I haven't been active in a media fandom in a long time. In recent years, my creative energy along those lines (playing with images & characters) goes to the girlettes.
Last month, however, a longtime friend started a due South (dS) slash (homoerotic) group on FB, and as a one-time fan of dS––a Candian buddy-cop show––I've been enjoying following along.
They're promoting Flower Crown Day:
for Valentine's Day weekend, fans create art or fic featuring flowers & characters and post it on Tumblr & other fan sites (Dreamwidth, AO3).
It sounded like a lark, so I decided to play.
Today was a perfect day to get lost on the Internet because it's -6ºF/-21ºC.
I asked my friend for a photo prompt to get me started, and she sent a screencap of a famous romantic moment between the characters RayK (left, Callum Keith Rennie) and Fraser (Paul Gross):
I went looking for images of men with flowers in art
history. I saw several portraits of men holding a single carnation and decided to
mash up a couple of those from the early 1500s.
Here's the photomanips I came up with.
I'm especially pleased with the fabulous red hat: Fraser is a Mountie and almost always wears his red uniform.
(Also very pleased the sightlines worked--a piece of luck. I don't have photoshop and my skills are limited.)
According to the V&A, in the 15th-16th century the carnation was a symbol of betrothal.
collections.vam.ac.uk/
Below are the original two portraits:
LEFT: Self-Portrait by Joos van Cleve, c. 1519, Antwerp, Belgium (via)
RIGHT: "Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat holding a Red Carnation", c. 1510, southern Netherlands (Wikimedia)
You did an excellent job--especially without any computer art tools--amazing! Very fun! I love how the portraits interact as if that had always been the case. They are clearly betrothed to each other now.
ReplyDeleteAww, I was imagining men with flowers in strategic places but no clothes (*~*)
ReplyDeleteBINK: Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRIVER: LOL! That cracked me up. Instead, I have draped them in even more clothes. :)
Perhaps someone else in the group will do what you were thinking of...
I'm impressed with how you produced these collages by using the simplest tools. Luck, really? I would say, a sharp eye.
ReplyDeleteTORORO: Thank you! I think a good idea can cover a multitude of technical difficulties.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind when "handmade" things look handmade--I mean, if I'd been able to flawlessly recreate the paintings, that wouldn't have pleased me any more than these do, with their "obviously cut-out" inset faces.
A sharp eye helps too, I admit.