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March 3, 2011
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:icongold-seven:
"The sword and the harp," said Dafydd. "The true bard must wield both. And where would one be without the other?"
"The sword can live without the harp," Aedan said.
"Can it? The harp cannot live without the sword, no. Of what would it sing, if not of the struggle of princes, the blood and dust of battle? But the reverse is just as true. The monk that sits in dusty, ill-lit scriptoriums, faithfully entrusting his histories to rolls of parchment, what, in the end, does he do? He only produces more dust as those faithfully recorded histories crumble and are forgotten. The harp that fills the halls and the hearts, that takes the dust and blood of battles and turns it into glory – the harp means immortality."

As you can see, I am fully embracing that new idea of Bard!Aedan. :D The snippet is not from the actual novel, but is a dialogue that might have occurred sometime during Aedan's training.

[link]


Inspiration: "The Mabinogion" illustrated by Alan Lee. This man is awe-inspiring. And plain inspiring.

Very loose reference (moved further and further away from it when I incorporated the harp): [link] from *SenshiStock

Harp loosely referenced from the 15th century harp of Brian Boru [link] (probably not accurate for the time I'm writing about, but what the heck, it looked so damn cool).

Watercolour, pencil. Harp strings touched up in Photoshop.

Tutorial for the painting process is here:


EDIT: Thank you guys so much for the DD! :woohoo: It's not my first, but it's the first I feel that truly and thoroughly deserves it.
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Daily Deviation

Given 2011-06-28
Suggester says: "I love how it looks. The colors are soft, and the image (of the middle) looks relaxing and quiet. I almost feel like I can hear the music of the harp. On the sides, a completely different image. It represents battle, war. You can see a sword and a horse. The artist used a different technique to do those two side images. This contrast gives a very good impact (and yet both middle and sides combine together to make a single image)."

The Sword and the Harp by *Gold-Seven ( Suggested by *sebaselciclon and Featured by `Mollinda )
love 20 20 joy 6 6 wow 3 3 mad 0 0 sad 1 1 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0
:iconmoonlittragedy:
~MoonlitTragedy Apr 25, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Reminds me of a gentle version of gatts from berserk. if you haven't checked out berserk you should. its incredible. i think you would like it... at least the artwork. its quite dark

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No One Has Bound Me
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:iconwishingrain:
~Wishingrain Apr 6, 2012  New member
wow! i play the harp, so to me this is extra amazing!
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:icongold-seven:
=Gold-Seven Apr 6, 2012   Traditional Artist
Hey cool! :)

--
"Whew, that was close. I almost ran out of sunny disposition!"
~Piffany
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:iconaikurisu:
This is easily one of your best works and much deserving of the DD. The whole nature of it really draws me in and it's great seeing something so cultural from Aedan's side of things. Reminds me that I need to read your stories, too. =D

--
“Good feedback is much like breathing good air. It is a blessing, and something one should always be grateful for.”
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:icongold-seven:
=Gold-Seven Mar 7, 2012   Traditional Artist
Haha yes, Aedan got a definite culture boost while still remaining his old obnoxious self. The combination is great. Such fu to write. And draw. :D

--
"Whew, that was close. I almost ran out of sunny disposition!"
~Piffany
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:iconaikurisu:
Understandable. =) One other thing I like about it too is how it makes him more human, since little things like this add another dimension that endears me more to any character.

--
“Good feedback is much like breathing good air. It is a blessing, and something one should always be grateful for.”
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:iconmaeegele:
Mood: Amazed ~Maeegele Feb 8, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
OUAOU!!!! C'EST INCROYABLE!!!!!
SO BEAUTIFUL!!! :)

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Instant de Poésie: [link]
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:icontheynamedherrheulea:
~TheyNamedHerRheulea Feb 3, 2012  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
Beautiful job! I'd love to get my hands on a harp like that... the designs on it are great. :)
Lovely coloring and layout, as well.

--
Original celts, folklore, & fantasy: [link]

"A Christian is someone who's bananas for Jesus."

"People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." -Leonardo
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:icongold-seven:
=Gold-Seven Feb 24, 2012   Traditional Artist
Thank you! (I'm getting to the bottom of my inbox pile, can you tell?) ;)

--
"Whew, that was close. I almost ran out of sunny disposition!"
~Piffany
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:iconisfoss86:
*isfoss86 Jan 29, 2012  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
Have you read the Riddle-master trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip? This could have been Morgon of Hed! Amazing work!! :)

--
"As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University."
- Edmund Blackadder
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