Facing Snape, Part I

Actually the concept of my LJ is something weird. Instead of letting you feast your eyes on goodies, I’m about to expose you to my baddies. I have just realised that this is a form of exhibitionism, or worse, my own ‘grey undies’. Hm.

So here is the first addition to my Wall of Shame: I’m going to disclose how I constructed my own version of the face of Severus Snape as it stares at you in my avatar. You have been warned – it’s not going to be pretty… but if you’re brave enough, have some snippets, with commentary :-).

( Read more... )

More tomorrow…

Facing Snape, Part II

What displeased me most about my earliest Snapes was that they had a certain fleshiness about them. The shape of the face was too square, too. As my conception of his personality developed, I realised I wanted my Snape to exude an air of asceticism, a certain harshness, and in order to create a face like that it was essential that I know the shape of the skull underneath the skin, so I delved into the Anatomy for Artists that I had bought earlier for its beautiful photos.

*grins*

I had drawn hundreds of faces without ever feeling the need to find out what a skull looks like. It took Snape fanart to bring me to it…

Around that time I also chanced upon a tiny photograph in the newspaper. It showed a three-quarter view of a man’s (a singer, I think, but I don’t know his name) long, thin face with prominent cheekbones. I cut the image out for reference and I had every intention of reproducing it here for your delectation, but unfortunately I put it away so safely that I cannot find it anymore :-).

( Pictures! )

Potterverse fanart is based on novels, not on other graphic art. Because of the difference in media, it is not purely imitative, and yet it is not entirely original either – it works with borrowed characters. Whenever I bring a new Snape drawing to Nout, my comics expert friend, he frowns and sighs that it is fanart again and it would be far better if I produced some original work. He is right, of course; but I can only say that so far, drawing Snape has taught me a lot. Rowling’s description has set me a challenge. As long as the challenge remains, I will keep working on it and use it to develop my skills. Meanwhile, I heartily enjoy picturing the Potions master :-).