GRAPHIC RECONSTITUTION / STUDY

I've had this idea of a game/challenge for graphists for a looooong time, and I finally decided to try it.

The principle is this:
with the existing (but incomplete) graphic references for some wonderful item from the series..
..TRY and reconstitute the COMPLETE item.
At least ANALYSE them, sharing your analysis and the results of your study here.

First proposal: the huge, muti-coloured 'Great Sun' suspension of tinted glass behind Savah's throne, in Sorrow's End.

Here are the references I gathered :
























Unfortunately, I cannot participate anymore to this kind of graphic challenge,
because I don't have the required graphic tools, for now.

At least consider this exercise as a COLLECTIVE effort.


I just hope some elf-friends, here, will try their hands at it..
..and that it will give other ideas to other fans!

You mean to recreate the complete circle, PC? One of them ...

Each of the reference pics shows a different pattern in form and colors, so there would be not a single "right" one, but many possibilities. Not to mention the differrent coloring styles.

Good remarks! You're attentive, Embala!

Now, you see why I'd rather call this a challenge..
..and such objections should NOT be a REAL obstacle for IMAGINATIVE graphists..
..because they offer more LATITUDE, for the reconstitution of this item we all 'know'.


Now, all.. just think about this hypothesis:
What if that splendid 'suspension'..
..was in fact a TURNING wheel?

Looking whether it could fit when it is turned around was the second thing I did. It's left to imagination.

In fact the lines on the "teeth" would hint a movement.

What if it also served as some sort of clock..?

Would make much sense..

But no.. the patterns are indeed CHANGING, from one scene to the other, as well as the colors..
  ..and not the way a turning wheel would.



Oh, well.. I guess it must be some shape-changing magic at work.

Or.. it might be some sort of mind-manipulating magic, based on light control
  and the detection of emotions, this wonderful item facilitating it, for Savah.

For instance, I noticed she never faces it..

And maybe Sun-Toucher deserves his name in more ways than expected and participates in this,
  unaffected by the visual effects, blind as he is..



Strangely enough..
..this far-fetched hypothesis may make MUCH sense, considering..

Oh, intriguing idea. And I do have the graphic tools to give it a try.

But...

There's no indication in-story (which I'm aware of) that the design slowly changes in the way that the Great Egg does. And how could it? There's no rock shaper in the village until Ekuar visits and Ahdri comes in to her magical powers. Or metal shaper, if that's a think in canon, to manipulate the 'veins' separating the glass (EDIT: if that's metal). And how else would it rotate? The Sun Villagers dont have gear technology.

And if that's glass instead of crystal, which I suspect it is... is glassshaping a thing?

I think this is just a case where the continuity of the shape is not maintained from one image to the next. I could put together a similar montage of Petalwing's wings changing wildly from story to story or page to page. Doesn't mean it is a shapeshifter altering its wings at will. Just means that the image of the wings is a minor detail not worth extreme nitpicking relative to the whole image.

So maybe the final reconstruction would me more of a composite. We could pick out aspects of the different image and choose what to put in the final image. For example, I prefer the softer glass colors in the image with Savah's name in the ribbon, over the deeper colors in the other images. It brings to my mind the image that the sun symbol was designed to recall and preserve the image of the crystalline nature of the long-lost Palace, while the elves of Blue Mountain devoted themselves to replicating the *architecture.*

I have seen part of an old thread debating whether or not Savah is a light or fire shaper who makes her chair and the background circle glow when she sits down. Dont recall a conclusion ever being reached... But the way the panes are colored in the image I refered to seems to imply there is a glow of some sort, to me.

Glass breaks.... and they have those cat critters running around a whole lot ((Leetah's pet)), so I wager, a pane of glass gets broke here and there by rambunctious critters... or zwoot stampedes.... and the different panes are the repaired/replaced ones

I like simplicity....

Good point.

Another (later-era) image.



wanted to see the throne in context with the dias.

I doubt it more and more..

After all, Wendy went to great lengths to show us this item in varying angles,
  and it's FAR easier for an artist to set such a complex item ONCE..
  ..rather than having to re-create it each and every time.



Indeed. Let your imagination work!

So do I.

Even simpler hypothesis:
What if there were MANY different such 'Great Sun' items stored under Savah's hut?

After all, the Sun-Folk probably had the time to craft such a collection,
in homage to their Mother of Memory..



By the way.. Did anyone notice that the backcover of #6 is the only panel..
..presenting this item INVERTED?

The WHOLE decorum has changed..

Inverted? ... Either I'm not attentive enough - or my vocabulary fails.



There's a wonderful calendar pic by Foxeye about the creation of this wheel of light. It illustrated how rockshaper magic and lightshaper magic flow together in this artefact. Not quite canon ... but it's in the official calendar, isn't it? It would be a nice addition to this discussion ...

Have a look at the (totally wonderful) backcover of #6 issue of the original quest.



Then watch the BORDER of the Great Sun item..
..and compare with other panels.