Art for Rachelindeed: My greatest joy and privilege

[holmesticemods]

Title: My greatest joy and privilege
Recipient: rachelindeed
Artist/Vidder: strampunch
Verse: ACD/Granada tv show
Characters/Pairings: Holmes/Watson
Rating: PG
Warnings: (mild violence, small injury and blood)
Summary: Watson tends to Holmes' wounds.



(click any image for full-size)

Comments

[gardnerhill]

Oh. My. Evilness. This is superb, a whole post-3GAR story told in gorgeous Granada art.

And even amid the heartbreakingly beautiful art there's that hilarious little panel 2 that just says "Busted!"

[rachelindeed]

This is the tenderest and most beautiful scene I can imagine, simply breathtaking. I am astonished over everything, but most especially by the immense and layered emotions you have conveyed through their faces, their eyes, and their touches. It breaks my heart that Hardwicke's Watson and Brett's Holmes never got the chance to have their Three Garridebs moment, but they could never have had a better, lovelier, or truer aftermath than the one you have gifted us here.

I adore the first page, where you so wonderfully begin with Holmes immersed in his agony columns and scrap-booking, having utterly forgotten his own injuries. Watson's gruff insistence on changing his bandages, with Holmes resisting like a naughty child, captures that delightful grousing, bantering-through-complaints, but fundamentally caring and care-giving quality that I loved about this era of the Granada show. And I love that glorious light through the window, which will only grow more numinous and heavenly as the scene develops.

In the second panel, I adore the transition into touch and gentle healing, where we see that all the nagging and stubborn resistance fall away as soon as they make time for each other and submit to this little ritual of medicine and care that they both, without saying so, love. How I adore Holmes's closed eyes and tiny, contented smile as Watson tends to him and he savors the intimacy. And then that sidelong glance to the cane that brings all his worst memories and self-reproaches rushing back.

You have painted it so powerfully as he recalls the wound to Watson's leg and his own powerlessness in that moment. The blinding blaze of the bullet in his mind's eye carries so much emotion, and the deep darkness in his memory that only breaks enough to highlight the details of pain truly shows us his state of mind. You can feel the guilt momentarily overwhelming him. And then the transition between his hands holding the bloodied butt of his gun in misery, to his hands reaching for comfort in Watson's own. And the expression in Watson's eyes as Holmes reaches for him! A little bit confused and apprehensive, but at the same time so tender and filled with unspoken understanding.

The last page is absolutely stunning. The beauty of the light and shadow, the devotion and abandon in their poses, the love shining out of Watson as he softly tilts Holmes's face up to return his kiss. I am just speechless. So, so beautiful. Intimate. Adoring.

This is such an incredible and beautiful gift. I love it so very much. You are an amazing artist, and the story you've told with these images touches me so. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[monkiainen]

This is just... wow. I think I lost the ability to communicate in English for a moment. Superb!

[thesadchicken]

Breathtaking... simply breathtaking...

[mightymads]

This is sublime. The interplay of light and shadow is gorgeous, and the black-and-white graphics possess special gravitas here. The art style is just beautiful, and the powerful way in which the scenes unfold is beyond words. Thank you so much!

[dreamingjewel64]

Beautiful art.

[oldshrewsburyian]

This is absolutely stunning. Their expressions are so eloquent throughout, and I love the similar eloquence you've given to the details around them (the brandy glass besides the bloodied bandages.) Holmes' hands on "For God's sake, say that you are not hurt!" are incredible. And I love that you've even put in the Granada Baker Street curtains!

[natrix_natrix]

Dude i literally love you. I just *enthusiastically waves at all of this* HOLY SHIT?!!!! I recognized you ,obviously, it could've been a bit harder since i haven't seen many of your drawings where you used lighting and shading like you did in this comic, but the "busted!" panel immediately gave you out.
But Jesus Christ almighty, the way you used darkness and light and how it influenced the atmosphere of the panels?
I don't know if it was intentional, but in the 3rd page it looks like the bullet that wounded Watson in the flashback also hits Holmes' wound to his temple as if they're joint as much in their love as they are in their pain. Even the hands holding the bloody butt of the gun, like rachelindeed pointed out, turning into Holmes taking Watson's hands in his own were a stroke of genius.

I can't say you left me speechless because I could literally talk about this for days but wow. I wish I could print this and nail it to my bedroom ceiling so it could be the last thing I see before I fall a sleep and the first thing I see when i wake up in the morning. I love how your style fits Jeremy's and Edwards' faces like a glove. I love the lighting (YES I'M STILL TALKING ABOUT THE LIGHTING) and the overall composition of the comic? The silent storytelling? UGH, poetic art.

Thank you so much for this, it made a shitty day ten times better.

[swissmarg]

This is so beautiful!

[a_candle_for_sherlock]

I’m breathless. The range of expression, the parentheses of space and quiet around the moments of deep feeling, the way you create years of understanding between them even around, and including, the anger and the differences between them. The way the visual clarity of the whole enhances their connection—makes me feel they could be saying anything but they would still be seeing each other truly.

[796116311389]

This is so masterfully done! Absolutely brilliant! The look and feel of the characters; The fact that everything is communicated without a single written word; The shading and the softness of it! The whole thing is just *chefs kiss* bellissimo!

Thank you for creating this!

[ancientreader]

That's marvelous -- Watson's exasperation, Holmes's huffy irritability at (perish the thought!) caretaking, the turn toward tenderness and desire, the economy with which you convey this emotionally rich narrative. I look forward to the reveals so much, Artist Anon, because I want urgently to seek out the rest of your work.