Anghraine

colorwheels14 responded to this post:

My style is probably not what you’re looking for, and I see this is really about you wanting to be able to draw. But I’ve been coming back to painting now that I’ve got a tablet and had time to play with digital art. Do you have something you want me to try? I start teaching again next week, so I certainly couldn’t give you any timeline or even say it would happen in a timely manner.

I replied:

Oh wow, thanks! There are so many things rolling around my head that I’ll have to think for a bit, but that is super nice, whatever the timeline.

[Later addition on Jan 11th:]

It's probably pretty predictable, but my suggestion/request would be Faramir in Byzantine!Gondor dress (but with the canon long black hair!)

colorwheels14 replied on the same day:

Excellent! I'll let you know when I get something done that I'm happy with. :D

I responded:

Thank you very, very much!

colorwheels14 replied:

You're welcome, I've been thinking, and I have ideas! But I also have a question-- do you associate any colors with Gondor/Faramir? It's been a while since I read the books and need to do it again. Also, warning: I teach art history (esp. medieval!), so Byzantine for me brings to mind lots of mosaics, icons, and textiles. ;)

[The rest of the conversation took place over PMs and email.]

It’s a day that ends in Y, so I’m thinking about Byzantine Gondor again

Tagged: #someday i WILL commission faramir and éowyn in byzantine robes in the 'white lady of rohan' scene #it's not today (i have too many ocs i want lol) but it will someday happen

Not to harp on the same points eternally, but…

Tolkien denied that using Old English to represent the language of the Rohirrim meant they are functionally old English, but at the least they seem to be roughly northern European. OTOH, he very heatedly insisted that Gondor is not northern European and compared it at varying points to Italy, the Byzantine Empire, and ancient Egypt. In particular, he described Minas Tirith as analogous to Rome and Byzantium (which one depends on the context).

Nothing is 1:1 in Middle-earth, but those are at least the closest inspirations.

And sometimes I wonder about … aesthetics, you know? Not just horses vs trees, but say—Éowyn and Faramir’s wedding in Rohan, with Éowyn in her Eorling gown and Faramir and perhaps Lothíriel et al in Byzantine Gondorian robes, and all the different hairstyles and different musical traditions and so on. And like, is the starry mantle a sort of whatsit … chlamys? What about hairstyles/pieces? Does Aragorn switch from Ranger gear (whatever that looks like) to robes like Justinian’s?

Or … I don’t know, but I’m just curious about what the contrast between Rohan and Gondor could look like. 

Tagged: #i am genuinely thinking of commissioning faramir/éowyn art that really shows a contrast between their backgrounds and cultures #there's a lot of pretty art but i think the generic medieval conception of rohan and esp gondor touches quite a bit of it