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bananorama β ASOIAF SPOILER
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Published: 2007-07-20 17:04:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 24809; Favourites: 458; Downloads: 140
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For critique purposes: I'd mostly like feedback on composition and unity and color, but if there's anything else I'm all ears!------------------------------------
Pencil Club Daily Deviation, 2008.Jan.23 -- thank you!
Spoilers from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire below. If you haven't read the books A) be wary and B) READ THEM!! You won't regret it, great plot, great setting, great characters, really has some fun riffs on the fantasy genre. Okay, spoilers, consider yourself warned. Really, don't read any further if you don't know the story! (Actually it occurs to me that the title was probably a spoiler, so I took it out ... but it's still in the picture so ... you're probably still spoilered ... hrmm, I don't think I thought this through very well.)
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This is Catelyn Stark after her husband's death, I wanted to imply her remembering different things from their life: welcoming a baby, an executioner's axe, their goodbye in the brothel, crows circling skulls mounted on a castle balcony (though that's technically not a memory, I guess), Winterfell from a distance (I think I wanted it to be her arrival there), and the hired knife sent to kill Bran. I wanted to bring out her longing for their life together alongside the series of events that led to his death.
My first color pencil portrait ever, could be better but could be worse!
Progress .
Character Β© George R.R. Martin, please don't sue me I'm very very poor!
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Comments: 118
This is beautiful. I really like the art noveau feeling about it. It also captures the sadness of her situation and her memories really well. As for critiques.....maybe her memories could have a bit more detail?. In the lower left hand corner it seems to lack detail. But it's still a lovely piece of work.
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Amazing portrait, mate! I'm glad to see it completed!
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If i remember right, Stark was decapitated with the two-hand sword. Or am I wrong here?
Nevertheless, the picture is just beautiful! You are so great!
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I think you're right, wasn't he killed with his own sword, Ice? Ice is definitely a two-handed sword, it's taller than Robb.
Thanks very much
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I love the whole composition and color is perfect. To give some critic, I'd just say that the background characters with the baby in their arms look too flat and unrealistic when compared to the rest of the composition and maybe the pose of the white figure on the right is a bit odd. The main character and the composition are awesome, though!
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The white figure at the right is definitely odd, that's the point where I just said "I'm so tired of this" and quit ... I'm not proud of myself for that 
Thanks for the comment, probably the composition could have been more unique and a little tighter at that but I did enjoy thinking it up.
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Yep, I thought that was the case; it is the same for me with backgrounds 
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So I have had a bit of difficulty giving a critique to this piece, because I havenβt read the book series ASOIAF. I asked for advice from a friend who is a huge fan, and used Wikipedia to fill in some blanks. According to my friend, her hair is too reddish, and should be browner. Apart from that he couldnβt really say more about the drawing. So I guess your vision of the character was pretty good. Now what I noticed is that you separated her good memories and bad memories, one to the right and the other to the left. The crowning memory is, how I understand, a scene right before Eddard is beheaded. The crows, bringers of bad news and prophets of disasters, draw the viewer from the happy times to the misery. In that aspect the symbolism is very well executed.
However, when I first looked upon this piece, without reading the title or Artistβs Comment, I thought the scene on the right with the baby was representing Mary and Joseph holding baby Jesus. And I am not religious. Furthermore, the assassin on the left side looked either like a handkerchief she holds in her hand to blow her nose, or a ghost. You really need to be careful on how to place certain details and how you represent them. The way you have positioned her and her memories is quite clichΓ© and not very original. It does make up for a decent composition, but it reminds too much of a story from the bible, representing a saint, than something out of a fantasy book series. I think that it would have been better if you had used the symbolism in the rest of your piece to your advantage in the composition. You could have drawn all her memories on the right side, as they are all behind her. Also the fact that I see only so few good memories represented, I donβt really get her longing for life in it.
You also asked for advice about the colouring and unity in this piece, and I really think those to correlate very well here. Because Catelyn is the only part in this piece thatβs really in colour, you see a strong contrast with her and her memories. She stands out very well. The title (Winter Widow) and the snow really crown the piece and hold everything together. The shading used in her memories is done very, very well, except for the assassin. The assassin really breaks with the rest of the memories with being so white and with so little shading.
You said in your Artistβs Comment that this is your first pencil portrait, and I must say, you have done a terrific job. Like I said, the only weak spot is the assassin, but other than that you really showed how well you can handle a technique like this. Overall the impact is threatened by the ambiguity of the two memories mentioned before (baby and assassin) and the crowded events around Catelyn. Donβt be afraid to work bigger or put more symbolism in a piece like this. It would make for a great movie poster about Catelyn, but not so much as a representation of her character.
=Tijgerkat
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Thank you so much for this thought out and extensive critique, I'll try to fix what I can with this picture and then take the rest as lessons for next time. Much appreciated!
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Oh no, you keep picking the dying breed
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I hate Martin because he have killed my lovely Ned...and my Oberyn!!!! Sigh...
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If it helps any, all the dead guys can all keep each other company now?
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I did not understand! Β°_Β° If Martin kills my Sandor ... I'll kill him! >.<
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Don't say anything, you'll just jinx it :\
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I'm listening to the song Hallelujah and somehow that makes this so much sadder.
This is utterly beautiful. I've been fearful of looking up art for this series (potential spoilers!) but now I'm glad I did. You made Catelyn so perfectly pristine. She looks untouchable, which is completely offset by the meaning behind the image. I love the memories she's wrapped in; you did an incredible job with those.
Jeez, this makes me want to cry for Cat and Ned all over again.
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Have you finished the four books, then? Because this is definitely not a series you want to be spoiled for. I had a spoiler in the title for this but I felt so guilty about possibly spoiling things that I just took it out entirely.
Thanks very much for your nice words, that's pretty much what I was going for. Yeah they definitely have a sucky life, at least once the story starts. And no karmic ending either!
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Just finished the 4th book last month, actually, and remembered this piece. Still lookin' good
And thanks for not including and spoilerific words in the title, this is the worst series imaginable to accidentally (or intentionally!) ruin. Catelyn annoyed me at times, but she remains one of the saddest characters I have ever read anywhere. I still miss Ned
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Feh, I'm so sorry I didn't respond earlier. Yeah, it was difficult coming up with a non-spoilery name for this, I still haven't managed it all these years later 
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I really think this is nice. The slight line around her profile lends it a Mucha-esque quality, sort of graphic and soft at the same time.
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Thanks 
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Which other scenes were you thinking of? I believe in you! I'll send you artistic waves!
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I was going to do the Stark women, because I think Arya and Sansa are each like both Lyanna and Catelyn in different ways (though I hope they'll end happier), plus I just like House Stark. I was going to put Rhaegar, the Tower of Joy, and the Winterfell crypts in the background for Lyanna, with blue roses as a symbol (like I had snowflakes here). In Sansa's probably the Hound, her father's head on the castle wall, the Hand's tourney if I can manage it, the Eyrie, and the amethyst hairnet, with bluebirds as a symbol. For Arya I think Jaquen and his coin, a skull, Needle, the Braavosi statue, and a wolf for the symbol. If you have any suggestions for any character feel free to let me know, and heh thanks for the vibes
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Harhar, nice
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OMG SO beautiful. I love the scenes in the background too.
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Hi, I've featured this in a news article [link] as a 'thank you'
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this is beautiful!
I was so sad when he died, I love Ned
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Ned was very lovable! But maybe too honorable for his own good. Oh well, I still miss him. Thanks for the comment.
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Beautiful work and nice style. The composition is great and the tones soft and subtle, with a focus on the intense color of the hair. Really great work! I believe I'm a sucker with colored pencils. I always admired people who know how to use them.
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This was a learning process for me with color pencils, the reason I find them less intimidating is you can go in layers and cover up mistakes along the way at least somewhat. Paint and ink scare the hell out of me
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Yeah I can't work with paint and ink either, but I have to admit I never practiced either. Same counts for colored pencils. Right now I'm focusing more on pen... and graphic design.
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Cool. I like the idea to put some memories in the background.
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This deviation is featured in my journal! [link]
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Oh yes, I can see why his recieved a DD. 
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Well it's only a Pencil Club DD -- but what am I saying, the Pencil Club rocks
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DUDE, yes it DOES. I need ot variagate my gallery and pencil stuff is probably where I need to head next. 
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I like pencils because they're so forgiving, for traditional media anyway. But your gallery seems to be pretty damn awesome as it is. I think there's lots of great stuff on dA so that nobody will really be jealous of this, but thank you all the same!
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Oh now I wouldn't say that. I'm jealous of your pencil prowess you used in this pic!
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See, I'm jealous of people who can use media like paint, the reason I like pencils is you can build layers and if you make a mistake it's easier to hide, it's easier to plan as you go. I can take my time and be patient because it makes up for my lack of ... creative vision?
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Love her hair! The way you've stylized it is very cool. Amazing pencil work; I'm impressed with how smooth you've been able to get it.
A couple suggestions:
The woman has some lovely shading on the hair and skin. The white top she's wearing hardly has any, however. It has a good start to go off of, though.
The background figure in the lower left looks really unfinished. And I can't tell if at the end of its arms are its hands, or if it's holding something, etc. I don't know if you intended this because of the character it represents (and I'm not about to read the description to find out since I intend to eventually read these books!) But I recommend giving it a few more details and some more shading tones.
Hope this helps
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