January: Beauty is in the Ai! of the Beholder

Discussion of performing arts, including theatre, film, television, and music.
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Sassafras
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January: Beauty is in the Ai! of the Beholder

Post by Sassafras »

This monthly theme thread has begun as a split from the OOC thread at the point where the first picture was posted by Sass. All the kinds of creative endeavor eligible for nefarious prizes are listed on the third page, in this post:
http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/viewtopic. ... ffire#7084
Thanks to Sass for hosting this note. Jn
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Alatar wrote: Another idea I'd like to throw out for consideration would be "Images of Middle Earth". This could be Tolkien based artwork that you love, or alternative artwork that reminds you of Middle Earth, or photography (your own or others) that reminds you of Middle Earth.

I think the guiding principle should be that it's fun. We have enough "heavy" discussion here. There should be some lighter threads also.
Agreed.

Which reminds me ....

Does anyone remember the series of truly awful Tolkien-inspired pics that Prim visited upon us on TORC? :twisted:

This one for example:

(you might need to shield your eyes and peer through your fingers, taking in only the briefest of glances ... in order to protect delicate sensibilities)

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We had a lot of fun with that for a few weeks.

:D :D :D
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As for musicals ... I'm abysmally ignorant.

Now if you want to do something with, say, Star Trek ... I'm your woman.

:banana:
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Sassy, if you try to claim that that is Beren and Lúthien, I will have to kill you.

Just sayin'. :P
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Sassafras
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Post by Sassafras »

:shock:

<plans elaborate funeral>

Blame Primula! <sung to the tune of Blame Canada>

Pssst.

<twitches raincoat aside>

Wanna see some more?

:twisted:
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Jnyusa »

Alatar: I think the guiding principle should be that it's fun. We have enough "heavy" discussion here. There should be some lighter threads also.

Eggs-actly. That's the idea. Something more playful.

Sassy: <twitches raincoat aside>

Are you about to confess that you posed for that picture?

Jn
A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell.
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Sassafras
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Post by Sassafras »

Would you believe me if I said I did?

Ah no. That picture is entirely from the too-fertile imagination of one Miss Rowena Morrill, bad illustrator extrodinaire.

What boggles the mind is that her pictures actually sell! For money!
Which means that some people find them attractive.

<shudder>
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Sassy, I would believe you if you said you did. :hug:
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Sassafras
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Post by Sassafras »

Dear, sweet Voronwë ... :love:

Is that a consolation hug?
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Now, can you guess this one?

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Pretty tawdry, eh?
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Jnyusa »

I'm trying to figure out where the motor is, since no one seems to have oars. =:)

Jn
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I posed for that one. Note the muscle definition on Celeborn's legs. =:)
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Sassafras
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Post by Sassafras »

It's one of those self-paddle boats, Jn. :D
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Alatar »

It's Celeborn of the Green Hair and Knobbly Knees and Galadriel the Busty of Valhalla, and the Swanboat of Impossible Centre of Gravity is powered by pure elf magic. Sheesh...


So explain this to me again, the amount of water displaced by a body is equal to... no wait... erm... Eureka?!?
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Post by sauronsfinger »

A small digression here............... the above two paintings BEREN AND Lúthien and GALADRIEL AND CELEBORN are by Rowena Morrill. Tolkien people generally hate them. I am not going to defend them, especially the first one, but some background may help.

Rowena Morrill is a very talented artist who is also a very sensual, romantic woman. I had a small press publishing company some years ago and was attempting to entice her to work for me doing some posters or book illustrations. We had dinner twice and met on two other occassions. I found her to be a wonderful person, completely dedicated to her craft and posessing the work habits of Norman Rockwell.

She most likely injected a sexual element into her paintings and made the female characters more glamour girls than necessary because that is her perspective which comes across in all of her art. She loves to paint beautiful people - both men and women. I was fortunate to tour her studio in Manhattan and the entire place oozed of romanticism the way a Pre-raphaelite studio whould have done so in the 19th century.

I agree that she missed the boat with Beren and Lúthien --- but to understand where she is coming from might help understand the work a bit.
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.... John Rogers
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Post by Sassafras »

Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:I posed for that one. Note the muscle definition on Celeborn's legs. =:)
Sacre Bleu!

But of course you did! Note the noble mien, the stately crown atop those cascading curls ... why, the very air sings with carefully understated power!

sw000n.
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

And then there is this one:

Image

Why would Faramir dye his hair yellow?
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Post by Primula Baggins »

SF, that's an interesting sidelight on Rowena Morrill—thanks.

I have always thought her non-Tolkien fantasy art was just fine—she's done some lovely book covers. It's just that her style doesn't have the grace and dignity Tolkien calls for, in my view.

My favorite:

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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Sassafras
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Post by Sassafras »

Words fail ....

Um, but what I want to know is why Faramir and Aragorn (that is supposed to be Aragorn, isn't it?) need to mirror poses with out thrust legs bent at the knee ... and why is Aragorn looking off into the distance like that?

And the trio of blondes draped over a Minis Tirith balcony ....
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SF, beauty is in indeed in the eye of the beholder ... I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend, but I think these paintings are dreadful ... not because they are Tolkien inspired but because, IMO, they are just plain bad.
And yes, I have seen other examples of Miss Morrill's work. Her illustrations adorn a few book covers in my collection. I think those are equally bad.
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Ever mindful of the maxim that brevity is the soul of wit, axordil sums up the Sil:


"Too many Fingolfins, not enough Sams."

Yes.
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Post by Rowanberry »

Think if Aragorn's coronation costume would have been like that in the ROTK movie... :shock: :D :P

As for bad illustrators, how about Maria Lombide Ezpeleta? :help:
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Post by sauronsfinger »

Sassafras

yes indeed, art is very subjective .... I always found her work to be technically very well done but a bit over the top with the sensual emphasis ...

btw - I do own the large pencil drawing of that painting on this page .... I like to think of the three blondes as hard working waitresses at the Minas Tirith Hooters.
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.... John Rogers
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Post by Whistler »

I think it's great the way this art captures the steamy sexuality for which Tolkien is noted.
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Post by truehobbit »

Could it be we've found ourselves our theme-month theme? :D

I love those, much though they hurt the eye - gave me a much needed laugh just now! :D

sf, I could very well imagine these paintings illustrating stories that fit with the artist's style, it's just that I think if she won't adapt her style to the story, she should stick to stories that fit to her style.

I mean, Lúthien would be quite well done, if she were a harem lady or temple-dancer in one of those oriental or sandal movies from the 50s.
sassy wrote:and why is Aragorn looking off into the distance like that?
He's looking heroically into the distance - geez, do you know nothing about heroic looks? :P

What I want to know is what the three guys behind him are pushing up the stairs for like that - looks like they're afraid there won't be any cookies left if they don't hurry! :roll:

Back to business, though - I wonder if we could make anything creative out of this? (Other than just posting other people's pictures and marvelling at how weird it can get!)

I also loved Alatar's idea for posting pics of our own idea of Middle-earth, though that's again not humourous.
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