Fanart: "Jesus of Cool"

[beeinmybonnet]

— Want to read this at DreamWidth? No problem! —

Title: Jesus of Cool
Characters/Pairings: James Potter
Genre: Portrait
Rating/Warning: G
Medium: Pencil drawing (7B and 8B); retouched in Photoshop Elements 5.0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters; I’m just playing around a bit.



Small version: 506x636
Large version: 795x1000


Title shamelessly nicked from Nick Lowe's first LP. It… wasn't meant to be so biblical, this drawing. I was trying out different background effects, and it wasn't supposed to turn out quite so halo-like. Oh well, James has lots of Christian references, being named after the first disciple to suffer martyrdom and all… Anyways.

This drawing came into being for several reasons: 1) I've always adored James, but never been able to put him down on paper. I wanted to change that. 2) I'm currently on a perfectionism high and want my drawings of the Marauders to have a more 70's feel to them. I'm trying to convince myself that it's more important that they look retro/true/as horrible as they did back then, rather than looking pretty. And 3) I wanted to take my mind off of all my art assignments. ♥

I used quite a bit of reference for this one. For face and body and all that, Andrew Garfield posed as model. (Because he is my James Potter. The thin-haired man in the films that look like my dad is not.) I stole the specs from Elvis Costello that he wore in the late 70's. As for the hairstyle, I just tried to re-create the famous shag, though James' mutinous hair wasn't too co-operative. I used no reference for the shirt, so I apologise if the collar and creases are wonky.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the result. He looks pretty much like he does in my mind! ♥ (Oh, and his eyes are enormous because the prescription of his glasses are crazy-strong. He's very long-sighted, you see.)

Comments

[hey-rupert.livejournal.com]

I love the retro feel of this. Quite original this and the glasses are brilliant! :)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! ♥

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

Oh, so convincing! The shirt, too. I wonder if you’ve made portraits like this of the other Marauders?

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you! ♥

I wonder if you’ve made portraits like this of the other Marauders?

*thinks* Let's see, I have drawn a few portaits, but none that aren't several months old, and none quite so "retro" as this, I think. But I'm planning to draw the rest of them; Peter's up next. *g*

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

Sounds good! I’m interested in Peter, too. And I think I’ve seen R/S art by you, but failed to friend people for quite a while. Is it all right I friend you now?

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, hurray! \o/ Peter gets far too little love in this fandom, methinks. After all, he was one of the Marauders, as well as one of their best friends. He can't have been downright spiteful, right? (Then again, I'm always discriminate between MWPP!Peter and Post-Hogwarts!Peter, so. *shrug*)

It's very possible that you have seen R/S fanart by me, them being my OTP and all. *g* And I distinctly remember you commenting on other drawings by me. So please, go ahead and friend me! I'd love you to! ♥

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I’d love you to friend me back, too, if you are interested. My journal is devoted almost exclusively to my story of R/S love, of which you can see at least glimpses also in those few pieces of fic which have quite a lot about Peter, too (Better Stick Together (http://paulamcg.livejournal.com/20366.html), How Human We Are (http://paulamcg.livejournal.com/10926.html) and A Dog Whenever I Need (http://paulamcg.livejournal.com/16772.html)).

[roterhimmel.livejournal.com]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

[ravenclawbest.livejournal.com]

I think they cast the dad looking guy to mirror Harry's perfect ideal (since during the scene in the Mirror of Erised he'd still thought of his parents as amazing perfect people).

Andrew Garfield as a teenage James? Yes. Yes. Yes.

I love love his hair and glasses.

Great job!

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they kept the woman playing Lily (who, while very pretty, is too old-looking for the role and also too skinny, imho) for the real-life flashbacks, so doesn't that imply that the persons ickle Harry saw in the Mirror of Erised are the "real thing"? Oh well, fandom exists for delusional digruntled fans. :D

Andrew Garfield as a teenage James? Yes. Yes. Yes.

♥

Oh, and thank you! ♥ The glasses were the funniest to draw! :D

[ravenclawbest.livejournal.com]

You have a point. But then there's the fact that there was really no "bad" backstory to Lily. In Harry's mind she was still basically perfect.

Too bad the casting wasn't.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

In Harry's mind she was still basically perfect.
Too bad the casting wasn't.

^FTMFW. ♥

I actually don't have a clear picture of Lily in my mind, tbh. Other than she's pretty in a childish way (sort of like Tuva Novotny (http://www.tuvanovotny.com/bilder/?gal=4&pic=5)) and a bit on the chubby side with real curves. I'm still looking for an actress to use as model. :)

[ravenclawbest.livejournal.com]

♥♥♥

I don't have a perfect Lily in mind either, but a curvy Lily is definitely plausible. We'll live the devastating skinniness to dear Cissa :)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Well, if Lily is supposed to be fantastic and amazing and the Holy Virgin Mary incarnated, I say she has to be curvy! :D I mean, it works logically in Harry Potter; the kinder and "gooder" a person is, the plumper they are. *fetches mike* In the Good corner: Hagrid and Molly Weasley! In the Bad corner: Voldemort and the Malfoys!

[ravenclawbest.livejournal.com]

Got it.
Good guys, sweet and plump.
Bad guys, wraithlike and pasty.

[heureviolet.livejournal.com]

so very very cool, and what a neat idea! :) your technical skills are excellent as well - love the detail and you definitely conveyed the idea well. groovy :D

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! ♥ If I'm allowed to brag, I do think this is one of my better portraits; I think I managed to create a more 3D feel to the nose/lips/cheeks area, which I most often struggle with. So I'm happy to hear that I actually have reason to feel satisfied with this drawing~! ♥

[heureviolet.livejournal.com]

I think you definitely have license to brag with this one - dittoing the 3D comment, you're very much right about that - the drawing pops! :)

[la-dissonance.livejournal.com]

I like this! You got the retro feel down perfectly, what with the glasses and the shirt and everything. ♥

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Ah, mission accomplished then! :D
Thank you! ♥

here via quibbler_report

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

Great portrait!

Re: here via quibbler_report

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ♥

[lisaee.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant, as well as having almost a painfully authentic 70s feel to it. (I've suffered through photos of my parents in the 70s, and this rings a bell!)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! ♥

My parents are from the same generation as the Marauders (only they didn't die or get tossed in prison or clinically depressed in the early 80's...) but they're not a lot of good for research; they seem to have repressed every memory of the 70's and burnt all the photos of themselves from their youth! *g* Luckily my dad still has all of his (precious) LPs from that time, so I'm not completely uneducated. ♥