My drawings from "The New World"

Here are two drawings I've done from one of my all time favorite movies. I used just graphite pencil on bristol paper.

Pocahontas

John Rolfe

   




"He is like a tree. He shelters me. I lie in his shade."






















"When first I saw her she was regarded as someone finished, lost, broken. She seemed barely to notice of the others about her."

"The New World"

   Ok, movie spotlight time! "The New World" has a certain place in my heart for a few reasons. I do admit, it used to be the joke of our house for its strange editing and long periods of time walking in a field, but I watched it all the way through two years ago, and I have completely new eyes for it. There's something about it that takes me back to a time and place I feel is so familiar, if you've ever had that experience. Like as if when I think of it, and the music, and pace of the film, I feel like I'm in a comforting, dream-like state of mind. It's quite a relaxing movie actually. Anyways, I LOVE the historical aspect of it as well and that it takes place during the later Renaissance melding into the Stuart era with the reign of James VI. The age of expansion and exploration has already been set in motion and England is prospering from new discoveries.

     Elaborate and frivolous clothing had just been during Queen Elizabeth's reign, and some hints can still be seen in the English clothing of the Stuart era. I particularly love the hats like the velvet flat caps with the ostrich feathers, and there's something about the doublet with the detachable sleeves I find so appealing. I can already see how the shoes of the 17th century evolve into the Georgian era shoes by seeing the movie. Pocahontas (Rebecca) sure must have been patient for putting up with the heels when she was practically bare foot all her life.
       The music of "The New World" is a whole other subject to dive into. Now I love the Mozart, Beethoven, and especially Wagner that was incorporated in the movie, but once you hear James Horner's score he wrote, you'll think Terrence Malick's crazy for not using it more. The theme alone is breathtaking and it's a score you can listen to over and over again. It transports one back to that world. It captures the essence and heart of the movie through sounds and rhythms too beautiful to describe- sounds of woodwinds, trumpets, even birds. I truly think it's Horner's best.

     Some things to take note are that they did get an actress ( Q'oriana Kilcher) who was the perfect age at 14, since the real Pocahontas was 12 when she met John Smith and 19 when she married John Rolfe so they had to choose an age somewhere in the middle. And I'm so glad they stuck to history when she ends up truly loving and ending up with John Rolfe. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Rolfe (Christian Bale) and Pocahontas work on his tobacco plantation and their relationship develops there. Historical accounts like John Smith's journal tells us there was no romance between Pocahontas and Smith, but only with John Rolfe. Other than that extra love story, they stuck to the timeline almost perfectly as far as we know of what really happened.
     So nevertheless, outstanding performances from all and what an AMAZING movie!
     

       
 

Finished map

So I forgot to post it when I finished but here is the map of Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island that I drew. I used a quill pen with interchangeable nibs and black and red ink. I was so happy I had red ink because if you look at my first post, red ink is used in the original map. I drew it on slightly discoloured parchment paper though it doesn't show the true colour here. I tried to get as close as possible to the real thing. I'd have to say the palm trees were actually the most tedious and the compass was right up there. But it was fun I must say! So how did I do?

most eloquent music...

    For those who may not know, I am a connoisseur of soundtracks and classical music. I live and breathe them! I do have Coldplay, Taylor Swift, and others on my iPod, but more than half of my music consists of soundtracks and classical. To me, I almost forget it is only instrumental (not including Disney songs and a few others) because the melodies are so distinct, so memorable and articulate that you can almost place words to it. Those who say it's boring or plain just aren't really listening. These songs are like a story that may either start the same way it ends, or builds up into a crescendo or dies down until it fades softly. Then throughout there may be twists and turns and the great thing about instrumental is that there has to be a rhyme and rhythm to it or else you're listening to a mish mash of instuments randomly playing. It's all thought and planned out and every note is put there for a reason. It really is the hardest to write and play. It is amazing to think of even back in the 18th century of composers- Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart who all had the same mindset and process as the composers we have today. The compositions somehow are both mathematical because the timing is vital, and yet you don't really think about it because it's masked by the pull and uplifting of your soul when you listen to it. It can be so moving and powerful.
   Take one of my absolute top favorite composers, John Williams. Have you ever listened to his score for "Empire of the Sun"? It is my absolute favorite soundtrack and moreover, my favorite movie of all time. But just focusing on the soundtrack for now, it is absolutely breathtaking. I actually cry when I listen to it especially during the zenith of "Cadillac of the Skies" which to me, is when the crescendo suddenly turns into only the vocal chorus when Jim leans his head back laughing in hysterics and yells "P-51! Cadillac of the skies!". It's funny how that moment, to me, is the most important part of the whole song and my favorite because it's such a big and powerful moment that the only way the music can describe it is with more of a quiet and angelic approach.
       And of course the main theme itself moves me every time I hear it. I'm talking about the track,"Toy Planes, Home, and Hearth". It starts out with only a quiet and gentle piano playing the tune, then the violins come in, and then the whole orchestra and it keeps building up and getting louder and louder and then you have more vocals to break it up with the choir.

       I love John Williams' use of the choir in all his works. It adds so much to a score that you can't get any other way. Any big, epic movie usually uses a choir along with the orchestra, I find, because it magnifies whatever emotion the score is trying to get through to the viewers. I don't know if John Williams knew he was doing this, but it's so perfect that whenever in the movie that they show anything having to do with upwards, planes or the sky, the choir comes in. So now whenever I hear it in the soundtrack, I picture a heavenly sky with light shining through the clouds or Jim's toy plane soaring above him. It gives a feeling of upward ascent, and of upward ascent of the soul as well. But moving on, I highly, highly recommend this movie and soundtrack as you can tell.
    Another thing Williams puts in this soundtrack are excerpts of real classical music, particularly Chopin's Mazurka Opus 17 No. 4. This is used first when Jim's mother is playing piano and then again later in the movie as well. It really fits the mood and William's score. I actually thought it was part of his own score until I looked it up. In the track "Toy Planes, Home, and Hearth" it is incorporated into it.

       One last thing I must say about this particular soundtrack is of course the song of all songs in the movie, "Suo Gan". For those who are not familiar with this tune, it is actually a Welsh lullaby and the language is traditional Welsh. It was a perfect way to start off the movie and a perfect way, therefore, to end it. Once again, we see the use of a choir, and Jim has the solo throughout the song. For those who have seen the movie, he uses what we saw in the beginning of the movie and sings it this time by himself without the choir when the Kamikaze pilots are about to take off. It usually is the song people have stuck in their head when the movie is over partly because it is just such a distinctive melody as I have said about instrumental before.
      A good score has a memorable, distinctive melody you can hear and recognize anywhere. Another vital attribute a score must have is the contribution to the movie it's accompanying. Rather, the score is a part of the movie or even, it is the movie but in musical form. When you hear the score, you must be able to immediately think of the movie. It should capture the essence, the mood, and the overall feel the movie has. Actually, the movie's mood is due to the score. I always like to say that the score has one of the highest percentages of importance in the process of movie making. The composer, when given no limits, has such power over a movie since he may guide the direction of the mood and emotions the audience feels at whatever moment. Like I've said, the music certainly does spur on my tears during "Empire of the Sun".

     I've actually been learning "Cadillac of the Skies","Suo Gan", "Exultate Justi", and even "Mazurka Opus 17 no. 4"on the piano. I must say they are so fun to play and I could just practice them for hours. It's one of the ways I like to relax. My dad always comes in and gives the salute when he hears the theme. The most challenging is "Cadillac of the Skies" since it's so intricate and it's a medley of multiple little melodies, but it's so worth it to play well. I know I can never match the original, but it brings me satisfaction when I can play my favorite themes and songs.
     This is certainly one of my top favorite soundtracks and it's one of the most perfect examples of a genuinely remarkable and breathtaking score, and even that is an understatement for this incredible masterpiece!

Today in history...

April 5, 1614

Today, 397 years ago, marks the day that love was the bond between two rival peoples- the Indians that inhabited old world Virginia and the new English settlers. This particular date was when Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, married one of the settlers who arrived there in 1613, John Rolfe.
   Everyone knows the story of John Smith and Pocahontas or at least they think they do. To clarify things, she was actually ten when he met her, and to him, she was a playful child. They were merely friends for all the years they knew each other. But no one talks about John Rolfe and Pocahontas and their love for one another.
  After John Smith left Virginia and Pocahontas was captured and released by the settlers for ransom, she was taken to a little settlement called Henrico where she met John Rolfe. John was a dedicated, hard-working man who started a tobacco plantation which would earn enough money to continue settling of the English colonies. He previously had a wife and daughter whom came along with him, but sadly, they died on the voyage to Virginia, leaving him alone in this new world. Now, John was a devout Christian man who probably never thought he'd marry a pagan inhabitant of all people, but there there was something there that he couldn't help falling in love with. He was indeed infatuated and perplexed by her. In his own words:

  "To whom my hartie and best thoughts are, and inthralled in so intricate a laborinth, that I was even awearied to unwinde my selfe thereout..."

The only obstacle in his way of marrying her was her pagan ways. But she wasn't opposed to being converted. In fact, it was during the time she knew John that she began her education with him in the Christian faith. Here is an excerpt from John Rolfe himself in a letter to Sir Thomas Dale conerning her teaching by him:

"Likewise, adding hereunto her great appearance of love to me, her desire to be taught and instructed in the knowledge of God, her capablenesse and willingness to receive her owne incitents stirring me up hereunto."

Her willingness to learn and be taught made him all the more struck with wonder and admiration. Indeed, his dilemma in marrying her was that she was not yet converted and still a pagan. However, he used this opportunity to witness to her and lead her to truth.
    In the Spring she came to Christ and was baptized and renamed Rebecca. Soon following this on April 5, 1614, she and John Rolfe married. The best description of this happy moment in time can be found in Our Country, chronicling American history published in the 1800s.

"Very soon Pocahontas again stood before the chancel of the little chapel, now as a bride. It was a charming day in April, 1613. Her father's consent to her marriage had been easily obtained, and he had sent his brother Opachisco to give away his daughter according to the Christian ritual, for he would not trust himself with the English at Jamestown. Over the "fair, broad windows" hung festoons of evergreens bedecked with wild flowers, with the waxen leaves and scarlet berries of the holly. The communion table was covered with a "fair white linen cloth," and bore bread from the wheat fields around Jamestown, and wine from the luscious grapes from the adjacent woods. All the people at Jamestown were spectators of the nuptials."....."When all things were in readiness, the bride and groom entered the chapel. Pocahontas was dressed in a simple tunic of white muslin from the looms of Dacca. Her arms were bare even to her shoulders; and hanging loosely to her feet was a robe of rich stuff presented to her by Sir Thomas Dale, and fancifully embroidered by herself and her maidens. A gaudy fillet encircled her head, and held the gay plumage of birds and a veil of gauze, while her wrists and ankles were adorned with the simple jewelry of the native workshops. Rolfe was attired in the gay clothing of an English cavalier of that period, and upon his thigh he wore the short sword of a gentleman of distinction in society. He was a noble specimen of manly beauty and dignity in form and carriage, and she of womanly modesty and lovely simplicity. Upon the chancel steps, where no railing interfered, the good Whittaker stood in sacerdotal robes, and, with impressive voice, pronounced the marriage ritual of the Anglican Church, there first planted on the American continent. The governor, sitting on his right on a richly-carved chair of state, with his ever-attendant halberdiers with helmets, at his back, heartily said Amen! at the conclusion of the ceremony."

This marriage brought peace between the Powhatans and Englishmen for the remaining years of Pocahontas' life, where before, wars and hatred had been their relations.
  Rebecca and John had one son whom they named Thomas. The family went to England where Rebecca was presented to the new king, James I. She was exremely well received and favored by
the whole court. She lived a short life, dying at age 22 of illness, but within that short life, she experienced trials, adventure, discovery, and love.
      

In the days of the Renaissance

      Ah, th' merry Renaissance Faire is approaching as some may be aware, at least to our town, and I always make it a tradition to attend every year. I never cease to enforce the policy upon my family of wearing the appropriate attire for such a rare occasion meaning we must wear period costumes! If I could, I'd make it a law that one must come in Renaissance clothing to the Renaissance faire for it merely makes sense to do so. I try to take every opportunity and excuse I possibly can to dress in period costume. It's not like you can just wear it all the time right? So now I thought it might be an appropriate time to talk about what one would wear in the days of the Renaissance, especially if you're thinking of going to a faire or are just curious to know what the fashions were then. So without further ado...

                 A Brief Background on The Renaissance (c.1350-1600)

   The Italian Renaissance began around 1350 while England was still having it's problems dealing with the Hundred year War. The English Renaissance didn't really take off till around 1450 with the Wars of the Roses at the end of the Hundred Years War, which marked the end of the Plantagenet era and the beginning of the Tudor. The English Renaissance included two eras- the Tudor(1485-1558) and the Elizabethan era(1558-1603). The Tudor era actually spanned pretty much over the whole English Renaissance and ended with Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603.

    Women always wore long, trailing gowns up until around 1350, and men wore similar long trailing robes. Then the women's gown split into separate parts such as the bodice, skirt, and chemise and the men's split into the doublet and stockings. The women's skirt was shortened, for this became the fashion in the Renaissance which also allowed women to move more freely. As the period went on, their skirts became more voluminous, reaching a greater circumference and full clothing became the fashion. At the end of Elizabeth's reign, the Spanish influence became more predominant with geometric shape-stlye clothing rather than form fitting as the earlier centuries promoted. This was also apparent with men's fashion as they started out with normal size doublets and nether stocks and trunk hose. Then they started slashing the trunk hose and wearing more padded doublets that would give a barrel appearance to themselves. The birth of fashions that resemble most of what we wear today may have started most during the 16th century. The women's and men's clothing both went through extreme changes from the Medieval to the Stuart, starting with long slim gowns and ending with full, separate parts and the popularity of the farthingale among women. Overall, this developed into today's separate apparel such as the basic shirt and pants, with of course, five more centuries of fashion change, but this is where it started. 

                                               

                                                          Women's clothing

Robe/ Gown

  The robe or gown emerged out of the Medieval era having at first a long train and floor length sleeves. Things became cut shorter and separate pieces of clothing evolved out of this. The gown split into the bodice, chemise, and skirt which replaced the long, floor-length robe. The decorative gown was still being worn throughout the Renaissance, but mainly for nobility. It would go over the chemise and under layers which could show beneath the gown if it was slashed. Slashing rose in popularity in the 16th century and would let the under-skirt show by cutting open the robe or gown. The gown or robe was basically a long, fashionable overgarment that would range from close-fitting to loose and from having sleeveless to long, hanging sleeves.

Overskirt
 The skirt was part of the main three essentials of Renaissance commoner dress as it developed after the long, trailing robe and became the fashion of the day. The overskirt in particular was a skirt that was worn over another one that might be either slashed down the middle or draped a tucked to reveal the skirts beneath.






Bodice

 There is a difference between the bodice a corset, as I know this might be confused. the bodice was a tight, sleeveless garment for the upper body that was worn over the chemise and laced in front for peasants and sometimes to the side or back for upper classes. This was an overgarment whereas the corset was an undergarment used strictly for support and shape.

Chemise
  The chemise was the basic loose-fitting undergarment that usually was one-piece though sometimes two pieces. They would serve as the first layer of clothing and reached down long so slashing to the overskirts or layering could be done.








Corset

As mentioned before, there is a significant difference between the corset and bodice. The corset was a tight-fitting garment that would go under the outer garment and lace up in the back. This would give support and achieve the desired shape to the torso. Yes, volume was the fashion in the latter half of the 16th century, but it was the volume of only the skirt and sleeves that gave the torso a slim and petite look which was what women wanted to achieve at that time and what we would call the hourglass look.

Underskirt

 Also known as the "forepart" or "petticoat, the underskirt is a skirt that goes underneath the overskirt and can show out of the opening of the overskirt if it's slashed or draped. This serves the same purpose the chemise does as the most under layer of the skirts. 

Farthingale
  Originating in Spain, the farthingale was an underskirt with hoops made of whalebone, wood, or rope sewed into the skirt that would give the overskirt volume and width in the late Renaissance. There were mainly two kinds of Farthingales: the French and the cartwheel. The French farthingale or bumroll, was the first one, introduced in the late 1570s to England from France. It gave the gown or skirt volume in the hip and and helped to achieve the bell shape of the skirt. The cartwheel or also called drum or great farthingale rose in the late 1590s that evolved from the French. This took volume to an even further step with its great circumference. The back would rise higher than the front giving a slant to it.

Surcote
 Originating in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Spanish surcote was a sleeveless garment and went the full length of the garment under it. It was typically worn over a chemise, kirtle, or other gown. In the early 14th century, the armhole became a long, vertical slit that went to the hips.













Kirtle

 The kirtle began in the 16th century and was originally worn under a gown and over a chemise. Then it became its own gown, being worn as an over garment. It would consist of a bodice that would lace up in front and an attached skirt that would run down the full length of the chemise.

Ruff
 The ruff was introduced from Spain to England around 1555 and started out as just a collar with figure 8 looking ruffles. It became larger and larger and by the end of Elizabeth's reign, it needed the "rebato" which was a half-moon shaped, stiff collar that would support the ruff and tilt it at the desired angle. The ruff would need to be starched which would set and stiffen it. Elizabeth herself would be the ideal example of this gigantic ruff towards the end of the Renaissance that needed the rebato.







Partlet

 Originally, the partlet was a collared, ruffled little garment used as a covering for the square necklines of the Renaissance for modesty's sake. It migrated from outside the garment, to tucked underneath as the era went on. Detachable sleeves could be attached to the partlet as well. Later on, during the Elizabethan era, when the ruff was introduced, the partlet also acted as a separator between the ruff and the face so the ruff would be protected and need less laundering and would have extra support.









                                                                    Men's clothing

Shirt
 The shirt was the men's basic undergarment usually made of linen and consisted of the band-collar and cuffs.
















Doublet

 The doublet was a tight-fitting jacket with padded shoulders that would button up in front and ended at the torso. It was worn over the short or drawers and was considered improper to be worn without an over tunic, jerkin, or mantle until the end of the Renaissance. Usually separate sleeves would be attached.

Jerkin
 The jerkin was a sleeveless vest or waistcoat worn as an outer garment. It would be worn over a a nobleman's doublet for propriety or over the shirt for a peasant. The doublet and jerkin can easily be confused, but the main difference is that the jerkin is more of a loose-fitting, longer garment that goes over the doublet, while the doublet is supposed to be covered by the jerkin and doesn't become a stand-alone garment until the 17th century.







Hose

  These were close-fitting stockings that started out in the Middle Ages. They went up to the waist and covered the feet. By the 16th century, the hose split into two parts: the trunk hose and the nether stocks.

Trunk-hose
 These were the upper hose that began in the later 16th century after the hose split into two garments. These were like a pair of baggy pants or trousers that covered the legs from the waist down and stopped around the knee. Towards the end of the Elizabethan era, these became loose fitting and puffy and sometimes were slashed. Examples of this would be slops and venetians. An example of a more tightly fitted, short type would be the earlier round hose or canions.


Nether stocks

  The nether stocks were more like tight-fitting stockings that covered the calf and stopped around the knee where they were attached to the trunk hose. They were one of the two garments the original hose split into like the trunk-hose. They could even have embroidery on the inner calf but of course, usually was for the wealthy.

Tunic
   The tunic was a loose-fitting outer garment that went down to the knee. It was worn mainly by peasants towards the end of the Renaissance for it was considered unfashionable by society. It was worn with a belt around the waist.








Ruff

 Like the women, the men wore the ruff as well which was introduced to England from Spain around 1555 and grew in circumference as the Elizabethan era went on.

Luck o' the Irish!

 There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle

"Twas St. Patrick himself sure that set it

And the sun on his labor with pleasure did smile

And a tear from his eyes oft-times wet it

It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland

And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland

                         -Traditional Irish Folk Song 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This is dedicated to my grandma from whom I owe the most for my Irish descent. Today I am reminded once again how lucky I am to come from Irish heritage. I know I will someday visit the beautiful country and hope that someday will be soon! It is one of the three countries I long to travel to most. But today, we celebrate and pay homage to Saint Patrick. So...just who was Saint Patrick you ask? A lot of people don't actually know really who he was or what he did. Just that he is associated with Ireland, the color green, and was a saint.

    Well first off, there's one thing that may surprise you. He wasn't actually Irish! That's right. In fact, he was English. He was born in Britain in the 5th century. Another thing to remember is that he wasn't the first to bring Christianity to Ireland. In 431, Pope Celestine sent the deacon, Palladius to the Irish, and while he and possibly other clerics did work among the people, it was Patrick who had the long term effect and stuck in the Irish minds as the central player of bringing Christianity to the island.

   But before we get there, when Patrick was 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland to be enslaved and put to work as a shepherd. Patrick found religious solace where he could pray in the lonely hours of tending sheep in the woods and mountains. Then, after 6 years, he heard a voice from God say that he would return home. And so he fled from his master and journeyed to a port where he would be taken back to Britain. He didn't stay long however. Now in his early twenties, he had another vision. These are Patrick's words:

  

"And there I saw in the night the vision of a man whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them and I read the opening words of the letter, which were 'The Voice of the Irish' and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice...and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: 'We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more'" 

    It was the last thing he wanted to do, to go back to the place that held him captive for six years. But he had a calling. God wanted him to go back and help the lost pagans. He among everyone else was chosen to do this. And so, he ended up converting mass amounts of pagans for 40 years to Christianity, not through changing customs, but beliefs. He sought to convert by persuasion, rather than confrontation, and brought Christianity to Ireland peacefully.

       

                        *the shamrock 

    The shamrock may sometimes be confused with a four-leaf clover. The four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck. The shamrock may have been used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity, for it has three leaves. There has been reason to question the authenticity of this story, but I like to believe it's true. The shamrock is now the symbol of Ireland. The name shamrock is derived from the Irish word seamróg, a version of the Irish word, seamair for clover.