RRRRRAFAEL NADAL, MADRID CHAMPION
gosh that was incredible
going into this tournament, given he doesn’t ever play his best in Madrid, and having all the top seeds here, I wasn’t sure he could win it. But he has, he battled through the toughest match I think he’s had so far with Daveed, and won the final in typical Nadal fashion!
Given he had almost eight months off this sport, six months off court completely, this is just amazing, I have no words. 7 finals in a row, 5 wins. No one can dispute it now, he’s the best clay court player to have ever lived.
Rome is our next target, then Roland Garros. I believe he can win both, he knows he can too. I think it will be the toughest ask of his career, but he can do it! VAMOS
RRRRRRAFAEL NADAL, BARCELONA CHAMPION
urgh that match was way more stressful than it possibly could have been
BUT HE WON IT, SO
quick thoughts; beautiful play at the net from Rafa this week, he’s come in a lot more. Deep backhands are good, actually the only thing I thought needed work was his forehand, missed it a few times. great serving. FABULOUS DEFENCE
ONTO MADRID. VAMOS
We knew his return would not be easy
so why is everyone acting like he SHOULD have beaten Djokovic today?
‘should’ is such a useless word. Yes, he could have won today, and given his record on clay, especially at Monte Carlo, you might have said it was quite likely that he would win.
Perspective, please. He’s just been out for almost nine months with his knee injury, which is still not fully healed. Nine months is a fuckload of time in any sport to be actually sidelined- let me remind you that he did absolutely no court practice for six months. I’d like to see you try and leave your sport for half a fucking year and come back and win against the world number one.
And, can I remind everyone, he’s not exactly short of other problems either, with his back, ribcage and who goddamn knows what else.
I’m not trying to take this victory away from Djokovic, of course he fully deserves it and played extremely well. I’m just suggesting that we, as Nadal fans, get a little perspective on the situation and see that this is not a tragedy.
He is the King of Clay, is he not?
He fought so bloody hard, and that’s one of the greatest things about him, he always does. He will not let anything go without a fight. He’ll get straight back up, train harder, climb higher and try again.
We must do the same, alongside him. One loss does not change what he has achieved so far, and his 9th Monte Carlo title will be waiting for his claim next year.
Onwards! VAMOS
Rafa WIP series
I am actually sat here in shock
Indian Wells?! are u sure this just happened? on a hardcourt?
Rafa now has a 17-1 winning record since his return and 3 tournaments won in a row. Just overtaken Roger in the most Masters won at 22. 600th win.
He looked so emotional. After coming back from that dangerous second set… just flawless tennis. I’m so proud of the journey he has undertaken in the most recent 8 months of his career, so proud of what he has achieved and the passion with which he’s returned.
crying again so i’ll come back later when i can spell
Time of Rafa’s match?
Does anyone know ACTUALLY what time Rafa’s match starts? I’m hearing 8pm, 9pm, 10pm?
Helppp
Time to try something in black and white! :)
speedpaint of Rafael Nadal. 2 hours, CS5
RRRRRRRAFAEL NADAL
CHAMPION
KING OF CLAY IS TRULY BACK
he was crying and i’m crying and i have nothing left to give
it’s half 4am
I love you and will support you forever, Rafael Nadal
this
guy
is really pissing me off
this reminds me of rosol
so i’m off to bed
please rafael PLEASE be better than this
VAMOS
VAMOOSSSSS
RAFA INTO THE SEMIFINALS
- also this means he becomes the player with the highest winning percentage in his matches IN HISTORY if I have that fact correct
- Credit to his opponent who played really well today, I thought, set up his shots very well
- Glad Rafael could get out of that last game, will have helped his confidence!
so glad he is back, I’ve never been more proud of him!
VAMOS <3
In case anyone else is stuck finding a stream, I finally found the score and Rafa and Pico won the first set 6-2! :D
VAMOS
thoughts before i go ahead and collapse
- shaky start but that was to be expected, what is important is that he overcame the early breaks on his serve and broke back
- a few missed forehands that i don’t think he’d normally miss but no worries there, that’ll come with time
- URGH some of those forehands were ridiculous i’ve missed his forehand so much
- his backhand was surprisingly amazing today
- we can work on the net play
- good serving
VAMOS
<333
now I’ve got the actual post out the way, I’ve spent so long on this piece (over four months) that I want to talk about it some more! :)
I took quite a few WIPs for this one, I hope everyone likes seeing the process, and it’s nice to look back on what I did. The lineart alone, through gridding, took about an hour. It was such a large canvas it took me ages to get going on it, moving through the skin first (damn tones) then clothing.
lol shoes, fucking shoes and sOCK about three hours. The Nike logo was just too hard and looked awful no matter how I did it, so I have to admit I used a little photomanipulation from the original reference picture. wah
The background I did with much aid of the Clone Tool, it’s honestly my best friend now for doing clay. As you can see from the last WIP, I was about to do a proper background like the one in the picture I used as reference, but as I started it I realised it would take too long and it wasn’t looking right. So I went with the dark option instead :)
The last two shots are details, I was for once happy with how the hair went, learned a new technique and brush in the process :D all in all, happy with the whole thing and glad the hours were worth it. Hope you all like it :)
I’ll kneel down, wait for now,
I’ll kneel down, know my ground
I will wait, I will wait for you
This day, last spring, was one of the best days of my life because Rafael Nadal won Roland Garros, against an opponent that many people said he could never beat. He proved his worth and ended the argument over whether he was the King of Clay.
He is one of the most important people in my life, my inspiration and the first reason I fell in love with tennis. The way he commands the court, his unrivaled focus and determination, I believe, is one the best sights in the world and the tennis world is just not the same without him.
The last seven months have been difficult for both him and his fans, I can’t help but think of him every day and hoping for his return. This week, presuming all goes well tomorrow, he’ll be coming back. No matter how he plays, no matter what ranking he may be, I and thousands of people will support him forever. VAMOS
{25+ hours, CS5}
Paint my spirit gold
the last WIP I’ll post for this piece!
This has been so challenging, and it’s not finished yet. The colours are hard to get right because the picture I’m working from has a weird high contrast (it was the largest HD picture I could find for referencing) so I’ve needed to adjust the palette a bit. His back leg has been a pain (no pun intended, sorry Rafael) to paint, my god. but otherwise happy so far :)
the background… not sure yet idk /
BUT HE IS IN CHILE, SO REJOICE
