RB's FireFly Fanart Gallery

FireFly & Serenity related fanart

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"Incipit Vita Nova"287 viewsPersephone, 2517, the year Dr. Simon Tam first sets foot aboard Serenity. A pivotal moment that marks the beginning of a new life for River and her brother. This piece shows Simon, on the ramp of Serenity, where he meets Kaylee, who introduces him to Mal (O.S.). That pose of Simon alone, briefcase in hand, is enough to make me want to cry. He looks so out of place! And he is. All because of River, for whom he sacrificed everything, just so she could be safe. This is a man who, were it not for his great love for River, would never be here! The Title is taken from Dante's "La Vita Nuova" (= The New Life). And we see a page, supposedly from Simon's diary, which reads, paraphrased after Dante, "In that book which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first entered Serenity, appear the words: Here begins a new life (= Incipit Vita Nova)."1 commentsalbatross

Explore All207 viewsMy favorite RPG, Mass Effect, depicting my favorite female role character: Jane Shepard. Femshep facing battle, facing the Council, and facing romance.albatross

"This is paranoid schizophrenia."199 views
This is the first in my new River "State of Mind" series. As we open up the walls of River's reality, so to speak, we see the reason behind her troubled mental state: paranoid schizophrenia, hand-crafted by government scientists who thought River's brain was a rutting playground. The idea is to get a glimpse at what's been buried beneath those layers of psychosis. The peeling off of reality, as it were, opens up the door to a lot of symbolism: eleven inherent metaphoric parallels already there. :) This particular pose on the couch is one of my favorites scenes. River, withdrawn into herself, has to face her demons herself.

This picture differs from the one I originally posted at FFF.net, in that it has a different font, and was edited for small pixel errors and such.1 commentsalbatross

"Merciful God"183 views
River Tam at Miranda, pleading to God to make her a stone. "Merciful God" depicts this highly dramatic scene, where my poor, helpless River, who can't not feel, is forced to feel for 30 million dead people! It always touches me profoundly, as I feel myself overwhelmed with sorrow for what they did to my dearest little one. :(albatross

Connection172 viewsThis small theme focusses on the relationship between my two favorite characters: Femshep + Liara! :) Only the Liara with the probing eyes, to the right, is entirely sharp. Made the lighting a bit spooky, though, to give off a sort of psychic vibe (original is from a grab at Therum). The middle Liara contours are from a self-explanatory scene, depicting Liara's romantic interest in Femshep. The half-transparent Femshep image to the left was my feeble attempt to mimic the feel of the main characters fading in thingy, the way it's done at the start of the game. Needless to say, doing so is harder than it looks. :) She faces the middle Liara, as per Liara's thoughts.albatross

"Noah's Ark is a problem."166 views
Another piece in River's "vision" series. The central figure is River, reading the story of Noah's Ark. The foreground River, from OiS, is the visualization of River at the table, trying to picture the story. Since River is, as it were, projecting the scene, notice the absence of water behind her! (because she only sees extra 'props', so to speak, where her focus is). The Bible page on the right I scanned is actually of the story of Noah's Ark, and is meant to remind the viewer that everything River 'sees', she sees while reading Book's Bible. Composition-wise, instead of painstakingly trying to edit out the original upward branch from her hair, I found what I thought was an elegant solution: I removed part of side of her hair, and had it merge with the hair, also hanging down, from the River at the table. And I think it works surprisingly well. All-in-all, at least I feel I succeeded in taking this well-known River pose from OiS, and doing something completely different with it.1 commentsalbatross

"Time to wake up!"164 viewsI'm becoming increasingly aware of the subtle, but important link between Mal and River. Sure, Simon rescued her. Very heroesque, for certain. But Mal gave her a home. He had no reason to, and had a perfect way out even; but he did not take it. Instead, he has always protected her. In many ways, Mal has been equally instrumental to River's healing as Simon. That's what this very simple work is about. It shows Mal and River. The basis is the "I'm alright" scene of the BDM, where River, after things got much. much worse, reaches a turning point, and finally starts her healing. It has Mal in it too, in the "They won't see this coming" scene, with our BDH bathing in an almost Angelic light. I took a quote from Evanescence this time (lol, my turn to join the line of Evanescence quoters): "But through my tears breaks a blinding light, birthing a dawn to this endless night," signifying the beginning of the end of River's suffering. Dedicated to my dear friend, FollowMal. albatross

"I can win this!"157 viewsI decided to give the "River and burning swing" scene a swing. Very difficult theme, though. How do you capture River's innocence lost at that swing? And still have something artistic to say. You tell me! I felt a certain thrill thinking not just of the losses of our dearest River, but of how she came out victorious in the end. So, short of having her machete away at Reavers, I took the theme from Objects in Space, where's she playing a game with Kaylee, and did a sort of premonition/memory of Miranda thing with it, only to add the ever sweet "I can win this!" words. The view is kinda panoramic, what with the surface of Miranda and all, to get that planetary feel going between the two blue objects.albatross

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Twilight Fancies12 viewsKaylee, half passed out, drifting in and out to a faerie-like dream land. It's a bit different. And it's a bit shippy (but in an unsullied way: just some harmless swooning on the part of our fav' mechanic). Not an overly complex image. But I played a lot with the lighting, and I'm now fair content with the the dream-state like properties it's breathing. After all these years, it really does get harder creating new and undone themes. All-in-all, I set out what I wanted to do.albatrossSep 07, 2009

"Going Dark"9 views"Going Dark" tells the story of Kaylee getting shot. Like an eclipsed sun, there's Dobson's bullet, frozem in mid air, as 'seen' by Kaylee, who walks into the cargo bay at the wrong time. I accentuated Kaylee's stomach wound, but it's the only graphic element in the entire image. In fact, most everything else is purposely opposite to bad stuff; it's all dream-like, sweet, with pretty flowers, butterflies, and even one of River's pink elephants shows up for the occasion (from the unshot episode 'Dead or Alive'). No nightmares for Kaylee, no bad conscience visiting upon her, no worries even: you just gotta have faith in people, yourself included.

I actually first started out with the idea of an eclipsed sun (which is what the 'bullet' once was: a photo of an eclipsed sun). And for the longest time I had been planning to call it "When the sun goes dark." Then I suddenly realized that Kaylee has a perfect 'Going dark.' line herself as well (in the pilot). Much better, of course. :)

The source-material of Firefly, even when taken directly from Blu-Ray, remains of questionable to low quality. There's a lot of ugly 'noise,' which really becomes near unmanageable when taking 'zoomed-in' outtakes from the more darker passages. That particular scene with Kaylee entering the cargo bay is. sadly. of said low quality. So I had to resort to covering up the worst part (of her face). Same for Dobson's hand firing the gun. Ain't about what I want, but what it needs.

A lot of light-play again. Instead of using the image of the sickbay's real surgical lamp, I tried to emulate its bright, crackelee-mirror inner surface with a few filters (top-right corner). I also put a light-source behind Kaylee’s bed post (extending to the back and to the left, into the rest of the 'room'). It's supposed to work the illusion that there's extra room between the operating table and the wall (kinda positioning Kaylee's makeshift bed somewhere on the big blue floor).albatrossSep 07, 2009

"He takes so much looking after!"15 viewsIt's Love. In point of fact. But not between Kaylee and Simon per se. No, the love expressed here is that of River, deeply happy for her brother. You could feel the sadness in her when she said: "You gave up everything for me." And now she just basks in the joy of finally seeing her brother happy again. And thus it was written, Love seeks not itself to please, nor for itself has any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a heaven in hell's despair.albatrossAug 25, 2009

Walking Among the Stars116 viewsI decided to make what I wanted to do with an earlier work, but which didn't work out at the time: a 'live' Galaxy Map. Combine that with my unrelenting adoration for Femshep, LOL, and there ya have it: "Walking Among the Stars."

"Walking Among the Stars" stars my own Kira (which I just call 'Jane' here for generic's sake), standing on a small base at the center of the Galaxy Map crossbars, surrounded by several planets and moons, with the whole Traverse at her disposal, so to speak. I actually had to remake the Galaxy Map crossbars from scratch, as the real ones proved too hard too blend properly, and looked a bit distorted anyway. As these things go, it was all-in-all a lot harder to make than it looks (especially 'Femshep in the spotlight on center pad' took ages to blend nicely; whoever said blending is easy should be taken into a the yard and be shot!).

Actually, this sort of wallpaper is not my usual style. I always prefer to work from a theme. But, with a bit of good will, Walking Among the Stars can be considered a theme, too. :) So, here's to hoping ya like it anyway! albatrossOct 12, 2008

"Never knew I was lonely, until I was not alone."102 viewsIt is late-night (11:15 PM, to be precise); and we find Dr. T'Soni in her Normandy quarters. sitting at her desk, alone, working on her journal. The rest of the Crew is either in the Mess Hall, or has already turned in. Not Liara. She is used to working alone, and generally prefers the solitude. Today was an enervating day for her. She had managed to get herself stuck in a Prothean contraption at Therum, was attacked by geth and a very nasty Krogan, and subsequently rescued by Commander Shepard, who -- despite the potential risk -- welcomed her aboard the Normandy. So here she is. making an entry in her journal. Yes, today was different. For the first time she realizes she's been lonely for quite a while. It never much bothered her before, really; but, earlier, when she was talking with Commander Shepard, she had felt sad when the Commander left, and suddenly wasn't too eager to isolate herself at a new dig site for yet another 50 years.

Okay, that long-winded bit is the theme. :) Hence, the Title: "Never knew I was lonely, until I was not alone." (Extended Commentary below)1 commentsalbatrossSep 18, 2008

Hero Worship131 viewsFemshep and Liara, they remain a fascinating item. :)

A bit of an unusual image, this time, though. The whole theme is basically Liara giving Femshep that significant 'Hero Worship' glance at Therum. Much of it is actually rather self-explanatory. There's a bit of that 'swimming-pool' design holding cell Liara got herself suspended in; and, of course, a hero-shot of Femshep, once more unto the breach (at her showdown with Saren), half of her face appearing in Asari blue (the color, given the right frame, near as good looks that way because of Saren's biotic attacks; but split over half her face, I figured it made for a nice metaphor, what with a human/Asari romance and all).

Took me hours to make. Primarily because I kept adding stuff I needed to throw out afterwards anyway. :) Like pieces of a Galaxy Map, a background image of Saren in a corner, etc. None of it worked, really. So, at long last I decided just to leave it "as is".albatrossSep 12, 2008

We're just too pretty for God to let us die! 110 viewsHard as I tried, I've never been able to create a Femshep as pretty as my Kira -- I really hit a 'magical chord' with her. So, Kira it is, then. :) albatrossSep 04, 2008