Second Gondolwain portrait

Bard Judith

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #30 on: 29 January 2011, 19:48:26 »

I love both versions. The first, despite its 'soft focus', painterly style, still has so much definition, character, and well-modeled shapes... (the basket looks as though I could walk over and steal a lemon from it!) ... and the softness and less-saturated colours give it a subtlety and refinement that seem to suit the Gondolwain. Yet there is a beauty in the crisp, bright, focused lines of the second painting, with its energy and vivacity that match the subject - a sunny day in a lemon orchard! How can one choose?

Let me suggest that we take the best of both worlds: the first picture to illustrate the entry of the Gondolwain, the second to be cut apart into crops for:

a) the Kitraure entry ("Lemon tree, oh so pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat....")
b) Tools and Utensils (I do love that basket!)
c) one or two People entries (those unique, interesting faces!)
d) with the women removed, a Santhworld location at a well near a grove

Aura'd once more for masterful work.

Hugs,
Judith


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Ta`lia of the Seven Jewels

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #31 on: 29 January 2011, 20:33:34 »

Faugar, I think it is perfect now!

I love the closeup also very much. Your people have such an own life - there are real persons who speak to you (or not, in this case

)

I always wonder, how you can produce the feeling, that your pictures are 'sharp' (they don't have the effect on me to have to look for my glasses), but in fact they seem out of focus, especially the background, but all fits together nevertheless.


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Faugar

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #32 on: 29 January 2011, 21:24:53 »

Thank you all! Glad you like it,

Judy - I can indeed remove the people and fill the space to make a picture of an orchard with the water well. So all 4 crops are possible

Talia - the apparent sharpness is due to the difference in blur - I deliberately make the background and the foreground leaves less sharp then the characters, and the most "focus" is put in their faces. So due to the variation of the sharpness I try to create a depth of filed effect. So if an element in apicture is clearly less shap (more blurred) then others, the difference is making you perceive the sharper object as sharp. Also, as the eye of the viewer is naturally drawn to the face and the eyes, making sure these are sharp is all that matters really

And... on the resized small versions I always also use a bit of unsharp mask filter


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Coren FrozenZephyr

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #33 on: 18 March 2011, 05:39:12 »

Faugar, I love these paintings! I watch with admiration!

Orchard picture

My internet connection seems shaky again - so posting comments quickly in bullet form before I get cut off. Apologies in advance for the brusqueness.

1) Hairstyle suggestion for the pouting girl with the crossed arms: this or this perhaps?

2) Perhaps it's just me, but her eyes don't seem to converge? Should her left eye gaze slightly more left (her left, our right) and down?

3) I loved the design/patterns on her dress. These were more evident in the first sketches. Perhaps these could be emphasised if the colour of the stripes echoed one of the colours from the background? (yellow stripes? green stripes?)

4) Judith's 4 crops - what an excellent suggestion!

5) Could the lemons in the basket be more yellow? The roundness combined with the brownish tone makes them look a bit like onions atm.

6) Would it be possible to use this version for the tribe entry but also include the first muted/"oil-painting" version for a separate entry on Goldonwain paintings? Such a dilemma! I love both versions! (that is the newest version and the "first" one). Judith put it so eloquently:

Quote

Lady at the beach

I don't really have anything to add - marvellous painting!

A rather cool idea occurred to me, but I am not sure if it is feasible. Would it be possible to include both this version and the blonde version in the entry? This information is not on the site yet, but all Gondolwain are identical triplets (see quote below). Some tribes joke that the importance the Gondolwain place on individuality stems from a need to distinguish themselves from their triplets! Indeed siblings tend to choose diametrically opposite vocations, wear their hear differently etc.

This would be a perfect opportunity to capture that on canvas! We could say that the two are sisters, mourning the loss of their third sister (triplet? twin?). We could even comment that despite all the differences (the hair, the colour of the dress), a natural connection between the two is evident. Without concious coordination, they have chosen similar jewellery; they both came to the exact same spot to contemplate and in such a moment of vulnerability their bodies inadvertently reverted to the same pose. Etc etc - what do you think?

And here is the quote I mentioned:

Quote

Re additions to the Gondolwenmith:

http://www.santharia.com/dev/index.php/topic,12931.msg178579.html#msg178579

A bit of a wild idea: What if all Gondolwain are identical triplets? That is: What if every time the Gondolwain have children, they always give birth to identical triplets?

This idea came about mainly from two things: (i) a random MSN conversation I had with Mira yesterday. (ii) I was revising the Krean Magic entry (Oh Gods! Again!?) and this spawned a sub-entry on the Krean interpretation of conception (yeah, I know, bad pun). The Krean view conception as a three-way act - ok, that did not come out right. What I meant was: Essentially they see conception as a co-creative act not just between the parents, but between the father, the mother, and the spirit that is going to birth/incarnate into the new baby body. So, according to the Krean, the new baby body is not created by some mysterious process between the parents alone; the spirit of the child makes an active contribution too - flowing from the First Wave into the womb as it were, to fill the new body with life.

I would also need to have some other Nybelmarian tribe attribute the Gondolwain's individualistic culture to this? Deci, can I have the Tarshiinites say that the Gondolwenmith obsession with individuality and the rights/freedoms of the individual emerged as a response to this biological phenomenon? That they developed a culture which revolves around the individual because they spend all their lives trying to distinguish themselves from the other two twins who look exactly like them?

PS: I espy a new Shabakuk 'affliction of the mind' on the horizon!


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Faugar

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #34 on: 24 March 2011, 05:47:56 »

Hey,

Great to hear again from you Coren, and with such precise comments

I tried to address them all. I'll do the crops after everything is completely approved. So, how about this version?
I do not quite comprehend what you wish me to do (if anything) about the twins idea. It's up to you and Artimidor I guess to decide which and how many versions you want to use on the site.

So, let me know what you think!


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Coren FrozenZephyr

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #35 on: 24 March 2011, 06:33:44 »

Hi Faugar!

Thank you so much!

1) I love the new hair! And the eyes problem is solved now. The dress looks so much more alive alive now.

2) Hmm... the lemons still look brown to me. But that might have something to do with my laptop. My Sony X-black LCD screen died on me last month and I had to replace it. The screen colours seem to be off ever since the replacement. Maybe someone else could chip in regarding the lemons?

3) Given the effect the extra colour had on the pouting girl's dress, I am wondering if we should perhaps try something similar for the white dress? Maybe colouring the white sash/belt green (or any colour of you prefer)? I am not sure if that would add to the appeal of the dress or separate the elegant, vertical flow of into two chunky halves. I don't know. What do our fashion experts think?

4) Re twins: I was just wondering if you would allow me to use both the blonde and the new brunette versions as-is and say that they are twins? To my eyes both paintings look finished and splendid as they are - but I wanted to check (a) how you felt about that and (b) if you still had a saved copy of the blonde version. If not, no worries.

5) Btw, did you get my PM, Faugar?


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Bard Judith

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #36 on: 24 March 2011, 08:43:04 »

Weighing in with a brand-new monitor (22 inch! I can't believe our university was so generous!) from work here - the lemons are yellow. A soft, mellow hue, yes, but definitely yellow. Any brighter and it would throw off the soft, desaturated palette.

I love the standing lass's dress...it positively glows in that rich sunlight....and its lines are runway-worthy! Faugar: the Caelerethian Balmain!


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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #37 on: 28 March 2011, 06:09:34 »

ok, I added some lines on the other dress as requested, I hope I didn't go overboard with this? I can easily remove some or all of it (it's on a separate layer) if you think I should. Here is the update:


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Coren FrozenZephyr

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #38 on: 28 March 2011, 16:53:42 »

Ow Faugar! You've put me into such a dilemma! I do like the new lines, especially the design on the hem - but I have to say I preferred the elegance and monochromatic grace of the white version. I'm sorry I put you through all this extra work because I didn't express myself particularly well. What I meant was: Let's leave the dress as-is (ie white), but colour the sash/belt green (or any other colour of your choice) - so that the two white halves would be separated by a bold, green "belt". So I had in mind a very small change just to see which one people preferred and which could be altered back without too much effort.

If that would be too much of a hassle, let's leave the white dress as-is. I'm very happy with the picture (in fact I am smiling 'from ear to ear' as we say) - so all these suggestions are just minor, inessential details.

PS: What do you think about the twins idea?


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #39 on: 31 March 2011, 01:20:14 »

I'm looking for something to integrate at this week's update... So... Is there any approved pic available in this thread? Like the girl at the rock? What's the approval status on this one, Coren? Or can the final adjustments be made at the last pics until Sunday, Faugar?

In general I'd also need descriptions that go with the pictures and suggestions on where to put the pics, so if you've got something in this regard, Coren, let me know! cool


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Coren FrozenZephyr

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #40 on: 31 March 2011, 01:56:41 »

Hi Arti!

1) I'm in the process of revising the Gondolwain entry and finishing the missing sections. I will also have proper descriptions then. It won't make it to this update - so perhaps for now we could go with a one-liner such as "two Gondolith women in a lemon orchard"?

2) The girl at the beach painting is ready as far as I'm concerned. But I don't know if Faugar wants to make any final adjustments.

3) The lemon orchard painting is also 99% complete I'd say


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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #41 on: 01 April 2011, 03:01:40 »

Ok, question to Coren: Any text to go with the girl at the rock?

And question to Faugar: Can you finish the 1% Coren's talking about at the lemon orchard pic until Sunday? And then upload a large version of the whole picture, so take I can use parts of it?


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Faugar

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Re: Second Gondolwain portrait

« Reply #42 on: 02 April 2011, 22:24:28 »

Ok, I assume the pictures are both finished. Here are the original sized versions then. Both the "vanilla" dress version and a colored belt one for you guys to choose from