#George Romney

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Character Development

Rick Riordan's Writing Tips

Rick Riordan:

Character development is paramount for me. I firmly believe that plot and character development must occur simultaneously. Plot cannot be left to chance. Neither can characters be automatons who carry out actions envisioned in the author's master plan. Below are some things I try to keep in mind when developing my characters:

RICK RIORDAN'S TOP 5 TIPS ON CHARACTER

Define a character first through action, second through dialog and description, never through explanation.

A character should be primarily defined by the choices he makes, and the actions he takes.

How does he respond to violence?

How does he respond to love?

Secondly, a character must be vividly but deftly describe through his speech, and through the initial view you give the reader.

Never stop to explain who a character is when we can watch him in action and decide for ourselves.

Be impressionist rather than realistic.

Describe characters as Dickens did – with a single deft stroke.

A laundry list of physical traits is realistic, but it is neither memorable nor compelling.

A jarring metaphor for the character, or a focus on one mannerism or physical trait, can be very compelling.

Example: She was a human tornado.

Do not be afraid to use real people as models, but do not be constricted by your models.

It is very natural to use parts of ourselves or the people we know when creating characters.

Do not be afraid to do this because someone might get mad at you.

At the same time, let your character develop.

Do not force them to do what the real-life model would do.

Characters seldom end up exactly like the real people they are based on.

The reader does not have to be told everything you know about the character.

It may be critically important to you that your character has blue eyes, or went to Texas A&M.

But if these details have no part in the story, the reader will not care.

Leave them in your subconscious.

If you are having trouble figuring out a character, fill out a character profile, or do some journaling in that character's voice.

Your character must act, not simply be acted upon.

We care about characters because we are interested in the choices they make.

We want to boo the villain, cheer the hero, and cry with frustration when the tragic figure makes the wrong move.

A character who does not act, but simply receives information and is acted upon by outside forces, is not a character who will compel the reader.

Remember, plot is what the characters do next.

If the characters do not create the plot, the plot is hollow.

Here's a character profile worksheet I sometimes fill out if I'm having trouble understanding a particular character I've created:

Character Profile

Name:

Height:

Age in story:

Birthplace:

Hair color, length, style:

Race/nationality:

Regional influences:

Accent: (include voice, style of speech, slang, signature phrases or words)

Religion:

Marital status:

Scars or other notable physical attributes:

Handicaps: (emotional, physical, mental)

Athletic? Inactive? Overall health?

Style of dress:

Favorite colors:

How does the character feel about his/her appearance?

Brothers/sisters:

Relationship with parents:

Memories about childhood:

Educational background: (street smart? Formal? Does he/she read?)

Work experience:

Occupation:

Where does the character live now? Describe home (emotional atmosphere as well as physical)

Neat or messy?

Sexual preferences/morals/activities:

Women friends/men friends:

Pets?

Enemies? Why?

Basic nature:

Personality traits (shy, outgoing, domineering, doormat, honest, kind, sense of humor):

Strongest trait:

Weakest trait:

What does the character fear?

What is the character proud of?

What is the character ashamed of?

Outlook on life (optimistic, pessimistic, cynic, idealist)

Ambitions:

Politics:

How does the character see himself/herself?

How is the character seen by others?

Do you like this person? Why or why not?

Will readers like or dislike?

Most important thing to know about this character:

Present problem:

How it will get worse:

What is the character's goal in the story?

What traits will help/hurt the character in achieving this goal?

What makes the character different from similar characters?

Why will readers remember this character vividly?

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

George Romeny (1734-1802) "Anne, Lady de la Pole" (1786) Oil on canvas Located in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

[higherentity]

[history-of-fashion]

1786 George Romney - Portrait of George Bustard Greaves, Esq. seated in an armchair

(Private collection)

[resplendentoutfit]

The Scandalous Chemise of Marie Antoinette

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1783-) • Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress • 1783

Just as John Singer Sargent did some 100 years later, Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun often befriended her portrait subjects, engaging their trust so as to create authentic portraits that captured not just the likeness but the spirit of the sitter. Such was the case with Vigée Le Brun's Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress.

Vigée Le Brun was the official court painter. She painted Marie Antoinette approximately 30 times. For the "chemise dress" painting, it's unclear whose idea it was that the queen depart from traditional, more formal dress and wear a casual, unstructured dress instead. Perhaps Vigée Le Brun persuaded her to wear the white chemise or they arrived at the decision together.

The dress itself is made from cotton muslin instead of the French silk that royalty usually had their garments made from. It is tied comfortably at the waist with a yellow sash. The only ornamentation are the puffed sleeves and the ruffled neckline. Marie wears very little makeup and no jewelry.

Despite its simple elegance, the painting was met with much scorn and disapproval when it was shown at Vigée Le Brun's first Académie Salon. Though the garment was designed to be a dress, its lack of structure resembled an undergarment and was thus considred scandalous. Further, it was considered unpatriotic that the queen of France wore imported cotton rather than French Lyonnaise silk. Vigée Le Brun was forced to remove the portrait from the Salon and it was replaced with this one:

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842). Marie Antoinette with a Rose • 1783

By the end of the 18th century, the chemise dress was hugely popular and worn for portraits by many prominent women in and outside of France. Marie Antoinette's fashion faux pas led to a fashion craze which is said by some historians to have been a catalyst for the slave trade, as the demand for cotton grew exponentially.

Right: Jacques Louis David (French, 1748-1825) • Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and His Wife • 1788.

Left: George Romney (British/English, 1734-1802) • Mrs. Billington as Saint Cecilia • 1787-88

The chemise dress was to evolve to an empire waist and a narrower skirt, creating the style we now call The Regency fashion era.

[eirene]

Miss Kirkpatrick, ca. 1772

George Romney

[dozydawn]

george romney

[illustratus]

William Pitt the Younger by George Romney 

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

Historical Portraits of Children // The Truth is a Cave – The Oh Hellos

Four Children Making Music – attributed to the master of the Countess of Warwick, 1565 // Three Children with a Dog or Two Sisters and a Brother of the Artist – Sofonisba Anguissola, 1570-1590 // The Children of Philip III of Spain (Ferdinand, Alfonso, and Margarita) – Bartolomé González y Serrano, 1612 // Three Children with a Goat-Cart – Frans Hals, 1620 // The Balbi Children – Anthony van Dyck, 1625-1627 // The Three Eldest Children of Charles I – Anthony van Dyck, 1635-1636 // Five Eldest Children of Charles I – Anthony van Dyck, 1637 // Portrait of the Children of Habert de Montmor – Philippe de Champaigne, 1649 // Group Portrait of Charlotte Eleonora zu Dohna, Amalia Louisa zu Dohna, and Friedrich Christoph zu Dohna-Carwinden – Pieter Nason, 1667 // The Graham Children – William Hogarth, 1742 // Portrait of Sir Edward Walpole’s Children – Stephen Slaughter, 1747 // The Bateson Children – Strickland Lowry, 1762 // The Gower Family: The Five Youngest Children of the 2nd Earl Gower – George Romney, 1776-1777 // Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France, and Her Children – Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1787 // The Marsham Children – Thomas Gainsborough, 1787 // The Oddie Children – William Beechey, 1789 // Three Siblings – Johann Nepomuk Mayer, 1846 // Happy Children – Paul Barthel, 1898 // My Children – Joaquín Sorolla, 1904 // The Truth is a Cave – The Oh Hellos

[artemlegere]

Serena Reading

Artist: George Romney (British, 1734 - 1802)

Style: Rococo

Genre: Portrait

Date: 1785

Collection: Private Collection

"She always has her nose in a book and her head in the clouds." ~ Grace Metalious (1924–1964)

[romanticism-art-history]

Emma Hart painted by George Romney (1734 - 1802)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Dictionary of Esoteric Terminology

for your next poem/story (pt. 2)

Esoteric—designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone; may refer to the occult

Aeon - either an indefinite or infinite period of time; the Gnostics used the word to represent eternal manifestation emanating from God

Aniadus - the virtue or efficacy of things; life force

Buddhi - wisdom independent of knowledge or learning

Candali - literally, "fierce" or "wrathful"; Vajrayana word for a kind of heat generated and experienced during certain types of meditation practices; this heat burns through impurities and confusion

Chayot - the "lightning flash" described by Ezekiel; it is sometimes used to describe states of spiritual ecstasy

Daka - literally, "one who goes into the sky"; "hero" or "warrior"; formally, a masculine Yidam of semi-wrathful appearance; generally, a type of protector or messenger

Erodinium - an omen, hidden until after the fact, then a presage signifying a recurrence of the event; a ripple or node of synchronicity

Glyph - from Greek glyphe, meaning "carved work"; a symbolic figure or character usually incised or carved in relief

Hsin - the intuition; the original mind; the pure and distilled essence of the vital force, ch'i

Hsu - an important Taoist concept meaning "emptiness" or "nonexistence," in the sense of stillness and receptivity

Ignis Leonis - elemental fire; also called Fire of the Lion, Aether, Pyr, Aethos, and Jupiter Argos

Insufflation - to blow or breathe upon; frequently used in healing to transmit the life force; some practitioners recommend alternating cold and warm breath; many shamanic healers also use the technique of drawing out harmful energy or spirits using the breath

Kamea - a "magic square" used in talismanic magic to produce sigils, which are produced by converting a word or name into numbers and then tracing the numbers on the kamea appropriate to the force being channeled

Khaba - an ancient Egyptian word for a part of the soul of a human being; the astral body

Khaib - the shadow; an ancient Egyptian term for the Body of Habits, the part of the human soul which leaves the body at death and may continue an independent existence; symbolized by a shadow cast in sunlight

Loka - place, locality, world, or plane; there are rupa-lokas (material spheres) and arupa-lokas (spiritual spheres)

Maqam - the continual awareness of the presence of God; grace

Necessitas - the mother of the Three Fates in Roman mythology

Otz Chaim - the Tree of Life

Phantasmata - a thought-form capable of communication

Spagirus - a person who can separate the true from the false, the good from the bad, the pure from the impure, yet reject duality and cleave to unity

Tiamat - the Babylonian goddess of the primeval chaos ocean, usually described as an immense dragon; she was eventually slain by Marduk and split in two, one half becoming heaven and the other half becoming earth

Vril - a mysterious, universal force responsible for evolution and spiritual transformation; the fire of the gods

Wakan - an American Indian term for the force which suffuses the world and maintains cosmic order; it is the force behind magic and reveals itself in visions and prophecies

Zos - the body considered as a whole; was used by Austin Osman Spare to refer to the total field of sensation and awareness; is symbolized by the hand

Source ⚜ More: Word Lists ⚜ Part 1

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

George Romney (1734-1802) "The Gower Family: The five youngest children of the 2nd Earl Gower" (c. 1776-1777) Oil on canvas Located in the Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, England

[rococo-art-history]

Charlotte Bettesworth painted by George Romney (1734 - 1802)

[history-of-fashion]

1784-1785 George Romney - Catherine (Brouncker) Adye, later Catherine Willett

(Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens)

[politicalrpf]

November 13th, 1964 issue of LIFE Magazine, about the 1964 elections.