Mini-Deryni photo art

[Evie]

I decided to try playing with running some of my Mini-Deryni photos through artistic filters in one of my phone apps.  Here are some of the results I liked best:

[lenni]

Wow! Very nice. Thank you for sharing.

Kathleen/Lenni

[Evie]

Wow! Very nice. Thank you for sharing.

Kathleen/Lenni

Thank you!  That third one (Duncan praying) has been printed in an 8" x 10" size and matted and framed.  I have it hanging in my office.

[revanne]

Lovely - I especially like the one of Duncan praying. What are the icons?

[Elkhound]

I like these a lot better than the 'straight' pictures; makes the figures look a little less blank.  (Is there some way of fiddling with the facial features to give them expressions?)

[Jerusha]

Although I like them all, the picture of Duncan really catches my eye - I think it is the range of muted colours that makes it stand out.  The framed version must be even better.

I can also see it as a cover for a greeting card - maybe a birthday card for KK? 

If you ever need to run a little side business, I can see a set of "Mini-Deryni Moments" all occasion cards being a success.

Just think of all the cool shots you have in your archives that could be Halloween cards.   

[Evie]

The icons are actual miniature icons that I bought at a Lebanese Food Festival hosted by the local Maronite Church.  The one in the foreground is Christ, and the one in the background is Mary with the Christ child, IIRC.  That was a temporary set that I built on my living room floor to take some photos to bolster Kirienne's spirits when she first found out about her cancer.  Luke and Gigi kept wanting to barge in on the scene, so the props didn't manage to stay up long, but I got several good shots out of that photo session before it got annihilated by curious cats.  You can see the other photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9573389@N08/sets/72157632593692633/

Some people are good at tweaking the dolls' expressions in Photoshop by adding in a faint upturn (or downturn) of the lips, or editing the corners of the mouth to make the expression less smiley if they want a more serious mood.  Unfortunately I'm not that skilled in Photoshop (or my free equivalent, Gimp) yet.  I have to use other tricks to convey emotion--body language (via careful posing), certain tilts of the head, lighting, camera angles, etc.

Mini-Deryni Moments cards might be a success here, although I think I'd have to give them out for free rather than sell them at a profit, since otherwise that might count as profiting off KK's work (or at least certainly her characters), which might not be legal, since they are copyrighted.  And even if it is, I wouldn't wish to do that unless I had her express permission to do so.  But the Mini-Deryni photo art is certainly fun to make.

[Evie]

Here is the framed version of "Duncan at Prayer" on my office wall.  I also use this picture as the background to my smartphone's lock screen.

Framed version by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The outside mat is a slightly rosier shade than it appears on my monitor, so it picks up the warm tones from the picture very nicely.

[Laurna]

Very nice framed image. I can easily see you using this image of Duncan as a birthday card to KK this week. I think most photoshop programs can make greeting cards. Although, you will need a color printer and glossy paper.  Fun ideas.

[Aerlys]

The Duncan picture is my favorite, too. The kids used to enjoy playing with Andy Warhol-type images on my laptop before the camera puked out. What about that for mini-Deryni artwork?

[Evie]

The Duncan picture is my favorite, too. The kids used to enjoy playing with Andy Warhol-type images on my laptop before the camera puked out. What about that for mini-Deryni artwork?

Something like this?

Comic book Deryni by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

That's the "Comic Book" filter on my Paper Artist Android app.   

I have access to a color printer and cardstock at work, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to download Gimp or any other photo-editing software to my office computer.  I could create something on my notebook or home computer and then save it to a USB drive to print at work, I suppose.  My home printer is a black and white inkjet, and it's currently acting up, so not suitable for printing artsy greeting cards on.  *sigh*

[Elkhound]

Do you have a Kinko's in town?

[Evie]

We do, but I'd rather print things at work rather than spend gas money hunting down a Kinko's, pay for the downtown parking meters, and have them print my photos off my USB drive, potentially infecting my drive with a virus in the process.  Especially since my color printer at work is a whole four feet away from my desk chair and will print from a USB drive also.   

Granted, my boss would take a dim view of me going into business for myself, using up hundreds of dollars of company money in inkjet cartridges by printing up thousands of color copies on the office color inkjet printer.  But the occasional color copy for personal use is fine.  So I'd only go someplace like Kinko's if I were going to print a bulk run of color pictures for personal use, or if I need something printed in a size my office printer can't handle, like the 20" x 30" poster print of "Rhemuth the Beautiful" (actually an art-filtered photo of Toledo, Spain, that shows a lovely medieval city with a castle and a cathedral in the right locations relative to each other) that I've also got framed and hanging on my office wall opposite "Duncan at Prayer." 

[tenworld]

maybe its the angle (or maybe all the recent videos) but I looked at this and thought I saw the Imp with Cersei from Game of thrones.

Sorry Evie

[Laurna]

Tenworld, I think it is the pixilation from the comic book filter that gives Duncan that harsher, more angular face. But now that you mention it, I can see Tyrion standing in that photo.    Cersei not so much, but interesting idea. I like Tyrion, he is one of the few good people in Game of Thrones so it really isn't that bad a thing for Duncan to be confused with Tyrion, besides the height issue, that is.