My convention fantasy: art, art, art.

[icarus]

I've never been to a convention, but I've always (okay, for the last two years) had this fantasy.

A bunch of fans line up for the usual photo op, photo signing for Joe Flanigan. One after another, they pull out glossy prints of fan art and ask him to sign them:

- Such as this bright-eyed one. (comment here to crysothemis)
- And this gorgeous sepia tone drawing (my absolute favorite). (comment here to crysothemis)
- Then this one with the P-90. (comment here to crysothemis)
- This cartoonish G.I. Joe vector drawing. (comment here to crysothemis)
- Beautiful acrylic rendering of John with a water color feel. (comment here to astridv)
- This detailed portrait. (comment here to crysothemis)
- More color in this breathtaking hang-it-at-the-family-manor portrait. (comment here to artconserv)
- A simple inked cartoon. (comment here to crysothemis)
- A brooding, damaged John. (comment here to ileliberte)
- The rain pouring down his face. (comment here to crysothemis)
- The defiant one with the dark eyeliner. (comment here to crysothemis)
- A soft pensive pencil drawing. (comment here to crysothemis)
- This sweet face (a personal favorite of mine). (comment here to crysothemis)
- Our beloved smirky mischievous Sheppard (comment here to crysothemis)
- This rather sullen, if soft, pencil drawing. (comment here to crysothemis)
- One hovering on that soldiers' line between anger and fear. (comment here to crysothemis)
- Sweet and gentle and neatly trimmed, blushing a little. (comment here to crysothemis)
- Surprised and innocent. (comment here to crysothemis)
- Faint and a little sorrowful. (comment here to crysothemis)
- The boyish head-dip. (comment here to crysothemis)
- It's the eyes. (comment here to crysothemis)
- No one would be daring enough to show him in a silk kimono. Would they? (comment here to crysothemis)
- The kinky bondage stuff we'd *ahem* leave in our rooms. But we'd bring it. (comment here to crysothemis)
- The darkness of a shocked and angry John. (comment here to enname)
- The fantasy space pirate John, wounded. (comment here to ileliberte)
- The sheer unpredictable beauty of steammmpunk's feathered Sheppard. (comment here to steammmpunk)
- Or if John were to have wings, surely they'd be rakish, too. (comment here to crysothemis)
- John about to get his butt kicked by Teyla. (comment here to ileliberte)
- Long, tall, and in a cowboy hat. (comment here to steammmpunk)
- A watercolor cartoon scruffy John with Rodney. (comment here to glockart)
- Oh, well, at least pentapus' cartoon John wins here, batman-style. (comment here to pentapus)
- We have to have a little slashiness, hurt/comfort, injured -- what? We have plausible deniability here! It's a snowstorm! (comment here to steammmpunk)
- Swimming with the... okay, that looks dangerous, John. (comment here to pentapus)
- Much safer sealife, John curled up and happy. (comment here to mutecornett)
- We have to have at least one that makes him blink, squint, and realize that's him in the middle of the Egyptian motif. (comment here to steammmpunk)
- Peaceful, sleeping watercolor John. (comment here to ileliberte)
- Back the more familiar world, John hurt on a mission, and under fire. (comment here to ileliberte)
- John with his team on a very damp mission. (comment here to astridv)
- One that would only be shown in a severely cropped form. Guh. (comment here to steammmpunk)
- Fortunately, the next is playfully het. (comment here to ileliberte)
- And a completely different feel, more Antarctic snow than Sheppard. (comment here to ileliberte)
- John as a magician. The artists' imaginations just.... (comment here to ileliberte)
- Some AUs are nearer to home. (comment here to mutecornett)
- He may blush at this, but it's worth it. Okay, maybe we'll keep the rear view nudity in our rooms. (comment here to summertea)
- And one so beautiful, I doubt he'd mind he barely makes it into the picture (yes, I know, another one with too much implied nudity that must stay in the rooms). (comment here to ileliberte)
- Aren't we all tempted to bring this one? Hmm, it might give away a few fantasies. *g* (comment here to miso_no_tsuki)
- This one also probably gives away our fantasies. (comment here to leyna55)
- A slashy line drawing (another one for the rooms). (comment here to summertea)
- This one's almost disturbing. (comment here to steammmpunk)
- A sad and broken John in a medieval style (oh, dear, more nudity). (comment here to enname)
- Naturally, we have to have some team drawings to round this out. With dinosaurs! (comment here to ileliberte)
- This hug may be a bit slashy. (comment here to anna_luna)
- John and Rodney are a team, right? (comment here or at artconserv)
- This may be a tad too slashy (just a tad). (comment here to artconserv)
- Fandom does love Sheppard/McKay. (comment here to artconserv)
- A little McShep love, but quite subtle. (comment here to leyna55)
- Sheppard/McKay for the mutiny AU. (comment here to astridv)
- Sheppard/McKay off-world action scene. (comment here to astridv)
- Sheppard and McKay face a Wraith. (comment here to astridv)
- You gotta love Sheppard, pondering in the middle of the action. (comment here to ileliberte)
- Our action hero. (comment here to ileliberte)




After a half hour of one drawing following another, Flanigan gets the picture: It's love.

Though it occurs to me that this is just an excuse for me to post my favorite art recs.

Comments

[littlemousling]

It strikes me as interesting that, as a fandom, SGA seems to write McKay and draw Sheppard. Obviously both appear in both, but I don't think there's much disagreement that Rodney's the clear favorite among fic writers in general. Personality vs. looks?

[littlemousling]

PS. Thanks for the recs! Those are gorgeous. I think the first is my favorite. Off to comment ....

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Commenting? Oh, thank you! Artists get far too little attention in fandom.

I found when I was nominating for the mcshep_awards, I could only vaguely recall art pieces (and far too many of the ones I knew weren't Sheppard/McKay).

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Sheppard is the clear favorite with the writers. Artists find him difficult to draw, and crysothemis mentions that she tries to figure out what it is about his face and expressions that make him so attractive. Because he isn't conventionally pretty, yet -- he's a dreamboat.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Clear favorite with the artists, I mean. I bet you knew that.

[littlemousling]

Ha! For a second there I thought I was crazy, and I couldn't think who to google for a good meta post on how popular Rodney is with writers.

Yeah, if I could draw at all I'd want to draw Sheppard/Flanigan; he's asymmetrical yet attractive. And in some ways he's--not less, but differently expressive than Rodney, in a way that might make for more effective expressions without falling over into "do faces really do that?" I've seen a lot more good Sheppard art than McKay; McKay tends to just look weird, not like David Hewlett actually looks. Sheppard stuff can be as good as a photo. There are definitely exceptions, though; Surfacing has some stunning Rodneys.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Hewlett is one of those people who has to be seen in motion for his true attractiveness to really shine, I think. Like Callum Keith Rennie. Still pictures just don't do them justice.

[littlemousling]

Agreed. And good point on CKR, I'd never thought about him that way, but it explains a lot.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's the snapping gestures, the mobile face, the emotions flashing across, unfiltered. He's quite beautiful, but not in a way that can be captured in an instant.

We also lose a lot of Flanigan's flirtiness in stills. Very few capture that.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ha! For a second there I thought I was crazy, and I couldn't think who to google for a good meta post on how popular Rodney is with writers.

*facepalm* Good lord. I was drawn in by Rodney, though I ended up writing more Sheppard than Rodney, go figure.

Is the art for Surfacing available online? I could never bring myself to pay the $35 cover price, but I'd like to find more artists. My repetoire is sadly limited.

Icarus

[littlemousling]

I'd bet that's common. Rodney's easier to identify with, but once you have him down pat, I'd think Sheppard would get more interesting, because there's so much we don't know, and lots of background to create.

I'm not sure about the art being available; I don't think so, though. I gotta say--I've never bought a zine before or since, but I've been unbelievably happy with this one. Incredible fic, incredible art, just sterling quality. And it's nice to have something on the shelf for those rare occasions when the internet goes down! ;)

Anyway, you know one of the artists' work already; it's Crysothemis. The other's Lorraine Brevig, whose work is stunning. They both bring the Rodney solid.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh! Lorraine Brevig is artconserv. I've seen her stuff. She's amazing. I have a Sheppard portrait by her here, and my main SGA icon is by her (with permission, see? Nice, huh?).

Icarus

[littlemousling]

Then you're not missing anything, art-wise! ;)