Waymeet 'Hijinks' Challenge ~ Thorns

[notabluemaia]

Title: Thorns
Artist: Notabluemaia
Challenge: waymeet Hijinks

Comments

[shirebound]

Oh, that's marvelous! There's so little art (if any!) that depicts this scene. I'm just fascinated by all your detail.

[notabluemaia]

Thank you! I couldn't remember illustrations of this scene (there probably are!), and that was kind of freeing - I just wanted to keep on fleshing out the sketch, seeing it as it was in my 'book' image.

[addie71]

The detail in this is amazing, Nota; the torn up knees, Frodo's whip mark and the expressions on their faces. It's beautiful and heartbreaking.

[notabluemaia]

From the moment I saw the prompt, I knew I wanted to draw this. It's closer to my original book imagery, because it's not in the films (though Sean and Elijah shape how I now see the hobbits). The details just kept piling on as I fell free with Frodo and Sam. Thank you for your warm words.

[semyaza]

This is a stunning illustration, Nota. I just love it, especially the touches of colour. I can't stop staring.

I wouldn't worry about the order. Perhaps Sam's cloak snagged momentarily on the way down. ;~)

[notabluemaia]

Thank you, Sem!!! This pic is a return to the detail of pencil, after playing so much with pastels - and I just couldn't resist the ability to hatch and cross-hatch and do teensy little fiddly detail lines! *bliss* And then, it was all soooo grey - Younger suggested contrast was needed, and it suddenly seemed that in addition to pushing the grey/black, that in this wasteland, Frodo and Sam themselves would be the only hint of life...

The order - Yes! That's it! Sam's coat snagged - it's not inconsistent w/ text, for we're not specifically told who lands first... a plausible argument that doesn't contradict canon. I do wonder why Sam jumped first - not fear, though there'd be plenty. I think it has to do w/ Frodo. *muses*

[semyaza]

The colouring reminds me of Rackham. The fiddliness gives it depth but the colour is what draws the eye around the image.

Maybe Sam knew that Frodo would be given the courage to jump if he went first?

[notabluemaia]

Rackham has to have influenced me - those important images from childhood. I do remember admiring detailed pen/inks very much, like the Oz illustrations.

Maybe Sam did know that! Or he may have wanted to cushion Frodo's fall!

Fun!

[kestrelsparhawk]

That is wonderful! It has the feeling of the age when LOTR first published, and I love their clothes -- it reminds me exactly where in the book they are when that happened. I like both the finished version and the sketch version very much. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Fun!

[notabluemaia]

What a lovely thing to say! Thank you! I'd hoped to have a pre-modern 'feel' to it (heck, *I'm* pre-modern!). Their clothes interest me a lot, one of those JRRT points that seem to me to say much about where they are emotionally. Sam still has his original battered clothes, as he has his sense of self and home; Frodo has been stripped of his clothing - a last remnant of what he started with - and is left w/ only his naked 'self' (contra film), using things of Mordor to protect himself from Mordor.

It's truly a pleasure to share. Thank YOU for such thoughtful comments.

[telstar_gold]

Wonderful! You've really captured the desperation of that moment. And oh, those nasty thorns waiting below - ouch!

[notabluemaia]

Thank you! I love Frodo and Sam's leap into the unknown - not the first time together! There's a 'crown of thorns' in my sunroom that modeled for these prickly stickly things of Morder; mine are much friendlier!