First, sorry for the late comment on this amazing piece! I unfortunately had the dubious pleasure of an extended hospital stay — but now that I'm back home, I can fully enjoy this amazing multimodal piece of storytelling!
Of course Sanguinius, proud dad primarch that he is, would keep his sons' drawings hanging on the fridge.
I must admit I find the... innocence? of the first drawing super adorable. I headcanon that many of the early Blood Angels, most of them taken as children from mutant stock living in abject poverty and raised to the pinnacle of technological development with digital screens and data-slates, had never actually held a pencil in their hands or put a brush to paper before Sanguinius introduced them to the idea. I love to see that childlike rendition of someone doing art for the very first time. The chainsword is particularly cute, if such a word can be applied to such a vicious weapon. 😅
As someone who loves doing visual and narrative analyses, I enjoyed Sanguinius's description immensely too (and also felt called out myself, haha! Perfectionism is the death of creativity indeed). I can all too easily imagine the Revenants tearing up their canvases and breaking their brushes in frustration at their perceived failures, even while said failures have their own charm.
I noticed the Mk II and III armour too (reading Sanguinius's analysis feels curiously like having a college professor grade my assignment, lol!). I love his (your) attention to the eyes of the dead, how they're a familiar sight to the artist yet still salient enough to be included. It's such a good detail, I absolutely love how, yes! That's how art works! Expression of experience! Distillation of emotion!
I love that his sons keep drawing him but don't want him to see their works. That's so very relatable (and sweet)!
Also loving the mention of/world-building for the canon retcon(s) of Sanguinius's appearance — he has his father's ability to appear however the viewer expects him to, yet doesn't seem to have the same conscious control of it. His own fascination with the process is very interesting to me too.
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The second image is lovely! So many details, and the colours are wonderfully rich. I can enjoy it purely as art for its own sake!
Compared to the first image (before reading the commentary of Prof. Sanguinius, PhD in Fine Arts), I notice at once the Angel's hand outstretched instead of holding a sword, the lack of eyes on the dead, and of course the sun forming a golden halo behind him. Clearly, the artist has improved, not only his craft but also his purpose. It's art engaged in communicating a message, not merely created for its own sake. Art with a job — the charming child-like innocence of the first piece is gone.
I love all the details noted by Sanguinius, the artist's confidence, the focus on details revealing aspects of everyday life within the Legion (their armour and weapons), his appreciation of the Blood Angels depicted being common Legionaries instead of Champions.
A piece like this is not here to be emotionally honest, it is meant to display the Legion in a place of glory — indeed, a great point!
(Now I wonder how Sanguinius would draw himself...)
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I absolutely love everything about this fanwork! Both the art and the writing are so well done, and the synergy of the two together is superb! It felt like being in a dialogue with Sanguinius himself, and through him, the artist — a bit like being a peer reviewer on a scholarly article! I enjoyed the interactivity of it immensely and had a lot of fun doing my own observations before reading Sanguinius's. This is one of the most fun, engaging, and interesting works (and comment-writings) I've had the pleasure of enjoying in this fandom to date!
Thank you so much for this perfect gift of art, writing, and the kind of nerdy scholarly analysis I delight in doing. I had a blast with this!!! <3
I want to frame this comment ♡ You are so sweet. I'm touched you liked to engage with this so much^^
And you are totally right that most of these legionaries never even touched art or the tools for it before in their lives, and even if they did, they might not remember anything. So they are working with a child's skill level, but a grownup's perspective when they start, which I imagine would have been a challenge.
But the idea is that, even when a work is bad it can still have value, and tell something about the artist and how they see the world (like with the eyes) so even at that early stage, it still serves the purpose Sangiuinius wants. And a proud dad can still find things of interest and value even in really crude work x)
It's always really gratifying as a creator when someone notices all the little details you put in a work, so really thank you for this detailed comment! Also I am sorry to hear of the misfortune that has befallen you and I hope you are doing alright.
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i_cant_say Tue 26 Dec 2023 07:52PM UTC
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MossDweller Tue 02 Jan 2024 05:51PM UTC
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