Merlin as Cerunnos

[altocello]

Title: Merlin as Cerunnos
Artist: altocello
Rating: Mature, see content notes
Character/relationship(s): Merlin
Content notes: Drawn using watercolor pencils and sepia toned ink. GIMP used to correct contrast lost when photographing the original, and to add my sig. Really NSFW. Not porn, but it is an unabashedly naked man.
Summary:Merlin as Cerunnos, the

Comments

[amphigoury]

Like I said, if you're doing a piece with a druidic God of male fertility, you ought to show the whole..... ~package~ -- LOLOLOLOL

Aw yeah, Cello! Very well done! The colours and texture and pose and expression, just everything!!

[altocello]

Like I said, thanks for being an ~enabler~. :D This wouldn't be nearly as good without your help in bouncing around ideas for all those things!

[itzcoatl]

I LOVE this!

You've caught the feel of the Herne/Cerunnos/Arawn brilliantly. I think the nakedness works really well. It just seems to embody the male principle, the figure is straightforward, and open and strong and natural and, 'Here I am, I am male energy personified."

I really like the eyes you've given him, it makes him look really otherworldly. (and the likeness to Merlin is great). I really like the inscription tattoo you chose too. And the way his horns almost echo the branches of the tree behind him.

You might have guessed, but I REALLY like this. Lovely work, you!

[altocello]

Thank you! And YES, that's exactly what I was after. He just IS. The idea of clothes never even occurs to him. That pose is from a s4 promo photo, which I love because it has such quiet power. The eyes I originally left blank in my sketches because it was easier, but I liked that "otherworldliness" it leant him, so that stayed. And, yay, you saw what I was going for with the branches! Thanks for such a lovely comment! <3

[thedeathchamber]

Excellent use of the watercolor colored pencils, to begin with! (The tree has texture and the play of light on the skin is lovely). I also like the well balanced composition and the figure, which has a relaxed pose (those hands!!) and yet is somehow imposing. It has that sense of strength and... power. The little details are lovely, as well.
Very nice!

[altocello]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked the medium! My usual MO is graphite, though I've used ink and coffee before to great effect. The watercolor pencils are my favorites for color work, though, and I wanted this in color. I'm glad you enjoyed all the elements and details in this!

[reni_m]

Well done, cello!
Very masculine, powerful, and other worldly.

[altocello]

Thank you, reni! That's exactly what I was going for! <3

[alby_mangroves]

GUH! Divine. His very masculine stance, glorious hands and face (perfect face, Cello!), those EYES. Sexy tattoos, so primal and pagan. His power radiates out.

And let's not forget his massive dick, OMFG!!! *stares*

*stares more*

Beautiful drawing, I absolutely love it ♥_____♥

Addendum: Actually, it's really interesting to see Merlin in this get-up! Arthurian legens tells us it was Arthur who dressed as the Stag of The Hunt. It's a lovely transposition of this role onto Merlin, who in our fandom embodies the old religion and absolutely looks the part here.

[altocello]

Thank you so much, Alby! That's totally a canon stance, got it from a promo photo. The eyes were a happy accident; in my first sketches I left them blank since I was focusing on the rest of him, and decided I liked them that way. I have a thing for Merlin's hands (along with his cheekbones and collarbones, and neck line, and....), and it's because I really wanted his hands in the frame that we get to see the massive dick, lol. But I didn't want it to be porn. Just, very masculine. I was nervous it was too much. My betas assured me it wasn't. I really hope they were right.

Re the addendum: Yes, exactly! I kept having flashes of Marion Zimmer Bradley's book roaming through my head, lol. "What of the king stag when the young stag is grown?"

[alby_mangroves]

WOOT, ME TOO!!! I loved that book. Read it a hundred times. And HELL NO, IT'S NOT TOO MUCH!
Bloody hell, it's absolutely perfect, as we all know Colin's packing... :DDDDvsiusnf;uwYLJKDHJ'iowehfkl *THUD*

[altocello]

I only ever read it once, but it's really stuck with me. And, oh thank heavens! I'm glad you enjoyed it. <3 There's actually a fan report of the fact that he's packing, lol. So I considered my idle speculation to have good basis. :D