Art Masterpost for Worth Fighting For
Title: Worth Fighting For
Author: dreamdustmama
Artist: amythystluna
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin (Will/Freya, Gwen/Lance, Morgause/Nimueh)
Rating: NC-17
Art Rating: G to PG-13
Word Count: 47,000
Warnings: dystopia, violence, graphic imagery, gun use, discussion of a rape that never happens, minor character death, mass murder
Art Warnings: Lots and lots of Blue. Lots of it.
Medium: Wacom Bamboo Tablet and Pen; Adobe Photoshop CS4
Disclaimer: Merlin is owned by the BBC and Shine. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made.
Summary: In a world where magic is on the brink of being banned and sorcerers are looked upon as second-class citizens, Merlin Emrys does whatever is necessary to protect his loved ones and help those who are like him. Arthur Pendragon, despite his father's open hatred of magic, has never had a reason to care one way or the other - until he discovers that his sister Morgana has powers, and is working underground to rescue those being targeted by the government. Merlin fights with words while Arthur is forced to face the truth about what is really happening to those who use magic, and despite an earlier encounter, it isn't until a chance meeting between them one night that their worlds truly collide.
Artist's Notes: This was my first Merlin Big Bang, and it was so much fun! I wish I'd had time to do more illustrations for the lovely dreamdustmama--it was such a blast working with you! If only there were more time in the day :) <333 Though I probably would have re-read the story more than drawn, LOL. Huge thanks also go to yue_ix for the spot-on art beta on most of these. Any remaining wonkyness is purely my fault :) Thanks also to the_muppet for being made of awesomeness and being our organizational guru <3 Thanks also to Google Image for countless random searches for reference pictures :)
Art Notes: I knew I wanted to do a series of drawings (as many as I could get to, which unfortunately wasn't as many as I planned :0/ ), and I wanted them clearly linked in both style and content. After talking over it a bit with dreamdustmama, I decided on a blue color pallet, and started to work :) I tried to find some interesting angles and crops, and worked with 'Mama to try to get it close to her vision of what was happening at that moment in the story. I hope I did her fabulous story justice, and that y'all enjoy it :D
Smaller versions are embedded in the story itself in the relevant places; below you'll find larger versions, and some 'DVD extras.' Also planning to do another post with some step-by-step process saves for those who are interested--that will be going up in the next day or two and I'll link it in :)
Resistance Rune
DVD Extra:
'Mama and I probably did way more rune research than advisable coming up with this :) It all started with me asking about what we'd want in a divider, LOL. It eventually got worked in to the story in a rather unique way, which still makes me grin whenever I read those sections! It's a bit of a recurring theme ^_^
In The Closet
DVD Extra: This is probably the sketchiest in style, because I wanted it to feel rushed and a bit frantic, just like the moment in the story. Also, *really* hard to get it looking right without two cute boys to model for me, but they were nowhere to be found *pouts* And there are bits and pieces of at least 4 doors in my house in that door. Yay art :)
It Can't Be Real
DVD Extra:
I wanted this one to have a more realistic feel, and also bring in the yellow that's to represent magic :) I actually did do some tracing of reference pictures, which I then tweaked and adjusted to fit what I needed, so this is probably the most graphic arts-related of the illos. No copyright infringement intended :)
Genocide Plans
DVD Extra: Never doing a group scene again. Or at least, not for a while. This ate up waaaaaaaay more time than I had planned, but I'm happy with how it turned out, for all of that. I think my favorite bit, oddly enough, are the coffee cups with Merlin and Lance's names :) And it was rediculous the number of times I changed the color of Will's tee shirt. Rediculous, I tell you.
Symbolism
DVD Extra: This was a quick little sketch I did when I realized that there was going to be a *long* gap between drawings in the story...back when I'd planned and outlined for an illustration every 4K or so... back before my life decided July and August were the *perfect* times to explode. Yeah, then. :)
Hug'n'Tea
DVD Extra: It's Morgana! And Arthur, but he wasn't behaving himself and just *would NOT look right* so he got cropped. Sorry Arthur. Girl eyes are fun to draw though, turned out good, and I think it works well cropped :) Composition isn't quite as balanced as I'd normally go for because I wanted it to seem just a bit unsettled, like the moment in the story :) Also, I want that teakettle. <3
Snitch Smokebomb
DVD Extra:
I could not help calling it a "red snitch" in my head when I read that section, so that informed my title, LOL. 'Mama wants Arthur's boots, and I kinda *have* Merlin's shoe(s), LOL. Also, Merlin's hand was *really* hard to get looking more like a hand than like an ameoba. Still not sure I did it *titls head*
At the Tracks
DVD Extra: I wanted more *time* but real-life (and the computer-dang tempramental Vista nonsense) weren't cooperating. Happy with how it turned out, but it fell short of the vision in my head :( I'd planned more drawings where I'd lighten up on the mostly-blue thing, but this is as far as I got. I'm really happy with the background on this one, since I got that done before my computer decided to go wonky and poor Merlin and Arthur suffered from "OMG, get it DONE before it bluescreens me again D: " syndrome :( I also re-used textures from other drawings in their clothes :) Yay Photoshop! :)
Excalibur
DVD Extra:
And so we end with the first drawing I did! I LOVED Echoes of Yesterday (it's what got me drawing in the fandom) and so just about literally *jumped* at the chance to work with 'Mama on her Big Bang :D When she told me it would be a prequel and have Excalibur, I knew I had to draw the gun, though I've never drawn one before, and as you've probably figured by now, I tend to gravitate toward drawing people. It probably only took slightly less time than "Genocide Plans" and has bits and pieces of *many* guns in there, as well as nods to canon sword- Excalibur. It also got some runes added once dreamdustmama and I had hashed out the Resistance/Emrys symbol :D I LOVE that moment in the story, which was written long after the drawing was done. Funny how writing informs art, and sometimes art informs writing :)
Wow, I rambled. Thanks for those who followed through to the end, and I hope everyone's having a great Big Bang! <3
~amythyst