#fe figure

[dailyfigures]

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd ; Fire Emblem: Three Houses ☆ Intelligent Systems

[xander-wolk]

In the name of the Ice Tribe, I’ll punish y- *slips and falls*

[hyun3hk3y]

“Portrait of Lady Edelgard Von Hresvelg”. Oil on wood panel. 28” x 24” 

Finally, my portrait of Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Houses is finished.  This has been my major project over the last year or so, although its roots go back to about 2020.  I had this massive preamble in mind about how much FE3H has influenced myself and @misslovelyillustration ’s lives since she made me start playing it five years ago, but for now I’ll just say that I haven’t been this captivated by a video game since either Jet Set Radio Future or Metroid Prime.  In fact, I figured I was well past the age to ever be enamored by a video game ever again.  Three Houses just seemed to be the right thing at the right time.

I’d like to thank my sister Liz for being the model for Edelgard and @misslovelyillustration for twisting my arm into playing the damn game…as well as for her continued love and support.

Finally, I would also like to thank my friend/Mentor Merrily for lending her tailoring skills in putting the costume together.  Without her, I doubt I could have brought this painting together, at least not to the level I had envisioned for it.

[inqua]

i tried merm!ninian again for mermay 🧜‍♀️ but with ink and watercolours this time :'^)

[chiisanajimi]

what if we were alone in the military officers' tent and i was so in love with you it hurt ha ha what if

(i know chrom's pauldron is completely wrong but i don't feel like fixing it so let's just say it's being repaired right now)

[mikichko]

The thing about Fuerzas Especiales (Mexican Special Forces) is that you know not to be wary of the masked men. It's the ones whose faces are bare and out for the world to see that have you cautious. The ones who truly have no tether and absolutely nothing holding them back.

So when you meet the 141 you’re not worried about Ghost. You’ve handled men like him before. Maybe not to this degree or stature, but close enough.

It’s Gaz who makes you pause. Stopping mid-step before you regain your composure and properly out-stretch your hand to shake his.

You've seen that look in his eyes before. Not on him, but your comrades. The few men who teeter on the edge, desperately trying to figure out if they'll be rule breakers or enforcers. If they'll be a blind executioner or if they'll learn to judge too. All while the battle rages on, chipping at their resolve. Soon enough, they'll show if they're truly as morally righteous as they think themselves to be. Those men, they're the ones that worry you.

You know how masked men will act. Understand that they'll carry themselves differently and act differently because of the anonymity and detachment that their masks provide. Especially from the unspeakable acts they carry out.

But people like him? Who show themselves bare? Owning the savage actions they commit, regardless of the way they teeter? Yeah, men like Kyle Garrick terrify you.

[littledashdraws]

for gunter's birthday <3

[the-pipes]

I just think he's neat...

[lovely-english-rose]

redraw from this because feh decided to cater specifically to me and make figure skating au real uwu

[avistella]

Shy Alfonse doodle for practice in getting back to drawing him

[dailyfigures]

Edelgard von Hresvelg ; Fire Emblem ☆ Good Smile Company

[strawberry-pockii]

do you remember the promise we made when we were kids?

[hyun3hk3y]

Symbolism in "Portrait of Lady Edelgard Von Hresvelg"

This is something that I’ve usually never really felt comfortable doing. If you ever wonder why some artists are a bit more reluctant to actually *talk* about the “meaning” of their work, its because it strikes the same tenor as having to explain why a joke is funny.  If I have to actually lay it out for the viewer why certain decisions were made in the execution of a work of art, the magic of the whole experience may be lost.  Moreover, many artists avoid making definitive statements on their work because they do not wish to deprive viewers the opportunity to derive their own unique explanation. 

While I chiefly view myself as a fine artist, most of my artistic training was as an illustrator.  As an artist, this can lead to an interesting dichotomy when it comes to creating paintings.  During my studies, I was told that the job of an illustrator is to solve pictorial problems for people often by making pictures that tell a story or convey an idea.  Fine art’s definition, in contrast, tends to be more nebulous.  But I digress, on to the painting…

A number of people on reddit and Tumblr have remarked on the candle with the snuffed-out flame.  No interpretations on it have been offered, the mere presence of a candle with a smoldering wick is a strong enough implication.  However, this is one instance where I drew inspiration from art history so I believe it is worth elaborating on.  The animus for the candle originates in the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck.  Below is an image of the painting with the pertinent candle circled.

Art history scholars have a number of different readings about the candle’s presence, but the one I was taught in Art History is that the lit candle indicates the presence of the holy ghost or the watchful eye of God.  Three Houses draws from a number of religions for its world building, in the case of The Church of Serios, the developers took the majority of their cues from The Catholic Church.  If a lit candle would suggest Edelgard’s faith in the Goddess, then an extinguished one must imply Edelgard’s *loss* of faith. 

In addition to the extinguished candle, I would also like to direct viewers to the reflection of the candle in the polished wood table surface. In the reflection the candle is still burning very brightly, almost down to the base of the candelabra.

The purpose of this image is to recall a saying from old Taoism Philosophy in China: “The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.”  Those who are familiar with Edelgard’s back story in Three Houses will find its relevance obvious.  I doubt I am the only one to make the allusion.

This brings me to the next major piece of symbolism I employed in the painting, the dagger and the drapery on the table.  The dagger’s significance should go without saying, but its application as a device will become more apparent after I explain the table cloth.  To put it succinctly, the majority of the dark shadow shapes made by the tablecloth are arranged to evoke the shape of the crest of flames.  Below is another visual to help illuminate this detail. 

The immediate implication here is the detail of Edelgard possessing the crest of flames.  As for why I decided to depict it in a more concealed way…When I first got the idea for this painting, the whole concept was that if a person saw this painting in a gallery, they would be looking at an actual artifact from Fodlan, one that created by an artist who actually lived there.  This is why the second row of the inscription reads “In the Imperial Year” on the left side and “1179” on the right.  This means the painting would have been completed just before Edelgard starts attending Gareg Mach, and long before the greater public would know she has the crest of flames.  How the artist came to know this would remain a mystery.  I like to imagine it as a detail that Fodlan’s historians would debate over for years after the game’s narrative.

There is also a second message that I have intended with the dagger’s placement cutting (heh) across the crest…Gripping the dagger over the crest of flames is a statement about what the path is that Edelgard will take, especially when the crest is examined as representing the Goddess Sothis.  In fact, there are two (technically three) lines of dialogue from Three Houses I had in mind for this symbolism.

That about sums it up!  I may do a couple more posts in the future where I show how the painting evolved from thumbnails, to studies to the finished image if theres interest in that sort of thing.

[inqua]

some fe sketch comms from earlier this year

i've closed comms for now but i justed want to say thank you so much again for supporting me!!! <3

[cupofcolors]

tiny tacticians roll out!!

[fledbeast578]

Fe7 if Legault Mode existed

Happy Pride everyone!