My first Deviation in over 20,000 years! Woohoo!

... It's amazing what a little messing around with Lexmark Photo Editor can do.

Anyway, this is the Phantom of the Opera, unmasked in all his disfigured glory. This is just after he lets Raoul and Christine go and just before he hides himself in his chair and disappears (hence the piece of cloth he's holding).

I used absolutely no referances for this, so I'm extremely proud of it.

Anyway, on to the drawing: I drew it with an HB pencil, then went over the outlines in pen. I also outlined his tears to make them stand out, since that is kind of important: tears for the people he hurt, and the wrong that he did, but he's moving on, getting over it and starting anew. Anyway, after that I was feeling creative so I tinkered with it a little in Lexmark. It's pretty crappy, but I sort of like it; I added a galaxy-looking background, sort of to say that he's starting completely afresh; the whole universe is his oyster.

On to the stuff in it: the scars. Well, since he was beaten a lot when he was at the freak show, I figured he'd have some scars about him. . I also drew him in the clothes he wore at the end of the movie instead of the stage, just for the Smurf of it. Although, this is not supposed to be Gerry Butler or any other actor to portray the Phantom. This is my version of the Phantom. A younger, smexier one. The inspiration was the stage version though: the severity of his deformity (C'mon, the movie Phantom couldn't get at least one woman? ), the cloth to cover himself instead of smashing a lot of mirrors, and the shape of the mask. Speaking of the mask, I threw it in both to use up space amnd as a sort of metaphorical thingy: he's no longer the Phantom of the Opera; he's just a man. He's just Erik.

On to the digital tinkering. There's the aforementione background, but I cleaned up some of the lines, though. I also darkened the drawing to more fit the tone, but I kept the mask completely white as a stylistic choice, with the grey splodges symbolizing the blood of the innocent, and that Erik has left all that behind.

... Whoa, that was one hell of a description!

I only just managed to fit in that title.

Other random notes: the exposed skull tissue is straight from the play, as is the thinned hair and scabs and stuff. No Sunburn of Doom here.

Yes, I know his left arm is too short.

So, enjoy I guess.

The Phantom of the Opera & Erik (c) Gaston Leroux
Inspiration/Theme (c) Andrew Lloyd Webber and The Really Useful Group.