics, and I put some of them to use. When Alch posted the icon, she included the full-size picture and said the cropping could be changed. I thought the framing might be improved if you saw just enough of Elijah's right sideburn to define the edge of his face, so I moved it over a hair (almost literally). I also brightened the image a bit. I wanted to keep the dark "feeling" that I like so much, but at the same time, I wanted Viggo's and Elijah's features to be strongly visible. The other thing I tweaked was the sharpness, also for purposes of strengthening their features. I find the image to be very intense, and I wanted to emphasize that by hardening it up, blowing off some of the softness. I tried very hard to keep the spirit of the original work; that was important to me. I sent several revisions to Alch, to make sure she wasn't unhappy with anything I did. I'm glad to report that she had no objections and gave me permission to use whichever one I wanted.
OK, time for an unofficial poll. I don't want to create an actual LJ poll, but I'm curious about how this looks to other people. I keep tinkering with the brightness level for the icon, because I'm aware that different graphics cards and monitors and display settings will affect how bright or dark an image appears to be. Even the background against which it's displayed can have an effect. Since all this can vary greatly among viewers, I keep feeling that I have to try to find the right balance, but I'm really just stumbling blindly in the effort. It's essential that the icon keep its dark edge, yet I don't want it to be lost in murkiness. On the other hand, I don't want it to be washed out or merely too "well-lit" in the name of keeping it easily seen. I'm probably too focused on this, but I suppose that's because I'm delighted to have the icon and I'd like it to become associated with me, so I want to get it right. (Alch, this is slightly brighter than what I sent you.) If anyone reading this would care to leave a comment and let me know if it seems too bright, too dark, or just right, I'd appreciate it.
Now here's the unexpected part of the story. I can't remember exactly how this occurred, but not long after I'd been given the icon, haiku fragments about it came into my head. I'd look at the image, and little phrases would start surfacing, phrases that I knew had to do with the "story" of the image. I let the words do what they wanted, and over time, they assembled themselves into a haiku. I was very surprised -- an icon had never inspired me to write a haiku before -- but I recognized that that's the kind of thing that can sometimes happen by itself. The key thing is to be aware of it and know what to do with it. In this case, I could tell that it wasn't ready right away. It had to develop, and I had to let the process happen. So I waited as it changed, bit by bit, until its transformation was complete. You might think there's not enough room in a haiku for much evolution to take place, but I assure you that one word can be a generation, can cause a metamorphosis.
The haiku I've previously posted in my LJ were written in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, largely so that they'd be easily identifiable as haiku. People are usually familiar with that structure, but what they may not know is that it is, in some ways, a false one when applied to English. Haiku originated in Japan, and the 5-7-5 format is naturally compatible with the Japanese language. The same is not true of English. A Japanese syllable is not analogous to an English syllable. This is a pretty complicated subject, so let me simply say that my icon!haiku breaks from the 5-7-5 form, but it can still be called a haiku. It could be said that it is not a "traditional" haiku, for reasons not involving syllables. Be that as it may, it suits my purpose. Or perhaps it suits the icon's purpose, since I hadn't planned to write it ...
Many thanks, Alch. You gave me an extraordinary icon that spoke to me in more ways than I initially realized.
he waits
it is dark with us
and I like it
At last, I get to give a greatly anticipated GIP its moment in the sun. ::grins:: I'm proud and pleased to present my long-awaited, much-celebrated Viggo/Elijah icon by alchemilla. ::fanfare::
This one has quite a history. ::chuckles:: It started when I fell all over Alch's "viggo elijah otp" icon. She'd had it for a while by the time I discovered it, and when I told her I would have stolen praised it if I'd seen it when it debuted, she, in typically generous fashion, gave it to me on a silver platter. That's when I did one of the most stupid things I've done on LJ. I told her I couldn't accept it, much as I wanted to (and believe me, I wanted to!), because she'd already been using it and people no doubt thought of it as hers. I didn't think it was my place to appropriate it, even with her consent. I have kicked myself about that ever since. I still think it's one of the best icons she's made, and she's come up with some outstanding ones. She made it look like a real moment, an expression by them, together, and that's no easy task. I may have done the right thing by not keeping it, but to this day, I hate having done it.
Alch then offered to make a new icon for me, and in due time, she created a beauty. It reminds me a great deal of the one I coveted, although I don't know if she deliberately set out to make a similar one. There is, however, a noticeable difference, in my mind. It's one of mood. I think this icon has a darker feel to it. Considerably darker. And I'm just fine with that. ::grins:: It's not sinister, it doesn't suggest that either of them is evil or cruel, but it comes from a deeper place than the other one. Here, they're coloured by experience, something that becomes richer, more powerful for each of them as they return to it. And they continue to do so, because neither of them can leave it. The need is there, in the edges, in the shadows. Undenied by them, stated in brow, cheekbone, set of mouth.
This icon has been modified from its original version... I'd like it to be clear that I've altered the image, so any blame should come straight to me. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I now have a few more tools for editing graphics, and I put some of them to use. When Alch posted the icon, she included the full-size picture and said the cropping could be changed. I thought the framing might be improved if you saw just enough of Elijah's right sideburn to define the edge of his face, so I moved it over a hair (almost literally). I also brightened the image a bit. I wanted to keep the dark "feeling" that I like so much, but at the same time, I wanted Viggo's and Elijah's features to be strongly visible. The other thing I tweaked was the sharpness, also for purposes of strengthening their features. I find the image to be very intense, and I wanted to emphasize that by hardening it up, blowing off some of the softness. I tried very hard to keep the spirit of the original work; that was important to me. I sent several revisions to Alch, to make sure she wasn't unhappy with anything I did. I'm glad to report that she had no objections and gave me permission to use whichever one I wanted.
OK, time for an unofficial poll. I don't want to create an actual LJ poll, but I'm curious about how this looks to other people. I keep tinkering with the brightness level for the icon, because I'm aware that different graphics cards and monitors and display settings will affect how bright or dark an image appears to be. Even the background against which it's displayed can have an effect. Since all this can vary greatly among viewers, I keep feeling that I have to try to find the right balance, but I'm really just stumbling blindly in the effort. It's essential that the icon keep its dark edge, yet I don't want it to be lost in murkiness. On the other hand, I don't want it to be washed out or merely too "well-lit" in the name of keeping it easily seen. I'm probably too focused on this, but I suppose that's because I'm delighted to have the icon and I'd like it to become associated with me, so I want to get it right. (Alch, this is slightly brighter than what I sent you.) If anyone reading this would care to leave a comment and let me know if it seems too bright, too dark, or just right, I'd appreciate it.
Now here's the unexpected part of the story. I can't remember exactly how this occurred, but not long after I'd been given the icon, haiku fragments about it came into my head. I'd look at the image, and little phrases would start surfacing, phrases that I knew had to do with the "story" of the image. I let the words do what they wanted, and over time, they assembled themselves into a haiku. I was very surprised -- an icon had never inspired me to write a haiku before -- but I recognized that that's the kind of thing that can sometimes happen by itself. The key thing is to be aware of it and know what to do with it. In this case, I could tell that it wasn't ready right away. It had to develop, and I had to let the process happen. So I waited as it changed, bit by bit, until its transformation was complete. You might think there's not enough room in a haiku for much evolution to take place, but I assure you that one word can be a generation, can cause a metamorphosis.
The haiku I've previously posted in my LJ were written in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, largely so that they'd be easily identifiable as haiku. People are usually familiar with that structure, but what they may not know is that it is, in some ways, a false one when applied to English. Haiku originated in Japan, and the 5-7-5 format is naturally compatible with the Japanese language. The same is not true of English. A Japanese syllable is not analogous to an English syllable. This is a pretty complicated subject, so let me simply say that my icon!haiku breaks from the 5-7-5 form, but it can still be called a haiku. It could be said that it is not a "traditional" haiku, for reasons not involving syllables. Be that as it may, it suits my purpose. Or perhaps it suits the icon's purpose, since I hadn't planned to write it ...
Many thanks, Alch. You gave me an extraordinary icon that spoke to me in more ways than I initially realized.
he waits
it is dark with us
and I like it