{fanart} for "It's Complicated" by mrs_leary

[altocello]

Title: Art for "It's Complicated", a Merlin RPF BB story by mrs_leary
Artist: altocello
Characters/Pairings: Colin/Richard, Bradley/Richard (one sided), Colin/Rupert
Rating: G
Warnings: Spoilers for the fic exist in the art notes.
Medium: Woodless graphite pencils, grey gummy eraser, and smudging stick on white sketchbook paper. GIMP used to correct for contrast lost when photographing the originals, to add my sig, and to add (among other things) the lettering to the title page.
Summary: A bemused Colin finds that it’s generally assumed Richard is in love with Colin – and Rupert later suggests that, really, just about everyone is at least a little in love with Colin… But if he’s so spoiled for choice, why does it take him the whole second season to work out who he most wants to be with?

Notes: I owe so many thanks to mrs_leary; for letting me coerce her into signing up, for writing this lovely story, for allowing me to make art for it, and for being a cheerleader par excellence. Thanks so much for working with me! It's been wonderful! Many thanks are also due to my kickass beta, reni_m, who was invaluable in making sure I corrected those things that I really, yes needed to correct, and who was also a fabulous cheerleader. Thank you both for being who you are!

References used included some beautiful photos taken by fans either on location or at events (notably, mrs_leary and archaeologist_d), as well as various photos of the actors taken at events or photoshoots.

Disclaimer: These are non-profit fanworks: no harm intended, no money made.

[ETA: Also on AO3 and DA. You can read the fic and leave some comment love here. :D]

Title Page
Each portrait was drawn on separate pages, but this was the picture I had in the back of my mind as I drew them. GIMP was used to collage them together, as well as to add the lettering and knotwork.



Chapter break
I created a knot inspired by the compass rose. It represents the journeys these four men find themselves on, as their lives interweave with each other's.



Illustrations:
Their expressions (and the titles) really tell you most of what you need to know, but I have included the snippets of the fic that set the tone for each of them.

"Conflicted"
For once he wasn’t entirely sure he had all the answers himself.



"Confused"
But then the lingering moment shattered and crashed as they saw Bradley standing there staring at them, football held forgotten against one hip, and mouth twisted in what looked suspiciously like bitter grief. And Colin could read his heartrending cry: I – don’t – under – stand!



"Contented"
Richard glanced up, and started glowing again, which surely signalled Bradley’s return.



"Confident"
Rupert was there waiting. Rupert had always been there waiting. He smiled a little as Colin walked up to him, standing there with a relaxed stance and his hands in his pockets.



PS: For those who are interested in this sort of thing, I listened to the album "Negotiations" by The Helio Sequence almost obsessively while drawing these. Being a huge fan of theirs, I was absurdly pleased and surprised to hear Colin mention them as one of his favorite bands during a roundtable interview at SDCC 2010 (at about the 12 min mark), along with the better known Death Cab for Cutie. As such, I find it apt that their album helped me create these pieces. /random trivia

{edited because DA was nasty and changed the urls of the images on me, blargh}

Comments

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

Thank you again so so much for this, hon! Your portraits of these lovely men are just sublime, with or without my fic. They stand alone as beautiful and insightful works of art.

It's very interesting to read your notes here, and learn even more about the processes you went through. Thank you for sharing so much with us!

And thank you again for a remarkable BB experience!

[altocello.livejournal.com]

You are welcome and thank you again! This has been a very rewarding experience for me as well, especially the discussion regarding motivations and character arcs; it really made all the difference in helping me define the quality of expression for each of them. I really didn't know how to reduce that experience to words (without including all of our emails, lol), so I let your words do the talking for me, as you are so much more eloquent than I! <3

[fuzzytomato02.livejournal.com]

Cello! This is so good. Love them all and their expressions. I think my favorites though have to be Richard and Rupert. as always, you draw Richard perfectly. Love it. Love Rupert too. OMG ROOOOOOPS :D Beautiful :D

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you, tomato! I do love to draw Richard, his face is so interesting! And this was my first ever attempt at Rupert; I was blessed early on in the process with a fabulous reference photo taken by mrs_leary herself, which made it all so much easier. :D

[alby-mangroves.livejournal.com]

Oh man, these are lovely! You always do such delicate studies, they have so much depth. Gorgeous work, Cello! <333

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you alby! I will admit to shamelessly playing to my strengths on this project; I was originally going to try to illustrate several scenes with action and everything (which is more of a stretch for me, being more inclined toward very still settings) I had such strong images of each of their emotions that I decided for the portraits to highlight those instead. I'm glad you like the result!

[phoenixacid.livejournal.com]

Eeee, they look absolutely gorgeous, love! You've captured their likeness so well too! <333

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, huey! <3

[obliqueo.livejournal.com]

I don't even know I can see Richard & Rupert in rps bang! Your Rupert is perfect! I love your Richard as well. Lovely works <3

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I am so glad that mrs_leary's fic was a ensemble piece; so many rpf fics focus so intensely on Colin and Bradley (not that I mind, intense Colin and Bradley are good!) that it's wonderful to see some of the others get a chance to shine. This was my first attempt at Rupert, and I'm very happy with the result. :D It's funny what you learn about a person's face when you draw them; he has a very different nose from the others! LOL. And Richard. Lovely man. I am so glad you like his portrait, it was a joy to draw. <3

[obliqueo.livejournal.com]

Really?! *look at your Rupert again* Haven't have a chance to draw him! I thought the most troublesome part is his hair and the facial hair ;D I like that they both look happy and confident.

(Hee you are back! I was using hotel wifi with my phone when I commented, it needed to be commented asap XD)

[altocello.livejournal.com]

I got to practice facial hair last year when I drew Gwaine, lol. And I loved getting to draw Rupert's curls! I do like trying to capture Richard's amusement; his eyes fairly sparkle when you get it right.

(Hee, I am back. I actually had some limited connectivity while I was away, but really couldn't reply to comments very well. I appreciate every comment so much, but yours is super special now that I know you made an extra effort! *hugs*)

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

The artwork was amazing for this. I loved your drawing style and you captured them all so well! I esp. liked Rupert's! Great job! Loved them.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I loved getting to draw Rupert, as I've never had a specific excuse to do so before. :D

[phys-nut.livejournal.com]

OMG I love these! They are gorgeous and I love how they fit in with the story.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! <3

[asya-ana.livejournal.com]

Stunning! This is lovely work. :)

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed them, and thank you for commenting! <3

[k-nightfox.livejournal.com]

Whoa! How have I not already left a comment here? I'd have sworn I already had. Hmmm...maybe LJ was acting up the first day I visited.

OK, so, belatedly (cuz I looked at your art the day it posted but finally only finished reading the fic right now cuz I have been mad busy/distracted) each and every one of these portraits is amazing!

I'm blown away by all the tiny details you added that make each of these like a candid snapshot of a moment in time, a moment that Julie defined and you brought to life!

Aside from the wonderful (and accurate) way you rendered each feature, these little things that make such a huge difference: Colin's eyebrows, the down-to-the-side angle of his eyes, the slight but significant pursing of his lips and the rumpled hair, as if he'd just run a single distracted hand through it-Bradley's face, the way the whole thing is pinched in painful bewilderment, eyes, brow, nose, mouth chin! even his chin looks pinched! the way it's all hunched up into his bottom lip, now that is expression!-Richard's half-suppressed smile is wonderful, as are his eyes...how did you manage that subdued sparkle? He looks happy without being overly exuberant, it's kind of a dignified joy if that makes any sense, how? how did you manage that?-Rupert, ah, lovely Rupert! soft & strong, patient and hopeful, the set of his mouth and the glow in his eyes, I'm not even sure how you managed to make them glow like that with graphite but you most certainly did! I love the line of his throat and jaw and the arch of his nose, I mean, even his hair is telling the story with it's relaxed, happy waves.

Yeah, so, that's probably not so coherent but I'm not terribly coherent when laying out all the feelings your beautiful art engendered in me. Hopefully, you'll get the drift that I really, really loved each one of these drawings. And the knot? Gorgeous!

[altocello.livejournal.com]

I am so very glad you commented, belated or not, and it's actually very coherent. Or at least, I think it is. :D All those things you mentioned- every one - was something I thought about and pondered and agonized over. I am so happy to know that you not only saw those things, but that you recognized them and they spoke to you!

Colin... oh, how I love Colin. And this Colin, unsure of himself for the first time in a long time, I wanted him to be engaging us, to be giving us that LOOK, so we would be involved in that feeling of conflict; that's why he's the only one of all of them to be looking AT US. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about WHY I wanted his hair mussed, but I really wanted it messy. Thank you for reducing that irrational insistence of my subconscious into something coherent. :-)

Bradley's face, as we all know, is amazingly expressive. The trick is to get him NOT emoting wildly! That said, I did want to show that amazing way he has of using his WHOLE face to express an emotion.

And Richard, dear Richard. I really wanted to capture that sparkle that Richard has when he's pleased but not quite openly laughing, and it's a subtle combination of how he sets his eyes and eyebrows and his mouth (especially the rumples in his chin); it took a few tries and a bit of fiddling to get there. And "dignified joy" was exactly what I was aiming for!

Last but not least, the lovely Rupert; this was my first official excuse to draw him. I'm so glad I did! His face is so very different from Colin's or Bradley's, but so very very lovely to draw. The eternal struggle with eyes is getting the light into them, and a lot of that is showing how the light strikes the iris through the curve of the lens. The payoff when you get it right is worth all the fiddling. :D

And I'm tickled that you liked the knot too. <3