Odi et Amo {art}

[altocello]

Title: Odi et Amo (I Hate and I Love)
Rating: G
Character: Frank Randall
This is the fourth in my Outlander portrait series. How to encapsulate the enigma that is Frank Randall in a title? Words that came to mind when trying to get at the heart of his relationship with Claire and Jamie included: bittersweet, revenge, love, obligation, fidelity, betrayal, enigma, and redoubt (he is, for good or ill, Claire's fallback position). With all of that in mind I went digging into Latin love poems, thinking that a title in Latin would be fitting for a scholar such as Frank. And, lo! I found not only our famous, "Da Mi Basia Mille" poem by Catullus, but also this gem:

Catullus LXXXV

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

I hate and I love. How can I do that, you might ask me perhaps?
I do not know. But that's what I feel and this is torture.

And that, right there. That's Frank.

Many thanks to amphigoury and alby_mangroves for the beta help, and to jelazakazone, rocknvaughn, and gwyntastic for cheering me on!

Medium: Drawn in GIMP with a digital tablet on a Mac

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fanwork; no harm intended, no money made. Do not repost without my explicit permission.



Also on:

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Comments

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

You know it is my pleasure to cheerlead for you. Any time, darling! This turned out great.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

And I love it when you can be along for the ride! <3<3

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

You know I love being there for the ride. My pleasure! <3

[alby-mangroves.livejournal.com]

It's a great result! Well done <3

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Alby! I did see a little promo photo that's got me itching to try a looser, sketchier style.... we'll see if I can rein in the habit of overworking a piece, lol :D

[mrs-leary.livejournal.com]

There you go again, being awesome! Your artwork always blew me away, but these days you are really rockin' it. I have very little idea how you get everything looking so real, with depth and texture - their faces, their clothes, themselves. I have no idea who this is, but you present him to me completely 3D, and I can sense his character. And I am totally impressed.

[altocello.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm over here blushing. *HUGS* As for the reality and textures, I use lots of layers. Lots and lots of layers! And the airbrush. :D

I'm so pleased to know the art manages to convey a sense of him to you, despite not knowing the character at all. A lot of that is down to Tobias, in his quiet portrayal of a character in the reference photo I used. He does such an amazing job portraying Frank and Franks's nefarious ancestor, Black Jack. His face is SO distinctive, and yet they really do feel like two entirely different people who carry just these little threads of each other.