Celebrían leaving Rivendell

[bunn.livejournal.com]

B2MeM Challenge: Celebrían's capture and torture by orcs, and subsequent departure to Valinor, was a heartbreaking loss that deeply affected her family. At the same time, her departure must have affected not only those close to her, but the entirety of Rivendell.
Format: art, pastels
Rating: gen
Creator’s Notes: I looked through other art showing Celebrían, and they all showed her with enormous, amazing, gorgeous, high-maintenance hair.  But that didn't seem to fit someone traumatised, who was leaving her family and home to seek healing.  So I have made her bald.  She can ride though - it's hard to see how she would get out of Rivendell to the Havens without being able to ride a horse. And the bright star is Eärendil, watching.
Creator’s Apologetic mumblings: I meant to link to the original prompt, but I lost it.  And I meant to post this weeks ago and do a companion piece of Elrond, but work ate my time.  You can click to embiggen though?

Comments

[shirebound]

*sniff* That's very poignant.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

you just have to hope she found healing in Valinor...

[shirebound]

If you're interested in reading a very short, very AU scene, I wrote a story years ago in which chapter 1 relates how Celebrían receives the final healing of her heart and spirit. VERY AU, but very happy. 600 words.

http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterlistview.asp?SID=2932

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Ah, how lovely!

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

Very touching. Celebrian's face shows so much. The fact that she's alone in the picture, even if others are with her but not shown, is very meaningful.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Yes, I assume that she would not have ridden to the Havens alone - surely her sons at least would have wanted to go with her - but making the decision and setting off must have been a terribly lonely moment none the less.

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

That's very fine. You have given her much expression on her face, we see the suffering and hope she finds healing in Valinor.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

It must have been hard to leave everything behind, even if she felt she couldn't stay. Torn in two as much as Sam, or more.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love this. Her expression is wrenching. Very nice use of color also.

I highly approve of your hair (or lack thereof) choice. That was the first thing I noticed, and I'd planned to remark on it even before reading your notes. I don't really hold with the idea that all Elves had long, lustrous, ginormous hair at all times (to that end, I take great delight in portraits of short-haired Lúthien on her quest). Her lack of hair here really visually emphasizes her ordeal and her emotions.

[*mod hat* Here's the prompt! (http://b2mem.livejournal.com/282988.html?thread=4237676#t4237676)]

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Aha! there it is. Thank you!

[suzll.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad someone claimed this!! This is absolutely beautiful.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

It is a very interesting prompt, not a character I'd thought much about before, and I originally planned to focus on Elrond, but as I thought about her decision, I realised how hard it must have been..

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

This very poignant. You are a very talented artist.I love the feeling of isolation.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm pleased with how it turned out although I think it's a bit dark to want to hang on the wall!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I think she would have been very likely to crop her hair - it works very well, for me, to emphasise how she must have felt.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Apparently extreme stress, illness, and extreme weight loss can result in hair loss, so I was thinking it was at least partly a symptom. I may have over-researched this picture...

[kayleelupin.livejournal.com]

So very beautiful and poignant. Poor Celebrian. This is really well done. :)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm glad you thought it beautiful

[dreamflower]

Oh how gorgeous! Her sad expression is very moving, and the subdued blues and greys are perfect for the subject.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Sad and beautiful. Perfect colors, too.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[rhymer23.livejournal.com]

That's very powerful. I like the fact that the only colour in the picture (apart from whites and greys and blacks) comes from the bright lights of Rivendell behind her, but she's riding away from them, facing us with that terrible grim bleakness on her face, heading out of the picture into the unknown dark.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I did think about making it a sunset scene and casting the red light on her face, but I think she would have looked too healthy that way.

[hhimring]

It is a very effective drawing.
She looks a bit like a cancer patient--and although the cause of hair loss isn't the same, it's an analogy that does seem to work for me on several levels.

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

This is very moving. The contrast between Celebrian's expression and the cosy buildings behind her, their windows full of light, speaks volumes about her state of mind. The fact that you made her bald is inspired. It perfectly illustrates that she is not OK. It's true that a picture can speak a thousand words.

[elleth]

Ouch. This hurts to look at on so many levels - as it should, for such a delicate, painful topic. I love so much about it, though... the cold colours, and Celebrían appearing almost spectral with her back turned on Rivendell especially. Most of all, the decision to make her bald. It invites a lot of comparisons with Maedhros post-capture and the "significant haircut" trope at an intersection in life, so it feels very apt as an artistic choice.