Some art and a question

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

erynn999 was hoping for some naked Bertie & Jeeves, so here they are. *cue burlesque music*





I did a gradient on the background, and didn't notice the stripy effect till it was too late to fix. Grrrr...


Have some golfing Bertie. I did this when I was trying out my different inks.



***

I've been keeping an eye out online for photos of men who look as close as possible to my mental image of Bertie, so that I could point to one and say "There, that's what I see him looking like in real life". I've collected many pictures of men who look similar to him in one way or another, but it wasn't till yesterday that I found a near perfect match. I did a bit of manipping, adding a suit & hair (the man was bald)...and it turned out he bore an unsettling resemblance to one of my cousins, who is not someone I want to be reminded of in porny situations). All this is to say that my mental image of Bertie is currently undergoing a slight shift, for that reason among others. It seems my mental real-life Bertie just doesn't look as close as I thought to my drawn Bertie. He'll probably be undergoing some subtle alterations in my art now.

So, this whole thing got me wondering: what does your mental Bertie look like? Is your image influenced by fic? The tv show? For me, the consistent features are a lean face, prominent nose, slightly receding chin, large blue eyes, sunny smile, hair anywhere from golden blond to sandy brown, nice looking but not in a head-turning way. The details keep shifting, though, which is very frustrating.

Comments

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I always thought Bertie and Jeeves playing a friendly game of darts would be adorable, since they are both known to be excellent players!

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D Even though my images of the characters have shifted away from Hugh and Stephen, I can still see their influence in my drawings. Hugh especially.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I used to have a crush on cartoon Roger when I was little lol

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's very true, which is why I used a photo reference for Bertie's position in the golf picture. ;)

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And Bertie is pleased that you like his butt.

I know what you mean about Hugh & Stephen. They fit into the roles so well that it's hard not to see the characters as looking like them.

[saylee.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I didn't mean to imply he couldn't be both. I like that we get to see both sides and that neither one is his whole character.

Er, and I hope that I didn't imply that you, or anyone in particular, fetishized the "working man" thing. In fact, fetishized may have been the wrong word to use entirely. In fact, I'm not sure what my intent was there. That'll teach me to post before I've figured out what I'm trying to say! My apologies if I said anything unaccountably stupid.

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

It seems like most people write him as being fit and well muscled, so it's very interesting to hear from someone who sees him as having a chunkier physique. Something like Stephen in series 1 or 4, I'm guessing?

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thanks! No, I won't be coloring that one. The brown ink would be too difficult to work with on the computer.

The same thing happened to me a lot back when I still saw the characters as Hugh and Stephen. I think that was one of the things that made me shift my mental image away from them.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, please don't feel like you've upset me at all; I was just talking about where I came from and why I don't tend to do that. I know of at least one story in the fandom, possibly two, where it is pretty specifically fetishized, and I don't have a problem with that at all.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Yes, but would Bertie insist on an even number of games? ;)

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Your mental Jeeves sounds similar to mine. Bertie says he's "darkish", and since pretty much everyone assumes he has black hair, that makes me think he has Celtic blood. I've read that they can have rather Mediterranean complexions. I see Jeeves with sort of olivey skin. Handsome face, green eyes, a more solid build than Bertie but I agree with you that he's not built like an ox. Not as tall as Stephen, either - more like 6'1" at most.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! ;) He might just lose them all though, if he offers Jeeves a romantic prize!

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I'm not surprised so many see Hugh and Stephen as Jeeves and Bertie. It's a testament to how good they were in those roles. :)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could see both of those, and your reasoning why. (hooboy! hottie!Jeeves *sigh*)

One must remember, though, that ironing shirts and polishing silver wouldn't be the only thing Jeeves does. Turning mattresses once a week or so (a standard sort of maintenance job) would be pretty hefty work even if Bertie sleeps in a smaller bed, as would any marketing that involves carrying several bags/baskets of things at once, particularly if he's putting in flour or whatever in large bags to last for a bit. He's always handling Bertie's luggage when they travel, which seems to be pretty substantial, as well. Large suitcases and steamer trunks aren't light by any means, and Bertie travels a fair bit for a guy who prefers to stay at home. There's always the possibility that he does a bit of hauling Bertie to bed after he's had a few too many at the Drones, too.

We also have little idea what Jeeves does in his free time (aside from fishing and dancing).

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

*hee* Oh, Bertie would so totally throw the match if he could get snoggins!

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

LOL! I hadn't seen the movie in years so I didn't have that guy in my head when I was forming my image of Bertie. But recently I saw a small clip from the cartoon, and I thought "Oh my God, that guy looks so much like my Bertie!" So weird. A gold star to you for noticing the resemblance!

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

I have no idea who those two men are but I googled them, and I can see why you picture Bertie as looking a bit like them. The shirt ads were by J. C. Leyendecker (http://www.americanartarchives.com/leyendecker,jc.htm).

Despite my no longer picturing Hugh as Bertie, he still influences my drawing. I can't seem to avoid it!

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

If you want hottie Jeeves, I got the idea that looks-wise, Richard Armitage might make a good Jeeves and I manipped a picture of him to look more Jeevesy. He's quite the roguishly handsome fellow! I could send it to you if you'd like to see (I won't post it, as there might be copyright issues involved).

Excellent points. So I guess it's sensible to picture a nicely muscled Jeeves. Yay! (Which reminds me, I was going to say my mental Jeeves's muscles are not quite as defined as the one in the drawing above. I was consciously working on making the boys more masculine in appearance, since they aren't masculine enough in many previous pictures.)

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Ooh, a topping idea! *notes it down*

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, yes, please! I would love to see your manippy Hot!Jeeves!

I don't see anything at all wrong with how you've drawn either of them here. Bertie strikes me as a guy who might be a little effeminate anyway, though. I've always most certainly seen Jeeves as the butch one of the pair, despite his fussiness.

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

It shall be sent this evening. I might also toss in a couple of the Berties I've done, just for the hell of it. Do you have an e-mail address I can send them to? I only see a PM link.

I wouldn't say it was wrong, just a tad more ripped than I actually see him as. One of my problems in drawing men has been that for certain positions, I can't find good photo references for what I need, so I have to use myself, and I'm quite thin and bony. I try to masculinize things, but I've noticed that Jeeves in particular still often ends up looking too thin and smooth. I've been making an effort recently to familiarize myself more with men's musculature so I won't have to use myself so much.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

You can send stuff to inisglas at seanet dot com, thanks!

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

I think I once said my mental Jeeves is pretty much your Jeeves, or getting closer to it all the time. He gets leaner and less broad and is closely approaching your sketches. Bertie, like you said, shifts a lot. I think of him as pretty tall and a little gawky, with blond hair and pale skin. I think he has a prominent nose, or thinks he does at least, and a small forehead probably. People who think they have big noses often have small foreheads.

But other than that he's very fuzzy to me.

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

YES! That similarity has been niggling and now that you pointed it out I see that's who I've been thinking of.

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Huh, I didn't know that about the big-nosed. My dad has a prominent nose but his forehead's pretty average. Same with me. Although I guess now I think about it, many of the prominent-nosed men I've come across in my photo searches have had comparatively small foreheads. I'll have to pay more attention to this trend.

My Bertie was fuzzy, then he got clear, and now he's really fuzzy again. :( I wish Wodehouse had been just a tiny bit more forthcoming with details about his appearance!