[lin]

The shushing gesture is done by placing the side of the first finger against the lips,

Sorry, but I had to laugh my ass off at that one. Go to MEXICO, for crissakes and you see that gesture, and many others done differently.

Much less going somewhere there are unicorns and floating flashlights.

[lin]

I can see the cloak from positions, not others, Kevin.

It's a poor artist who blames the viewer :-)

What happens when you print this out?
I've got a shot I'm looking at adapting for a book cover if the artist I want falls through. It's got some contrast problems like that, not quite as much I think.

But my concern is what happens when the shot is printed on a toner-based process ("POD" printing) is it going to muddy up or lose the distinction. If it does, it would be much more destructive to the image than people not seeing the cloak in this one.

Any experiences with anything like that?

[Radthorne]

I can see the cloak from positions, not others, Kevin.

It's a poor artist who blames the viewer :-)

What happens when you print this out?
I've got a shot I'm looking at adapting for a book cover if the artist I want falls through. It's got some contrast problems like that, not quite as much I think.

But my concern is what happens when the shot is printed on a toner-based process ("POD" printing) is it going to muddy up or lose the distinction. If it does, it would be much more destructive to the image than people not seeing the cloak in this one.

Any experiences with anything like that?

Actually, yes. After I had done a couple of covers for other authors' books in my publisher's stable, they sent me copies of the printed books, and I found that the images darkened up quite a bit. In one case, where a young girl is standing in front of a viewport looking out into space, I had a couple of planets and some stars out there. Well, the stars all vanished and all you can see are the planets. So I've learned (with this publisher, at least) to always deliver the final image quite a bit lighter than what looks 'normal' on my monitor. When I print the images out myself, I do lighten them up a bit as well so that they'll look the same as my screen version. On your monitor, the images are of course "lit from behind" in a manner of speaking, compared to a printed image which is reflecting light back from the paper. So it's very hard to achieve the same luminosity on any printed version compared to what it looks like on screen.

[KatG]

Sorry, but I had to laugh my ass off at that one. Go to MEXICO, for crissakes and you see that gesture, and many others done differently.

Much less going somewhere there are unicorns and floating flashlights.

I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that there were unicorns in Mexico. Or perhaps that is where the unicorn's captors took it. :)

[lin]

They'll bring it back if you put a million pesos in a sack and leave them in the third locker from the left, bottom row, at the Tijuana bus station.

[Radthorne]

Okay, so you say your bored with portraits... Then how's this...

There are many stories told
Of the human king so bold
That his son he brought forth
To the cold lands up north
Where the Faerie Queen ruled,
And with magic, men dueled.

There the brash king did suggest
That if the Queen would so request,
He would allow his son to be wed
And to join her in her queenly bed.

To which the Fairy Queen said... :D

http://www.kevinradthorne.com/Graphics/TheProposal2a.jpg

[Hereford Eye]

"Centuries I have ruled this land
And just one man took my hand
After him no other.

Our daughter lacks a husband true.
She stands here with us in plain view
But she may disdain the bother."


Especially, as she has a continual back ache from holding up those IT with that miniscule waist. You got any idea of the stresses on her Trepezius, Latissimus dorsi and Obliquus? She doesn't even have a decent set of wings to provide a counterbalance. The princess spends her life in perpetual discomfort cycles tracking the lunar cylces.

I like the queen a lot. Skin texture and color, dress and dress color, even ear size are very attraactive. Speaking of ear size, on the basis of this example, I am ready to postulate a necessary positive ratio between fairy ear size and fairy breast size.

The human king has human ears but his son has hybrid ears. Must have been some previous dalliance there. Makes you wonder about human male ear ratios, doesn't it?

[lin]

I was thinking like:

Okay, look, the kid got carried away. But your daughter WAS dancing around with no clothes on and did nothing to discourage him.

Don't you people have like spells to prevent conception and such, anyway?




BTW, I don't see any miniscule waist here. Perhaps you are interpreting the beige applique or whatever on her dress as being the wall behind her or something?

[lin]

alternate thought baloon from point-eared chick

God, if she goes with this I'm so going to just punch that little sissy right in the face.

[KatG]

That's not the princess, she's a guard -- see the sword and the upper armor she's wearing? Okay, admittedly not very practical armor, but probably made of some sort of magical ceramic steel or something -- a breastplate and greaves, boots and a sword belt, and somewhat ceremonial for the royal court. The breastplate makes her chest seem larger than it actually is, so she's not out of proportion. Plus, fairies don't have monthly cycles -- no one would have monthly cycles if they could avoid it; see Connie Willis' award-winning short story "Even the Queen."

The queen is perturbed by the offer of the son, but the guard is amused and trying badly to hide it. It's a very cool picture, Kev-o. I really like the shadows on this one.