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Smile, Draco

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Okay. Yes. I am among a rather large group of Harry Potter fans who take pity on Draco Malfoy because of JK Rowling's professed interest in hinting here and there at his being psychologically (and some speculate occasionally physically) abused and turned into a puppet carbon copy clone by his evil elitist icy bastard of a father, Lucius Malfoy. This of course doesn't excuse the towheaded ferret's behavior, BUT it certainly makes him more sympathetic and interesting. SO! I drew yet another Harry Potter sketch this weekend, of Draco posing for a portrait with Lucius, who has recently cruelly upbraided or smacked him about for some minor dissent or offense. I can just HEAR Jason Isaacs (a LOVELY Lucius, IMO) right after taking his son off to another room in the professional photographing studio to hiss at and belittle and thunk with his cane, dragging him back and going, "Now, now, Draco, smile for the cameraman, won't you? A sourface does a proper wizard no good when he becomes a real man." GRAH LOL! EVIL MAN! :veangeful: :d'oh: EVIL! LOL

My intent was that body language and facial expression in this relatively simple graphite sketch speak entirely for the content of the piece, and I WANT IT TO BE NUANCED--SUBTLE--LIKE IF YOU DON'T LOOK CLOSELY IT JUST LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER STIFF FAMILY PORTRAIT. Because that is the way child abuse situations REALLY are--NOT glaringly obvious. You'd just think Draco was a little bitch all by himself and spoiled rotten, and that I believe is only halfway true: As Minuchin said, our internal psycholgical states are guided by the external as well (the family and environment). Which is pretty scary and sad.

Lucius looms arrogantly over his son in heavy black robes, a leather gloved hand in a peculiar "I will choke you if you do not behave agreeably, I OWN you" kind of gesture at the boy's shoulder and throat. Draco sits with slightly taut shoulders but much like a perfect little porcelain doll, with a semi-sad, semi-rehearsed look of blase passivity and cold haughtiness on his vacant, big-eyed face. I hope you notice also the way that Lucius's cane is "accidentally" getting tangled in his son's hair, as if he is testing the extent of Draco's lenience and compliance by deliberately but quietly taunting him.

Both of these characters are, of course, owned by JK Rowling.
Image size
636x800px 513.34 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon PowerShot A70
Shutter Speed
1/125 second
Aperture
F/4.0
Focal Length
11 mm
Date Taken
May 14, 2005, 6:54:48 PM
© 2005 - 2024 AmberPalette
Comments72
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lil-mermaid1016's avatar
Nice!!! Even though it's four or five years old, it still looks fantastic. As for Draco, I didn't like him then, but now I can understand where he's coming from. Poor guy, he seems like a nice guy, it's that for 17 years of his life he grew up w/ his jerk of a father and not enough with his mother.