swanmaids

[swanmaids]

Doll Without Emotion Fude de mannen, fountain pen ink, watercolour

Onna San no Miya (“Third Princess”) is Suzaku’s favourite daughter. Childish, naive, and surrounded by similarly airheaded, giggling servant girls, she’s of no particular personal interest to Genji. He agrees to marry her for two main reasons: 1) Suzaku, about to become a monk but worried sick about his daughter’s future, asks him to, since Genji is now the most respected and powerful guy around with a reputation for taking very good care of all the women under his watch; and 2) having an imperial princess as his wife would give him the awesome social standing he craves. (Although, dude, you destroyed your enemies, you’ve got your perfect woman Murasaki AND you’re already an Honorary Retired Emperor, what else do you want????) But after Genji actually meets the Third Princess in person, he’s like, crap. I messed up. This all severely unbalances the relationship he has with Murasaki, and everything whooshes downhill.

On my initial read, I took everything at face value - which in some respects I had to, or it would have been next to impossible for me to get through it and understand what’s going on. The Third Princess seemed obtuse, shallow, passive. However, in my rereadings, I kept finding more complexities. At times she speaks and acts with remarkable clarity and insight, and some of her poetic responses to Genji - and Kashiwagi - are actually quite sick burns. Yamato Waki does a really striking interpretation of this character in Asakiyumemishi, and I also read an interesting feminist paper about her, both of which really enhanced my appreciation of how she was written.

The title of this piece is based on various characters’ descriptions of her, and her own poem response to Genji after she becomes a nun.

Genjimonogatari series

#genji monogatari #onna san no miya #art #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

@feanorianweek day 5: Curufin (and Celebrimbor)

The design and glasses are shamelessely stolen from @koalamb I just love how she draws Curufin

#celebrimbor #curufin #legendarium kids #the silm #art #q

[swanmaids]

My contribution for this year´s #tolkiensecretsanta for @alyruko 

I really love your art and it was cool to make something for you. I hope you like this drawing of the Boys and Merry Christmas to you! 😊🎄

#russingon #maedhros #fingon #art #the silm #q

[swanmaids]

Lauren Lovette as the Mermaid in Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals

[credit: Paul Kolnik]

#lauren lovette #carnival of the animals #mer #ballet #dance #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

…the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring.

Arwen for the MXTX-Tolkien remix

#arwen #peredhil #lotr #art #q

[swanmaids]

The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell

#the red shoes #movies #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

#celegorm #the silm #art #q

[swanmaids]

Sauron

#sauron #lotr #the silm #art #q

[swanmaids]

like a moth to a flame

#sleeping beauty #art #fairy tales #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

Annatar is praying

#sauron #annatar #second age #the silm #art #q

[swanmaids]

#varda #valar #art #the silm #q

[swanmaids]

Stigmata for Maedhros please?

I don't think I've ever worked with a predominantly red and black color palette before

#maedhros #art #the silm #q

[swanmaids]

Lady Galadriel in night lights

#galadriel #lotr #art #q

[swanmaids]

seashells

twitter/ insta/ store

#art tag #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

yesss fairies again

#fairies #fantasy #art #not tolkien #q

[swanmaids]

one more piece of a big painting that I am doing now. Finrod and Aegnor

#finrod #aegnor #art #the silm #q

[swanmaids]

The Silmarils. The Silmarillion / J.R.R. Tolkien

#feanor #silmarils #two trees #art #the silm #q