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The Illustrated Chronicle of the Lady Jasmine

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Wow! It ended in a flurry of pics. Wonderful story, wonderful art, Wragg. Sure to be a CF legend, remembered and spoken of with reverence for decades to cum!
Thanks Barb!

To all of you who have stuck with Jasmine to the bitter end, a heartfelt thank you!

We started on June 1st last year, and now, 471 images and six crucifixions later, we're done! :very_hot:

If anybody catches the slightest hint that I'm considering such a thing again, please feel free to sit on me until I recover my common sense! :doh:
 
Thanks Barb!

To all of you who have stuck with Jasmine to the bitter end, a heartfelt thank you!

We started on June 1st last year, and now, 471 images and six crucifixions later, we're done! :very_hot:

If anybody catches the slightest hint that I'm considering such a thing again, please feel free to sit on me until I recover my common sense! :doh:
We will force you to write again! There is no rest for the artist!
 
We started on June 1st last year, and now, 471 images and six crucifixions later, we're done! :very_hot:
That is, very simply, a phenomenal number of photo manipulations, which must surely rival the prolific Crucificateur for the quantity of manips in a single, illustrated story thread.
Indeed, I imagine 471 in one story must be a record on CF.

The fine detail in the illustrations remains consistent right to the end, as we note the subtle modifications to Cassia's facial expressions, and the body of the magistrate in the background of the final crux scene, providing a buzzards' breakfast at the base of the wall. He is just within sight of Josephine, who as the most recently crucified, appears relatively healthy, compared to the pale tones of the dying Jasmine and the deathly grey of the expired slaves.

Valeria and Alexa are only too well aware of the price of any perceived failure in their care for Cassia. After all, Jasmine's slaves never stood a chance of a reprieve, in spite of their innocence. Throughout the story, Helena and Rebecca are only ever truly respected by Jasmine, who insists on sharing directly in the injustice of their fate.

In the end, the dying Josephine is surrounded by corpses for company, and her last words are appropriately fatalistic - 'All this... for... NOTHING!!!' On a technical note, there is some excellent hair extraction in the layer mask, using the Anzilov source of Alice, cleverly adapted from Femjoy's 'Shelter' - as well as a bold use of direct sunlight. And so, Wragg, you have now crucified Alice in four stories, and I suspect the number of your Alice crux manips exceeds my own! :D

Wragg Illustrated-Chronicle-Lady-Jasmine Jas550.jpg

'Jasmine' has become an institution on CF, with instalments spread over more than a year. This has required serious dedication on your part as the author/illustrator. I have no doubt that if Repertor had been aware of this endeavour, he would have come to your assistance a second time. And in a sense, he has, since many of his 3D components have been re-used in 'The Illustrated Chronicle of the Lady Jasmine', and the characters of the executioners are very much his own creations. I am sure he would be thrilled and delighted by what you have achieved.

Your final frame depicts a charming scene from happier days, showing Jasmine with her devoted slaves, Helena and Rebecca, in a room at her father's villa. The background is the room at the Pompeianum, with inlaid marbles and painted decorations, which I recognise, having used it in my own manipulations. And in fact, you have also made effective use of interiors from the same reconstructed villa to depict Cassia's house, earlier in the story.

Purely by coincidence, I posed Alice in the role of Josephine, outside the exterior of this very same Roman villa, in a recent back stage picture, wearing the dress you chose for her character. Since this version has not previously appeared in this thread, I present it here as a tribute in recognition of your considerable efforts and achievements on this project. Many thanks for a very fine story. :)

ddzvuk9-84e0d044-31e9-4224-bcee-29761163256e.jpg

(Image hosted on DeviantArt - https://www.deviantart.com/bobnearled/art/Alice-at-Cruxton-Studios-846332793 )​
 
That is, very simply, a phenomenal number of photo manipulations, which must surely rival the prolific Crucificateur for the quantity of manips in a single, illustrated story thread.
Indeed, I imagine 471 in one story must be a record on CF.

The fine detail in the illustrations remains consistent right to the end, as we note the subtle modifications to Cassia's facial expressions, and the body of the magistrate in the background of the final crux scene, providing a buzzards' breakfast at the base of the wall. He is just within sight of Josephine, who as the most recently crucified, appears relatively healthy, compared to the pale tones of the dying Jasmine and the deathly grey of the expired slaves.

Valeria and Alexa are only too well aware of the price of any perceived failure in their care for Cassia. After all, Jasmine's slaves never stood a chance of a reprieve, in spite of their innocence. Throughout the story, Helena and Rebecca are only ever truly respected by Jasmine, who insists on sharing directly in the injustice of their fate.

In the end, the dying Josephine is surrounded by corpses for company, and her last words are appropriately fatalistic - 'All this... for... NOTHING!!!' On a technical note, there is some excellent hair extraction in the layer mask, using the Anzilov source of Alice, cleverly adapted from Femjoy's 'Shelter' - as well as a bold use of direct sunlight. And so, Wragg, you have now crucified Alice in four stories, and I suspect the number of your Alice crux manips exceeds my own! :D


'Jasmine' has become an institution on CF, with instalments spread over more than a year. This has required serious dedication on your part as the author/illustrator. I have no doubt that if Repertor had been aware of this endeavour, he would have come to your assistance a second time. And in a sense, he has, since many of his 3D components have been re-used in 'The Illustrated Chronicle of the Lady Jasmine', and the characters of the executioners are very much his own creations. I am sure he would be thrilled and delighted by what you have achieved.

Your final frame depicts a charming scene from happier days, showing Jasmine with her devoted slaves, Helena and Rebecca, in a room at her father's villa. The background is the room at the Pompeianum, with inlaid marbles and painted decorations, which I recognise, having used it in my own manipulations. And in fact, you have also made effective use of interiors from the same reconstructed villa to depict Cassia's house, earlier in the story.

Purely by coincidence, I posed Alice in the role of Josephine, outside the exterior of this very same Roman villa, in a recent back stage picture, wearing the dress you chose for her character. Since this version has not previously appeared in this thread, I present it here as a tribute in recognition of your considerable efforts and achievements on this project. Many thanks for a very fine story. :)

Well, thank you, Bob, finishing a story like this is indeed a bittersweet moment, I certainly shall miss Jasmine, after a year of being quite intimately acquainted with the fine details of her anatomy... And thank you for your kind words and the amazing image of Alice / Josephine!
 
It's really hard to know what to say. I remember being captivated by the original story, with the Repertor manips. In some way, I suppose, I thought this "reissue" would be a tribute to Repertor, but it has turned out to be so much more as well. This story is (so far) unique on CF as perhaps the first true graphic novel of its size and scope. The attention to detail and the dedication that went into creating it is simply phenomenal (from the point of view of someone who "occasionally" has ideas which get stalled and derailed).


Jas550.jpg Jas551.jpg
These two images, so close together contrast the futility and the meaning of the two crucifixions. The final futile attempt Josephine makes to salvage a moment of triumph - Jasmine has done it all for nothing - and perhaps that makes it easier for Josephine to accept her own fate. But in the next image, Jasmine knows her own pain is over, and she has done it for her friends (even though they were slaves) and because she believed in something better. Josephine is left alone without living companions, and in the end, her mockery of Jasmine is empty words. In the end, it is Jasmine who will be remembered, and Josephine who will simply fade away.

These are all dimensions of the ending of the story that would not have the same impact without all that has come before. It would have been a fine story if it had only been an illustrated text, but the whole thing is presented in well-constructed scenes, presented with the skill of a film director. It is sensual, erotic in places, always vividly and attractively portrayed, and very well told.

A tour de force, indeed, Mr. Wragg, and will be considered among the classics of CF literature and art.
GoldPalm.jpg
 
Well, thanks for all the nice feedback, both now and during the story, and especially for the suggestions and advice from the artists among you! Bob and Jolly, poor buggers, have lived and breathed this with me, they must both be giving thanks that it is over! Tears and shadows, among other things, were taught by Bob, Jolly it was who found me a better way to cut out (point to point freehand selection), but others, too mp5stab's vignetting, Jedakk's inspiration especially from The Serpent's eye, Phlebas, Madi, Tree, Eul and Frank's Latin... It sure hasn't been a solo effort!

Anyway, next will come a pdf, a set of images without speech bubbles, and maybe I'll indulge myself in looking over what went well and what turned out as turkeys....
 
Well, thanks for all the nice feedback, both now and during the story, and especially for the suggestions and advice from the artists among you! Bob and Jolly, poor buggers, have lived and breathed this with me, they must both be giving thanks that it is over! Tears and shadows, among other things, were taught by Bob, Jolly it was who found me a better way to cut out (point to point freehand selection), but others, too mp5stab's vignetting, Jedakk's inspiration especially from The Serpent's eye, Phlebas, Madi, Tree, Eul and Frank's Latin... It sure hasn't been a solo effort!

Anyway, next will come a pdf, a set of images without speech bubbles, and maybe I'll indulge myself in looking over what went well and what turned out as turkeys....
Hi @Wragg , the pdf should be not bigger as 10MB. Probably you must producing a few parts.
 

Attachments

  • The Illustrated Chronicle pf the Lady Jasmine pt 1.pdf
    5.1 MB · Views: 250
  • The Illustrated Chronicle pf the Lady Jasmine pt 2.pdf
    2.6 MB · Views: 129
  • The Illustrated Chronicle pf the Lady Jasmine pt 3.pdf
    10.3 MB · Views: 252
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