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ColonelDespard — Modern Enjolras - The People
Published: 2011-06-20 12:44:19 +0000 UTC; Views: 8226; Favourites: 151; Downloads: 883
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Description
I let time get away with me on this...It's a take on the Modern Les Miserables competition. Enjolras, in any age, has to be consumed with the idea of freedom if he's to be Enjolras at all.
The burgeoning democratic movements across the Middle East - the Arab Spring - have a large student component. I hestitated over making him a woman, as Enjolras is a privileged individual and thus the argument should be made that he should still be a rich young man, but I've been so struck by the role of women in the uprisings.
The specific flag is Syrian, but the Arabic motto - which translates as "The people want to overthrow the regime" - is used in many of the countries where people are struggling to overthrow regimes and regain their voices and their freedom.
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Comments: 76
I like it, though in the case of Syria shit has been....derailed a bit.
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This is amazing! I love the idea as well. Good job!
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This is so beautiful - amazing idea and incredible art! Great job!
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This is amazing. It really struck a chord. Well done.
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A powerful piece, very moving. As someone from a country struggling for better days myself, I've really loved seeing people rallying around the positive things going on in our part of the world and our shared humanity rather than just the negative.
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Beautiful. Very well done. Hope springs from my heart for the freedom of humanity everywhere.
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Beautiful. Very well done. Hope springs from my heart for the freedom of humanity everywhere.
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My immediate reaction: Woah.
This is... really good, and really powerful. And very true. Certainly the modern embodiment of "Do you hear the people sing".
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This makes me think again about history.
Since the Revolution of 1789 and the First Republic of 1792, French had to wait for a century to end with some kind of true democracy.
Switching from republic to consulate,
then from consulate to empire,
from empire to monarchy,
from monarchy to republic,
from republic to empire
from empire to republic (but the republican got scr*wed when the "citizens" elected a Royalist-Imperialist majority at the Assembly)...etc.
All the way punctuating with more or less bloodsheds (but at least, they won't say we didn't try everything!).
I hope the Arabs won't have to wait for so long.
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And look at Syria now it's a blood bath -_-
And no one gives a damn what have happened to everyone there.
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It seems very hollow for those, like me, who are outside of Syria to say that we do care - I've been following unfolding events and like many feeling very helpless. I hope for the best for the Syrian people and for them to be able to determine their own fate.
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I live in Syria now, I had so much that I wanted to do but everything is crushed now I hate this world -_-
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This is simply amazing.
Your picture has so much power and hope that it nearly brought tears into my eyes!
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This is so powerful and wonderful. The imagery and the two halves of the face are fantastic, and I love your decision to make him a woman.
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I saw an article in TIME a while ago comparing the Arab Spring to 1848 in Europe, which is a parallel I see down in the comments right now. This is fantastic.
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Words cannot express how much I love this. Like...wow. I sound like such a silly fangirl but it's so much more than just squeeing over Enjolras...The concept here is AMAZING. That's the part that's hard to describe and I wish I was better with words...but your picture literally took my breath away! Vive la revolution, no matter where or when in our world...<3
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Thank you! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply, but I was thrilled that you liked it that much. You're very kind
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This may be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I created an account just for the purposes of commenting on this. There is something incredibly, INCREDIBLY powerful in this, and I hope you know you've created something wonderful here!
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I can't tell you how pleased I am you had a reaction like that to this work - your comments have made my day!
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Wonderful. Simple and straight to the point. New better world still under construction but the idea is always alive. And that's why this art is so moving.
And perhaps that's the best art I've seen from you.
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I'm delighted you felt the idea worked...I'm a bit of an optimist, even when it seems our progress is two steps forward and one step back and the darkness threatens to overwhelm us.
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This is so awesome! Nice research I commend you. This is just amazing. The application of the original story to modern times is just amazing! Way to go.
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Many thanks! I'm glad you thought it resonated well with modern events.
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No problem. 
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I can't say how much I love this. It's amazingly powerful, beautiful, and just wonderfully conveys everything that inspires me about Les Mis.
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Many thanks - it's so much of what inspires me, too. I'm glad a sense of that comes across.
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This is breathtaking. I love the idea too, it's great
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Thank you! I'm so pleased that people were on board with the concept!
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Wow, this is amazing, and such a brilliant concept to
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This is wonderful.
Do you mind if I ask what medium you use?
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Also, I wouldn't worry about making Enjy a woman. He was supposed to look like a girl anyway.
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Thank you very much! Yes, I thought it would be an interesting play with his "girlish" appearance.
I sketched the central figure, scanned, and then coloured it and added the background elements in Photoshop elements with an Intuous 4.
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Wow - not just a great idea - the picture also realy caught me. It is so intense.
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Cheers, Meg 
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I think this is the most incredible color piece I've seen from you. It's absolutely striking. Revolution is a worldwide phenomenon that occurs in every age. This definitely captures that belief. I also think that making the other side of Enjolras a woman was very effective, considering their large role and partly because of Enjolras' feminine elements. Beautiful.
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Thank you! I both wanted to ground it fairly solidly in their respective periods but also emphasise certain aspirations in common.
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"Imagine all the people, living life in peace ... You may say I'm a dreamer..."
And the only constant in the universe is change.
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