Arda on Ice stamp art by Lyra

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Fanwork Notes

Many thanks to Grundy and Dawn for indulging my silliness, and to Himring for letting the Beren and Lúthien painting inspire her challenge response, Reverse Death Spiral!

Fanwork Information

Description:

You've heard of Lay of Leithian, the rock opera - now get ready for Lay of Leithian, the ice skating show. Well, not really. But when we were setting up the challenges for 2022, I couldn't help envisioning characters from the Lay of Leithian as skaters for the Arda on Ice challenge.

Major Characters: Beren, Finrod Felagund, Lúthien Tinúviel, Orcs, Thuringwethil

Major Relationships: Beren/Luthien

Genre: Crossover, Humor

Type: Drawing/Painting

Challenges: Arda on Ice

Rating: General

Warnings:

Posted on 14 April 2022 Updated on 14 April 2022

Finrod in a Biellman spin

A watercolour painting of an elf with shoulder-length blond hair, gripping his back foot that he has lifted above his head in a Beillmann spin. He is wearing a white body suit decorated with golden swirls. In the background, three spotlights invoke the Silmarils.

Orc in a sit spin

A watercolour painting of an orc wearing a dark leotard with black sequins, a ragged black skirt and sequined greaves doing a sit spin. In the background, three spotlights invoke the Silmarils.

Thuringwethil in a forward spiral

A watercolour painting of Thuringwethil as a figure skater in a dark purple body suit with bat wings, hair hidden by a tight-fitting cap. She is performing a forward spiral with her right leg lifted up and her arms extended backwards. Her face is painted with white make-up and she is wearing red contact lenses and vampire teeth. In the background, three spotlights invoke the Silmarils.

Beren and Lúthien - reverse death spiral

A watercolour painting of Lúthien spinning Beren in a reverse death spiral. She is wearing a sparkly blue dress with a decor of golden lilies. Her black hair is in a long braid that is uplifted by the momentum of the spin. Beren is wearing a green and black woodman-style outfit that is open down his chest and at the lower back. His brown hair is cropped short and he has a beard. In the background, three spotlights invoke the Silmarils.

Comments on Arda on Ice stamp art

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Not gonna lie, when I opened this to see if the upload had worked out, I was genuinely shocked by how large they were looking at full-size. You can see all the rough patches where I messed up the background! I only ever had them at 33% in GIMP, and of course the stamps are a lot smaller anyway.
Glad you like them in their full, um, glory! XD

I'm so glad you posted these here so we can enjoy them large and in detail! They're truly magical! And I love that you included an orc in the limelight!

(And its funny, the stamp I was unsure of was the orc, but my brain just went through named characters which is why I wondered if she was Thuringwethil... only to discover that you've painted a gorgeous portrait of her. Love it!)

I love them!

Beren & Luthien is perhaps still my favourite (and so nice to see it full-size!), but the others are close seconds.

Somehow that Biellman spin is perfect for Finrod and I love his expression. Thuringwethil looks as if she is about to fly off,  bat-like. And that hunched, low spin fits the orc; nice for an orc to have his moment in the spotlight, too.

Is the way you chose to depict the lights an allusion to the Silmarils?

Glad you still like Beren & Lúthien best and don't feel cheated!

I had no idea what prompts would be used for which figure, so I just went with what was available in reference pictures and seemed to go well with the characters. Thrilled that you feel I found something fitting! And yes, the background lighting is absolutely an allusion to the Silmarils in Morgoth's crown, because that's my weird sense of humour. :D

These are great, even if the memories take me back to a childhood of spending hours at the local library while waiting for my sister to finish ice skating lessons, practice, competitions.... 

Oh no! Well, at least there was a library and you didn't have to sit by the rink the whole time?

Have to admit that I have next to no skating experience myself. Went skating a few times as a kid, but that was just moving-around-the-ice-and-trying-not-to-fall-over type skating. I mean, occasionally I watch people who know what they'd doing on TV, but that's about it. :D

Anyway, glad you like these anyway!