Images

nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui:

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean by Qitian

I did this as part of a quick and dirty four-image series for the “Affiliations” prompt of the SWG November/December challenge.
Well, mostly dirty. Not really quick, because I realised at some point that I needed to put in a lot of background details to convey the drama of Alqualondë. Therefore, the
composition is that of a sloppy speedy sketch, and then I decided to put in some actual effort halfway
through and possibly too late. Still, it’s the best
painting of the lot, so I felt it deserved to be shared individually.

The
affiliation in question is that between the Houses of Fëanor and
Fingolfin in
general, and between Maedhros and Fingon in particular, although the two
only make a background appearance in this triptych-y thing. (In case you’re curious, Fingon is the guy with the three braids in the middle of the right-hand side pic, still in the process of drawing his sword. I suppose he forgot to braid the gold into his hair that day because I forgot to paint it. Maedhros is in the same section, further in the back, trapped in the Telerin fishing net and in danger of getting skewered on a fishing spear. The backup’s arriving just in time.)

I had a lot
of thinky thoughts about Alqualondë while doing this, not least of
all the question (in the immortal words of Obi-wan Kenobi), “Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?“  I love both Fëanor and Fingolfin, I really do, but one has to admit that they both make some really bad choices…

youngman-willow:

Gray ship

heroineimages:

phrrmp:

Yujin kim 

Y’know, I think the biggest drawback to the whole ‘ageless elf’ archetype is that our elf warriors and adventuresses all end up being young-looking. So this image of a middle-aged, grey-haired, veteran elvish knight in slightly battered—but distinctly elvish—armor delights me to no end.