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Ar-Pharazon Defies the Ban of the Valar

WonderBroad Lorien Mar 3 2007, 10:43pm Views: 921 Ar-Pharazon Defies the Ban of the Valar "They broke the Ban of the Valar, and sailed into forbidden seas, going up with war against the Deathless, to wrest from them everlasting life within the Circles of the World." The Silmarillion This scan isn't the best, and some of the detail was lost. Plus, there is some sort of "peppery" look on the light parts of the picture. I have no idea why that happened. It's not there in the original art. But the original art was too big to put on the scanner, so this was scanned from a copy of Mythlore. I didn't try to do the eagle-shaped cloudbanks coming out of the West, because they would not have been distinguishable from the angle I chose, anyway. So I made the encroaching clouds more like an ominous wall. I'm sure dangerously proud (and terrified of death) Ar-Pharazon would have been ticked off to the max to see that I gave him a receding hairline!

Beren IV Gondor Mar 4 2007, 2:12am Views: 750 Compositionally, I think that this is the best one yet of yours. You manage to avoid the 'hair' problems of the others, since the characters here do have hair that, while fluffy, is reasonably long. I almost wish that there were more of the background, more of what we were sailing into - however, that said, a farther-out view leaves the characters' emotions harder to see, so it's a trade-off. I like in particular how Ar-Pharazôn and the leftmost man in the picture have that determined, angry look, while at the same time Pharazôn looks a little 'ugly' - in other words, his evil shows through him. Meanwhile, the man immediately behind Ar-Pharazôn looks more fearful of what he is heading into, while the wall of clouds to the right gives the impression of going into some terrible wrath. Very well done! There are a few notes- -The clouds immediately to the right of the ropes are lightened, possibly not to interfere with the ropes, but it's noticable. -The structure behind which Ar-Pharazôn is standing is enigmatic - we don't see enough of it to know what it is, and as a result it is perplexing. -The wall of clouds gives the image of a storm coming, but if that is the case then the sea looks awfully placid. Anyhow, this is nice. Like I say, compositionally, I think that this is your best I have seen so far.

linkin-artelf Lorien Mar 4 2007, 6:52pm Views: 806 Interesting diagonals the upside down triangle meets at Ar-Pharazon's chest, a little too low for my taste as it draws too much attention to his ropy neck and away from his face. The receding hairline is a nice ironic touch. You see the age in his eyebrows as well. I see the background person as the doubtful one, unlike Beren who sees doubt in the middle figure, who appears a little daydreamy to me. I like A-P's defiant stance and expression. "I walk along the shore and I gaze At the light that radiates down Will it travel forth to you Far across this shimmering sea?" formerly linkinparkelf