{fanart} Looking for Solutions to the Impossible for merlin_games

[altocello]

Title: Looking for Solutions to the Impossible
Rating: G
Characters/relationships: Gaius, Merlin
Content notes: Pencil on paper. Drawn for the merlin_games Tournament of Champions, and originally submitted anonymously there. Now that the challenge is done I am allowed to de-anon!
Summary: In which Gaius and Merlin do what they always do when presented with an impossible problem; they research it.



(If you're interested, the original post at merlin_games is here.)

I am really proud of this one. It came out so well, and I really have to thank my betas, reni_m, amphigoury, gwyntastic, my cheerleader fuzzytomato02, and all the other fabulous folks at gsdmerlin who gave me encouragement even if they had no idea what exactly I was working on. You all rock.

Comments

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

Oh my darling! How utterly awesome! It's all great, of course. Even the books are great! But how wonderful is Gaius...? You've got his face and his hair and his hands and all just spot on. Nicely composed, too, and both of them in such familiar postures.

Two thumbs up, and more if I had them! ♥

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much my dear! I'm so glad you like it, I drew it with you in mind!

Like all things, this had it's awkward stages (I may do a walkthrough with it eventually), but everything worked out in the end. :D Gaius and Merlin ended up where they were, and WEREN'T moving, so I made it work around them, lol.

I would write more, but keep dissolving into incoherence. Suffice to say that I'm absolutely chuffed you love it. *huggles*

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

You make me very happy, my sweet. {{{huggles}}}

I really do love this. Gaius's expression as he wrestles with the knowledge is great, but I keep getting drawn in by his left hand. You can FEEL it grasping the weight of the book...

Nicely done! ♥

[altocello.livejournal.com]

{{{huggles back}}}

That you are happy is a wonderful thing. I love the way his hands eventually turned out, and I'm so glad they really draw you because I spent forever getting them the right size. Dear Richard really does have some large hands on him! But they really are a big part of what makes that pose so interesting. Well, that and the fantastic lighting (thank you Dale!), which illuminates his face so beautifully with the light reflected off the page. I had to leave off the glasses as they were just a bit beyond me this time around, but that's one of my next challenges, drawing Gaius with his spectacles. :D And the books, how much did I enjoy drawing the books? I even found excuses to put more in! LOL.

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

{wriggles happily} Thank you for that, my sweet... I have been distracted ever since by thoughts on Richard and his large hands... {happy sighs}

I love that you got to work with Dale's lighting! And how brilliant is that, the reflected light? Like he's being illuminated, enlightened by the knowledge in the book... (I feel like tweeting him with that thought, but am probably in danger of crossing into stalker territory!)

So glad you enjoyed drawing the books, too! And I shall very much look forward to Gaius and his spectacles... ♥ No pressure, then! :-D

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Hee, I can only imagine what such thoughts may have inspired you to create. :D

Like he's being illuminated, enlightened by the knowledge in the book...

Yes, that, exactly! That's what occurred to me as I was drawing it! Funny that you should mention this gives you a desire to tweet him; if I had to send ONE piece of art to the cast, it would be the original of this one.

Dale's lighting is divine; I'm actually a bit gutted that he's not working on the whole of series 5. Though I'm sure they'll find other fantastic people, having the same DoP made for such a unity in the visuals.

LOL, the spectacle challenge! I look forward to it too! :D

BTW, have you heard the excerpt of Richard's "Believe it?" I could listen to it all day!

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

I have now included a note in with my RPF BB document about Richard's large hands... just in case, you understand! He might need them for something. {bright smiles}

Ooh, I hope you didn't mean I would tweet him with your lovely art - but only with a screen capture from the show. Just to say, 'You're so clever, and my mate's clever enough to realise!' :-D

I'm sure they'd all be well impressed with your artwork, and especially Dale, Richard and Colin. They'd be dead chuffed that you noticed their good work.

You know what? I haven't actually listened to Richard yet. That just shows you what my life has been like lately! Darling man... I'm so happy he's doing it. It says a lot about his sense of humour, I suspect!

[altocello.livejournal.com]

You never know when that might come in useful. *wink*

Oh, no, not that you would tweet my work, but your thought to share your thoughts led to me sharing that I am thinking of sharing this work with them... did that make sense?

You are very kind, and it would absolutely be the best compliment ever if it pleased those who inspired it. :D

Oh, you must take a little time to do so. I confess, it combines a couple of loves of mine; a wry sense of humor, dear Richard's pleasantly resonant voice, and the amazing David Tennant who does a great job of being a young and very Scottish Richard much to my great amusement.

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

a wry sense of humor, dear Richard's pleasantly resonant voice, and the amazing David Tennant who does a great job of being a young and very Scottish Richard much to my great amusement.

You truly make it sound like a little piece of heaven on earth... ♥

[altocello.livejournal.com]

It is for me. :D It seems I have a thing for tall, thin, dark haired Gaels, for David Tennant is another object of my fannish affection. So to have Richard narrating, and David acting, well, it's pretty fine. <3

[the-little-owl.livejournal.com]

That's great!

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[silver-falcon24.livejournal.com]

Argh! You are terrifyingly talented, you are! That is amazing. Merlin's hands are just - guh. That's just - wow. Wow.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I don't know if anyone's ever called me terrifying though, lol. I don't bite, much. Unless you like that sort of thing. :D

I love Merlin's hands, and I had a blast drawing them for this. Glad they speak to you too!

[fuzzytomato02.livejournal.com]

It's so beautiful, cello! I swear you do the best Gaius. I love Merlin in the background with his hand to his head and his pose of one leg tucked under another. It so could be a scene from an ep. It's absolutely perfect. :)

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you, tomato! I like Gaius, he's fun to draw. All the wrinkles are so interesting! I fell in love with Merlin's pose when I saw it in one of Gwyn's icons, lol; I asked her if it was a manip (it wasn't) and she pointed me to the episode where she found the screencap. After that it was a matter of beating the composition with a stick made of 3 awesome betas to make it work, lol.

[reni-m.livejournal.com]

Still love this, and it's an honor to work with you all the time! <3

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you reni! And the feeling is mutual! Hopefully with the return of the regularly scheduled program (ie, spring break is over soon) I will be able to hang out in chat and actually gsd. :D