#FanstRA: It's all about the Monet, Monet, Monet

Today's Tag Teams: In King Richard Armitage, Servetus admits to (gasp!) stray thoughts while lecturing • In fanfic, Margaret Hale guestposts at John Thornton's on why she loves him • Jo Ann continues her story • In freeform, Jas Rangoon jokes about potential reproductive partners for Mr. Armitage • Itsjsforme reveals another Guy of Gisborne PSA (still not safe for work!) • Gratiana Lovelace needs more help captioning "Whimsical Moments with Deadly Serious ChaRActers!" •  In fandom, IngeD3 focuses on Ricky Deeming • Fabo confesses her Richard Armitage eyelash fetish! • In the Hobbit, it's calories galore as Antonia Romera discusses fingerlicking at the Hobbit table • The Queen takes on Hobbit cakes • Links to all FanstRA 3 posts appear here at the end of each day. Can't believe we're half-way through already!

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This post is inspired, but not exactly based on, Richard Armitage's character in The Impressionists.

A passion for the arts, Monet had. A passion so strong he would forsake everything else in order to become a painter. He wasn't in it for the money, but because painting was his life, his passion. Sure, through perseverance and hard work, he did achieve fame and money eventually, but up until that point, it was a struggle. He had a family to support on very little income. I don't even know how he managed.

In today's day and age, you can still be passionate about an art, and if you're good at it and keep at it, persevere, good things are bound to follow. The really funny thing here, of course, is that the role of Claude Monet in The Impressionists was played by Richard Armitage. Why is that funny? Because the two men, living in different eras, came from different countries and worked in different arts, their stories are not exactly dissimilar. Nor are their personalities.

Monet strikes me as a passionate and conscientous man who occasionally get too fixated on perfection, and gets a bit carried away at times. He's also caring and loving, yet still enjoys a drink with the lads. Claude Monet got carried away and perfectionistic with his paintings, Richard Armitage with his acting.

Squirrel beard aside, Monet and Armitage have a lot in common. That fascinates me. Was Richard basically playing himself in The Impressionists? He might not be struggling against the current with his art, because at the end of the day, what he does is still "just" acting - not a revolutionary new way of expressing oneself more realistically, and challenging the acting ideals of his time. That's where a lot of Monet's issues lay - he was trying to do something completely new and different, and the art world at the time simply wasn't ready. Being a modern-day actor is not the same thing as being one of the Impressionist painters.

Still, working hard is finally starting to pay off for Richard Armitage, and thank goodness for that, eh? :) No longer does he have to slog through brief appearances in day-time dramas or play characters no one cares to remember in mediocre drama. Aside from the fantastic adaptation of North & South, what's he been in that's been as good as that? Robin Hood wasn't an excellent show by any means, but it did lead to Spooks, and from there, he got a foot into Captain America, and from there, The Hobbit.

What will The Hobbit be a stepping stone to? I don't care much for the book on which that film is based, but I have to admit I'm really looking forward to the film coming out at the end of this year ... and what the general public, i.e. the ones who haven't fawned over him for years on end, will say about him. What will the Academy have to say about his performance as Thorin? That it brings in new light to the world of cinema, like Monet's many paintings?

Here's to hoping the Armitage acting equivalent of the Waterlilies is still to come! :)