Ecthelion and Glorfindel - the story so far - Part I

[dagmarjung]

I'm now going to fullfill my threat/ promise to unleash some half-baked sketches of Ecthelion and Glorfindel to the world at large, a promise that I made a week ago in Tehta's livejournal.

Anyone who is not interested in a dozen headstudies of elves would do better to skip the rest of this post. For the rst of you, on with the show!

Comments

[dagmarjung]

Impossible amount of hair can look good in artwork, and it can add to the otherworldly aspect of characters, if you just think of Alfons Mucha. But I think you need a certain ornamental style to pull it off believably, otherwise it tends to 'drown' the character's faces or looks silly.

I didn't include the 'snogging Glorfindel and proud therof' button because, as much as I like the joke, it's not a good facial study. Although the smile works much better than #5's.

Ivanneth is my ruling godess concerning elves. I cherish her elven portraits above all others. In my opinion she combines all the contradictions I mentioned to perfect harmony. Her guys (and one girl - I wish she would do Galadriel one time!) are without doubt elves and not just pretty humans. You don't find faces like that in your local gaming club. And by the Valar, the things she does with hair... and everything looks completely convincing and natural.

Kasiopeia is also a brilliant artist. Her Maeglin is the best I ever saw. Her Feanoreans look very maskuline, maybe a bit harsh. She tends to elongate the lower half of the face, so the eye level is higher than on the usual facial canon. This prevents the characters from looking anything other but adult and maskuline, but there is a risk to overdo it. As to your question if I would recognize them as elves at once, that's not so easy to answer. Her Maeglin yes, also her Idril who is further apart from the human norm than her other elves. As for the Feanoreans, they don't look as stunningly fair as I imagine elves, but I have no difficulties at all to believe they are elves. None of them looks like a roleplayer in disguise. They are strong personalities, which I consider a must for Tolkien Elves.

Apart from Ivanneth and Kasiopeia there is another artist who has done a masterful elf portrait. It is Glorfindel:

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/h/o/hooghoudt/glorfindel.jpg.html

Sadly, the artist seems to have disappeared from internet years ago. I would like to follow her newer work, but there is nothing. This Glorfindel portrait is her best work by far; all her other pics are visibly weaker. I guess she made best possible use of a reference photo for this one, while creating the others mostly from inagination. Her talent is visible even in her weaker work, it just needed further eduction. She was on her way to study art when she disappeared from view.
For me, this is Glorfindel as I imagine him from LotR. A fair and gentle elf. Not Tehta's Glorfindel though, he would look different.

You are right about the eyes - I will emphazize this aspect more in finished drawings. Although there is a risk to overdo it - a fine balance needs to be kept between exotic shining eyes and glowing headlights.

Sorry, I wasn't able to see the link you gave me, the little ball in the upper corner just kept turning and turning until I gave up. But I believe I remember the picture vaguely from one of your earlier posts. I was impressed by the pic as such, but I can't remember enough of it to decide if it represents my own vision of elves.

Lauriel is a RPG character and she is supposed to look more fragile than humans. In fact, compared to the official race description she does look more like a half elf than a pureblood elf.

[wulfila]

Sadly, the artist seems to have disappeared from internet years ago. I would like to follow her newer work, but there is nothing.

Speaking of disappeared artists ... Are you still alive, Dagmar? I've been debating with myself if I should be bold enough to ask, but now that tehta has been writing some new stuff again, I have been re-reading her older tales and looking through your old drawings (such as the ones in this post).