I'm on a roll with the coursework!

Currently, my mood is glorious. Im as pleased with my final outcome as i think i ever could be! And my confidence of using photoshop has skyrocketed with the completion of this project, I feel ready for anything this course can throw at me! But enough victorious speech, lets get down to business. In terms of conveying the character from the book, i think this portrays Cadvan from "The Gift" (by Allison Croggon) just as i imagine him. He's a man whos constantly sent on missions to far off places, so imagine that his "dark, roughly woven wooly hood" (in this case i stretched it into a full blown cloak as it seemed more appropriate - and theres definately a bit where its acknowledged hes wearing one, but im not going traipsing through all the books to find the quote!) would be very worn and torn, weathered by the changing climates he has to endure, and ripped in places as indications of the many battles with creatures of The Dark. He carries his satchel with him everywhere, containing his lyre and numerous other things in order for him to function. I imagined him on a very windy hillside - with a possible storm on the horizon behind -with his long black hair flying loose and free, accentuated by his cloaks mimicking motion. Hes holding onto his Satchel and the hilt of his well hidden sword in order to keep his balance on the rocky terrain.

I made the image alot darker than i had originally intended, seeing as Cadvan is a wholly good character, i thought to show this with a pleasant landscape . However as i progressed in my painting i began changing my mind as "pleasant" doesnt fit in with the atmosphere created in the book. The forces of darkness are closing in on the forces of light, hence the storm, and also the sharp contrast of Cadvans Pendant of his School casting light in the gloomy dark surroundings. Another reason for the darkness is to show Cadvan's mysterious side, he is a man that holds many secrets, and even conceals his own dark past. I did this by casting his face in shadows, but allowing his eyes to be visible, as he looks to the future and the well-being of human-kind rather than dwelling on his past.

On the technical side of things i arranged the composition in such a way that vertical and horizontal were balanced, along with the diagonals of the mountains, which each take the viewers eyes towards the character, as the focus of the image.

Any feedback appreciated! Im gonna get cracking on the last leg of this essay now, hopefully finish before Me, Dan, Neil and others meet up at Uni to record some things for our Audio Adverts (Today (well technically yesterday now...) we got Neil's Laughter properly recorded 18 times! so plenty to choose from for our adverts!)