Cartoon Armitage - My Love Affair with an Alpaca ... ;)

Since joining Twitter, I have come across not only many wonderful words inspired by The Armitage, but also a vast variety of images I wouldn't even have thought to look for, had I been browsing normally on the web. This is, I think, is one of the more positive aspects of social media. Creative people, with an idea and the talent to execute it, are given a platform on which they can immediately connect with people to whom their work might also speak.

This was very much the case for me and a certain illustrative artist who goes by the name of 'DI_Alpaca' (do you get the reference in the title now? ... how could you think I meant a real Alpaca?! hehehe ;) ). I saw her work being retweeted when searching for the Richard Armitage hashtag...

This is DI_Alpaca, meeting the man himself...
She got a Hug and a Photo?! - lucky thing! :)

I fell in love with what I saw instantly. I hope some of you have had the chance to see some of this work, and I will be sharing some here, but for those who haven't, please check out DI_Alpaca's Tumblr page, where the images which were tweeted all originate.

Cartoon Armitage by DI_Alpaca

What I love about her work is that although her drawings are incredibly cute (!), I think they still very much have the essence of Richard in them. Not just in his physique, but also, somehow, in his 'spirit'; by which I mean his general loveliness we all care for but can't quite explain! I've picked a few examples of my favourites (there are loads, luckily!) in the hope of illustrating what I mean, somehow...

The Usual Suspects

This was one of the first images I saw. I loved how DI_Alpaca had captured the unique mannerisms of each character, and how they were arranged to look like a line up. This reminded me of that iconic scene from the film 'The Usual Suspects', actually!

Here we see (from left to right): Guy of Gisborne, Mr Thornton, John Proctor (holding his Apothecary, hehe), Thorin, Lucas North & photobombed by Richard himself as Santa Dwarf)

DI_Alpaca's drawing reminded me of this iconic scene from The Usual Suspects...

I also loved how they were interacting with each other - Thornton seems to be consoling Proctor, who is holding his Apothecary ;), and in what looks like a reference to Benedict Cumberbatch, there is even a photobombing Armitage Santa Dwarf- a look taken from Richard in the Crisis for Christchurch campaign in NZ...

Do you see the resemblance? ... hehehehehehehe...

A Striking Likeness

I thought they were just wonderful, and all had about them a certain quality that I felt portrayed Richard perfectly, a kind of sensitivity I think he possesses. Richard strikes me as a sensitive person; by which I mean he seems very in tune with the emotions and feelings of the characters he plays, and seems to take them into account in his acting roles but also in interviews with his interactions out of character - this is just my opinion, anyway...

Richard's philanthropic side is expressed here beautifully

There are also a series of drawings she did of The Crucible, which I think are very poignant and capture the tense silence which engulfed the theatre around these characters at times. This (below) is taken from Act Two and depicts a particularly awkward encounter between John and his wife Elizabeth. I think the drawings perfectly captured the intensity of the scene; the feeling of something needing to be said, but not knowing quite what it is or quite how to say it...

I rummaged around for some more work and also found this brilliant image, taken from Richard's role as John Standring in Sparkhouse. I thought not only was the physical resemblance remarkable, but she really captured the warmth and kindness of John's character...

Cartoon Standring bears a striking resemblance to the real thing...

For me, that is the sign of a true artist. Most people can probably learn how to draw well if they practise the skill hard enough. For me, what makes an artist different is that they somehow have that innate skill to capture something of the world around them in more than just a physical sense; an essence, a feeling, an interpretation of the world around them and the people within it. DI_Alpaca's work clearly has a sense of this, and her own mark - as an individual and an artist - is made in her artful capture of Richard and the roles he has played.

No-one Nose

Having looked at these cartoons a lot over the past few days and weeks, what I also thought was striking and worth a mention was the distinct lack of a feature of Richard's which he has commented on himself before, that is his nose . I have heard Richard refer to himself as a "beanpole who grew into his nose". What I absolutely love about DI_Alpaca's cartoons are that they completely refute Richard's reluctant affiliation with this body part as his defining feature, in that there is not a nose in sight! And yet I am still undoubtably sure, when I look at her drawings, that they are of him. I hope if he has seen these drawings, this fact fills him with some relief; your nose is not the feature which defines you for us, kind Sir... it is you and your approach to your work as expressed through these drawings which is what defines you (for me, anyway!)....

Saying that, I have to say DI_Alpaca has captured an incredible likeness with Richard's beard! It is a character in it's own right, hehehe...

This is a pretty perfect likeness to the man I saw at the Stage Door!

With Good Intentions

There seems to be a really affectionate feel to the drawings. They seem to be coming from a good place and that warmth really shines through and was contagious, I thought! They immediately made me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside ;) - and provided me with a moment in which I could just allow myself to appreciate my fondness for Mr Armitage. So thank you for giving me a way to do that, DI_Alpaca!

I have created a Pinterest Board with all the Cartoon Armitage drawings I have found so far and am in the process of uploading them all, so I can enjoy them all in one place (I hope you don't mind, DI_Alpaca? Your work is credited there too). If you wish to have a moment of Cartoon Armitage Appreciation, then please do follow this link and Repin or follow the board and images if you like :) :

Cartoon Armitage Pinterest Board

I feel like there is more I could say on these cartoons; and if I think of the appropriate words, I will, but I think it's just best for now to allow the works to speak for themselves.

To finish, I'd like to indulge in and share my favourite of her drawings (so far) with you :) ...

BaconBeard Moment (of genius!!)

 #IceBucketChallenge Trauma 

From that Sunday Times photoshoot....*sigh*... ;)

Enjoy!

Antigone x