[Open Log] If I were a painting, captured on canvas

[thepull_mods]

Who: OPEN - for artists, portrait-sitters, and park spectators!
When: Noon-3pm, Monday April 23rd
Where: Versaid Lake Park
Summary: "The Charles Redcliff Art Museum is sponsoring a Portraits in the Park Art Contest, beginning today at noon. Artists and their Portrait Subjects will have 3 hours to complete their entries at the lakeside. Any drawing or painting medium & both amateur and professional skill levels welcome. Supplies will be provided. Three Winners will be featured at the Redcliff’s spring gallery, and receive store credit at Redcliff Photo Labs, for 500 high quality fine art prints of their work."
Warnings: Sitting still for 3 hours might be difficult for some of you...




It's a mild and sunny day, perfect for a spring outing. Down by the lakeside, contest sponsors have set up easels and a long table of different supplies to use, donated by the Redcliff museum and other affiliated art supply stores. Judges, ribbons pinned to their lapels, wander back and forth among the participants throughout the afternoon, appraising the works.

It's easy to sign up and join in, open for anyone to give their best try.

Comments

Jubilee/Wanda

[thelittlestbub]

Jubilee bounced toward an easel. Because, hey, she'd use her supplies, but their easels. She wanted to do a nude, but she could play by the rules. Not everyone would just drop trou in the middle of the park - like her.

"Sooo. Make yourself comfortable, because, no way am I making you stand in some position I choose for three hours." She grinned and winked at her chosen model for the afternoon.

She pulled out her sketch pad. Because she had an idea. She didn't even know if Mags knew that Wanda was here... but he'd appreciate a sketch, and an apology got not telling him earlier.

[scarlet_kitsch]

Wanda sat down and began shifting around to find a comfortable position. Eventually, she decided on a half-reclining pose, which seemed doable for the long haul. Once that was settled, she shook her hair out and back before putting on her best Mona Lisa smile.

“Let’s hope I can actually sit still long enough,” she muttered. It wasn’t a completely unfounded fear. Let’s face it, three hours was a long, long time.

“And you better make me look good!” she teased, despite having absolute confidence in Jubilee’s artistic abilities.

[thelittlestbub]

Jubilee laughed, pulling out a her pencil and beginning to sketch already. Best to just get started. "Well, I'll let you get up and wander around, don't worry. No need to be uncomfortable."

She looked up and laughed. "Wanda, I can't make you look bad. You're too gorgeous." Jubilee honestly believed that too.

[scarlet_kitsch]

"Aw, thank you!" Wanda can't help blushing and beaming at the compliment.

She took a brief moment to glance at the competition before settling back into her chosen pose.

"Seems like a good turn out. Lots of artists and lovely models. Hopefully between my looks and your talent, we'll be one of the winners today."

[thelittlestbub]

"Well, if I capture half your good looks, we're a shoo-win." Because, hey, Jubes can butter people up and be honest.

She didn't glance up from her work. She already had a plan, because... Well, in all the hubbub she'd kinda forgotten to tell Magneto that his daughter was here. Oops? So... one picture for the contest, one for Magneto. Yep! That was the way to go.

"How're you finding alternate-dimension Canada? Is it everything you hoped it'd be?"

[scarlet_kitsch]

“Just make sure you capture my inner beauty.”

Wanda followed up this demand by pulling a goofy face, stuck out tongue and all. She was confident in her looks but not so wrapped up as to take them seriously. Whether or not the rest of the world was impressed didn’t rate high on her list of concerns.

Now, Jubliee’s question about Canada made her pause.

“It's very.... 'alternate,' that's for sure. There are so many strange people and beings here. It can be hard to know who to befriend and what to avoid....”

Unconsciously, she reached up to touch her neck while frowning, thoughts of her time at Fangtasia causing a slight chill to run up the back of her spine. She blinked and shook her head, shaking off the memory, coming back to the present.

“Mmm, well, if I thought this was how the rest of Canada truly was, I’d feel very sorry for Jeanne-Marie and the rest of Alpha Fight!” Her tone was chipper, albeit a little forced.

[thelittlestbub]

"I'm going to sketch you with your face like that." Jubilee threatened, teasingly.

"Well, hey, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Emma and I have been here a while. Two years, dude. Way too long."

Jubilee glanced up at the tone, but didn't press. This was a nice afternoon and she wasn't going to ruin it. "Man, what I would give for JP to show up. JP and Wolvie. If they'd show up? I'd just start making popcorn. It'd be hilarious."

Because she'd give them ten minutes before the companies ended in flames and blood.

[scarlet_kitsch]

Jubilee's comments catch Wanda off guard and bring out a genuine smile.

"I'd join you in having that popcorn. I don't believe either one of them would take too well to this version of Canada." She shakes her head, thinking about their reaction to life on this island.

"You know, it doesn't seem right to be in Canada--even an alternate version of Canada--without having Logan around," she mused. "Back home he seems to play a role in every major event. The fact we're in 'Canada' should have guaranteed his involvement."

[thelittlestbub]

Jubilee took a deep breath. She pushed the pain of not having Logan away.

"I keep telling folks that. We need Logan." Because, she needed Logan. A lot. Moreso with how long it'd been since she saw him.

"Yeah, you'd think, it's Canada, the Canucklehead would show up." She sighed. "Hell, at this point, I'd take Creed. Just... to have one of them."

Naminé/Joe, but otherwise open

[rewritethesky]

She's heard of kids at school talking about contests, joining for this reason, or to use that medium, or hey, a great prize. But Naminé's never joined one herself. Showing off her finished pieces was still something she wasn't comfortable with.

But it still wouldn't hurt to try, and at the very least, all the supplies were provided. So she grabbed an easel and some different utensils (pencil crayons, pastels, anything but paints really) and sat herself down with Joe in front of her, trying to think how exactly to go about this. She didn't need to win, but the fact that she had a model and it was her boyfriend, did unnerve her a bit. He'd probably like to win right.

She brought a hand up to her chin to think. What should she have him do though?

[madeinoblivion]

Joe enjoyed being able to do things with Naminé which were really more up her alley of things to do. It made him feel less like he was nudging her into things that were outside of her comfort zones.

Today the sun's especially nice too, and it's warm enough to go without sleeves- which will be nice, Namine drawing his arms. Walking along the path, he sees other artists working, some of their models posed straight backed and proper. Joe makes a face at this... three hours, like that?

Joe helps her set up the easel in a place where the shifting sun shouldn't change lighting too much, but still leaves her in some shade, so she won't come home too pink on the shoulders.

"Okay!" He dusts his hands, when she finally looks all set up. "How do you want me to pose for you? Something silly? Something serious? An action shot?"

[rewritethesky]

Her smile was unsure and her gaze slid towards some of the other artists lined up already. She twirled a pencil in between her fingers, trying to think of something. A lot of the models did look stiff, not necessarily uncomfortable though, and when she thought about Xion's magazines, she pushed those options out of her mind. Namine flipped through them on occasion, but she wasn't found of some of the ways people were posing or the way they looked in them. Normal people didn't walk around with smolders or with their imperfections conveniently missing.

She looked back at Joe, then looked to the easel and then to the ground, smoothing out a wrinkle in her sundress. What would be the best thing to do?

"How about... however you want?" Looking back up at him, she smiles. "Do whatever you want, and I'll draw it."

[madeinoblivion]

"Well-" He considers, rolling his eyes up towards the cherry blossom trees which lined the lakeside overhead. "I'm not sure I could hold a handstand for three hours."

Might pose to look tough? Ah, but after awhile his arms might get sore. How about something relaxed? Not far away, a freckled redheaded girl lay sprawled in the grass with curly hair fanned out around her face. She'd placed a flower in the curls, and seemed comfortable.

"Maybe I could sit against the tree here?"

[rewritethesky]

She smiled, but hid part of it behind her hand. "It could be a good test of your strength, but you'd get too tired."

At his other suggestion though, she looked up at the branches of the tree and hummed lightly. It would be more relaxing for him, and probably a good exercise for her. She never considered herself to be a great artist, but she knows how to draw light. The way it brightens everything, how far a sunset's rays reached. But shade and shadows weren't her strong points. It was the same sort of concept as light, but not quite, the way it darken everything.

But maybe, it would look okay. And if she could incorporate some of those flower petals...

It might not be anything tough looking, but at the very least, it could be serene and peaceful.

"Sure. That would be great."

[madeinoblivion]

"Okay." He nods, beaming, running his hand around the bark and trying to decide on a good spot to settle. He finds a patch between two roots, and brushes the ground clean of twigs and petals before settling down, cross legged. It really was the perfect kind of day for this.

"So should I look straight at you, or somewhere else?" Joe grins, folding his arms over his chest, a pose that makes him look ever more the spitting image of his original- but in the next moment he's throwing his hands up over his head and folding them behind his hair, as if pulling an impression of Sora.

After another moment of indecision, he finally settles his arms open, hands settling comfortably over his knees.

[rewritethesky]

She watched him get settled, changing between poses, and she looked down with a hint of a bashful smile. He could sit with his arm folded, looking like Riku, it's not something that fits him. Neither is Sora's usual stance. Not something that's very Joe-like.

Namine smiled wistfully when she looked back up at him. "Somewhere else is fine. You could even be sleeping if you want."

So long as it's not on her. She still gets nervous and self-conscious when people watch her draw.

[madeinoblivion]

"Sleeping?" He seems to recoil slightly at the suggestion, giving her an odd, puzzled, slightly offended look.

(I'm really not as lazy as Sora, you know. Okay, so I do sleep in late, most mornings, but that's because I'm out till dawn siren doing ...superhero...stuff. Or fighting monsters. But I don't go out on dates with you just to take a nap.)

That's what he would say, if Joe were a little better at communicating his feelings up front. Instead he just pouts a little at the thought, and glances aside, feeling a little sheepish. It was warm and pleasant enough out here, and the grass smelled so much like spring that he probably could fall asleep out here, if he wanted to.

"How about I just look out over the lake, like this?" he curls his legs up, sneakers flat to the ground, draping his forearms loosely over his knees, elbows dangling.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori stood watching the artists set up, curiously flitting in and out and offering smiles to everyone she made eye contact with. She wanted to join in, so badly. It looked like fun. "Would you like to participate, ma'am?" one of the organizers asked politely.

"Ah, no thank you— I mean, yes, I would, and... oh goodness, these pastels are so pretty," she said, admiring the supplies laid out for the artists. "B-but, I only have an hour and a half for lunch, and I don't have a model, so I— I really don't think so."

"Perhaps you could be a model, then?" The organizer offered helpfully.

"A-ah, I— really don't know..." She gave a sheepish little smile, and looked around. "I kind of doubt anyone would want to use me as a model..."

[laurice]

Larry, who had jumped at this opportunity, had everything. He had the supplies; not only did the sponsors provide them, he had also brought some of his own. He even brought his own stools and packed lunch and snacks for himself and for a prospective model.

He had everything...but the model. Looking around, he could see the other artists already at work with their own models.

Then he saw Hinamori talking to one of the organizers. She looked cute and he wanted to draw her portrait, but was she one of the artists who were entering?

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori turned around and saw Larry looking at her. She froze for a second. "A-ah, sorry," she said. She wasn't entirely sure what she was apologizing for, but she didn't know what else to do with the attention. Perhaps he wanted to talk to the organizer?

"I suppose I should be moving along then. I didn't mean to get in anyone's way. Are you one of the artists participating in the contest?" She smiled at him and looked around the park. "I would love to do something like this, but... I don't know, I really don't think I'm good enough to enter a contest, and then the organizer said I should be a model..." She was perhaps a bit nervous, talking to a stranger off the bat, and rambling, though she was half talking to herself anyway.

[laurice]

Larry didn't mind. Her face seemed...soft, in the calm and gentle sense of the word, like the mild day they were having. He nodded as she spoke, and his face lit up when she mentioned being a model.

"Hey, it's cool, you can be my model if you want," he offered, gesturing with a paintbrush. "I've been looking for one all day. I'd really like to paint your portrait, y'know."

[plum_that_snaps]

"Really? That's— that's kind of you, thank you." She considered it for a moment, then gave a perky nod and a smile. "I think I'd like that, to sit for a portrait."

[laurice]

"Great!" He beamed even more, and held out his hand for a handshake. "By the way, I'm Larry Butz. What's your name?"

Well, it would certainly help if they knew each other before she posed for her portrait.

[plum_that_snaps]

It probably would. "I'm Hinamori. Nice to meet you!" She ended her introduction with a quick dip of her head—the customary bow of a Japanese girl. She looked at Larry's hand, hanging awkwardly in the air between them. What was she supposed to do? Did he want to take her hand? I... I suppose that's all right, she thought. She slipped her fingers into his palm politely, smiling a rather embarrassed smile, and indicated that he should lead the way.

[laurice]

Larry shook her hand eagerly. "Nice to meet you too, Hinamori! Your name is as pretty as you are." Then he pointed, again with his paintbrush, to his workplace, where everything was all set.

"It's gonna take a while, but I promise I'll try to finish this as fast as I can! Then again, they say we can't rush art..."