Nerd Moment: Fan-art Win

While the substance of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" was initially a colossal disappointment, in the ensuing weeks I've at least managed to appreciate the scenery, soundtrack, and almost every clip of Legolas.  I've been trying to imagine Thranduil's cavern palace for years.  Also, just hearing them say some of the token Sindarin words I've been using in fanfiction since I was eighteen was fabulous.

Meanwhile, considering myself an unauthorized authority on all things Thranduil, I wasn't thrilled with Lee Pace's incarnation of the character.  I do approve his voice, if he could just speak without the affected zombie cadence Peter Jackson's ruling Elves seem to favor.  Just spit it out already.

The upside is that the new movies have inspired scads of fan-art online, most of which is blah, some of which is humorous, and a very few of which are absolute gems.

This was the first and only decent artist rendering of Thranduil I could find, meeting Celeborn in Greenwood after the War of the Ring.  No idea who the artist actually is.  The fact that it doesn't show his face just made it less problematic.  Though, it would be nice to not have to imagine Thranduil's face all the time, and Lee Pace just doesn't cut it.

Huzzah!  An idle internet search turned up this beauty by NaSyu, which for all intents and purposes looks like somebody printed my mental image on canvas.  If I could just learn to draw faces, we wouldn't have these problems.  In the meantime, I have this, which I open on my laptop whenever I attempt to write these days.

Now for the bonus round!  Last night I actually found an exceptionally good young Thranduil by Brilcrist.  And his eyes are actually green!  SCORE!  I'll have to keep periodically checking Google Images for further developments.

Add this just because it's cute.  ^_^