Luis Royo: Luz. Update 9 May 2020

[wendywombat]

Incredible detail! I see what you mean about her foot, well done!!

[Garnet]

This amazing Richard, her foot is clearly visible and the runes are appearing too. I see what you mean about the sword, to me the handle and hilt are clearly visible, the blade less so.

Well done

[Mabel Figworthy]

Isn't it interesting how details show up in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times! Great progress.

[rcperryls]

Isn't it interesting how details show up in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times! Great progress.

I agree! This is really beautiful! Fantastic progress!

Carole

[vanessanjf]

Looking good Richard Fantastic detail in this one

[richardandtracy]

Thank you all for your encouragement, it does make a difference.

Regards,

Richard.

[Squirrel]

Great to see this one again Richard and the detail is amazing. A great update.

[Podolyanka]

I wish my English were better or I were an analyst in arts to put into words what exactly impresses me in this work. To cut a long story short: from the programme which created the chart to the tiny stitches which make the stitching look like a painting, and of course, all the hard work and patience involved can't help impressing and make me look forward to further updates. Very well doing, Richard. Happy stitching!

[richardandtracy]

Thank you so much for your comments.
Yep, I am responsible for every last bit of the conversion. So if anything goes wrong with it, I only need to look in a mirror to find who to blame...

Luis Royo's pictures are remarkable. I had not really come across them until I saw a statue that just stopped me in my tracks, one called 'A Touch of Ice' attributed to someone who was completely unknown to me at the time. It was a complete revelation, even though I have read and looked at fantasy art books since the early 1980's, I had never even dreamed of such a thing. I eventually saved up to buy an example of the statue (by 'Yamato Toys' in the US), and even though it's small at about 6" high, it's one I cherish and look at every time I go from the hall through our dining room to the kitchen. see the images in this search Then I saw that the 'Uranos Drops' picture was to be made into a big and utterly unaffordable statue, I had the idea of stitching the reference image Royo's painted for the statue. After that, I saw this image, and liked it enough to feel it was worth 110 thousand stitches. That's a good measure of how much I like it.

Regards,

Richard.

[fccs]

Another absolutely beautiful update!!! Wow!!!

[Ciors]

Really beautiful! Royo's artwork is incredible - there are multiple posters of his around our house. I'm so happy that a couple of his works have been added to the HAED website recently.

[richardandtracy]

I'm glad he's getting wider recognition as his images are remarkable.
I am a lot less glad HaED is the crew doing the conversions. They have a poor track record when it comes to images with a lot of dark areas and low tonal differences. And that is Royo's art in a nutshell. The second image in both the charts available is a mock-up image I assume. If so.. I shall not be purchasing them, as the conversion is inadequate. Of the two, they have tried harder with 'The cross of the year', but it's not a conversion I would be happy to spend time stitching. The subtle variation in colours in a Royo need far more than 90 colours, and blending is needed. Both images also need the darkest areas not to be slabs of black (come on, 19500 stitches full black thread, 5.4 skeins, 23400 stitches, 6.4 skeins of DMC934. What on earth are they thinking of? There is no way the image deserves that overload of black and dark colours.) and they need the lightest areas not to be burnt to white (bottom of the cross image). Not impressed enough to be doing those myself. OK, that's an understatement, I am deeply unimpressed. My experience indicates Royo images are very sensitive to conversion quality, and these are not good quality. The conversions could, and should, be better.

Regards

Richard.

[richardandtracy]

I was surprised how quickly this update came. I've been on leave at home this week, going out with the family to a few local attractions, and in the evenings have been stitching. I managed to finish page 16. The page index is as below:

There are 6174 stitches on page 16. The detail of the page is:

And the project so far is:

Sorry about the blue colour cast, I took the photo outside and it was sunny. Bad move, as I don't seem able to correct for the colour cast from a sunny day. Maybe it's because they are so unusual. Not this summer, but generally in the UK.
Anyway, that makes a total of 48991 stitches from a project of 110730 stitches, or 44.2% finished. It is looking moderately fine & I am pleased.
I can now go back to Gryff, and maybe complete the 9th page of 18 on that project before returning to Luz.

Regards,

Richard.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Great progress, and I marvel at the amount of detail! Looking forward to seeing Gryff again though

[Squirrel]

It is growing beautifully Richard..

[kingfisher2]

This is going to be another stunning picture when finished. Love this update, as always stitching immaculate. Well done Richard, this is coming along so nicely.

Looking forward to seeing Gryff

[poppy]

Great update, Richard. There are a lot of shadings, which makes it look great.

[vanessanjf]

You are making amazing progress

[richardandtracy]

After finishing page 19 & getting on quite well with page 20, I thought I'd better post a quick update.
This is the chart page cross reference:

and here is the progress:

Most of the rune books are complete, and I'm starting on the shading of the background fabric below the rune books. At a distance the whole image is beginning to really come together.
I have done about 50% of the stitches on page 20, so that takes me up to about 53700 stitches and 48.5% through the project.
It has been nice making progress, though.

Regards,

Richard.

[kbaywolf]

Impressive work Richard.
Do you not find it difficult to switch between two major projects? I find that it helps when I become familiar with, almost learn, a complicated chart page, and I'm not sure I could manage having two of that level on the go. When I stitch something other than my photo conversions it is always a simpler design.