SGA: Rodney McKay on the Pier

Acrylic on 16X20 canvas paper. From the Stargate Atlantis ep "The Shrine", my fave scene from the Stargate franchise. Sister painting to
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After Rodney McKay has something of a meltdown in the middle of the night (he's got a parasyte in his brain that's making him lose his memories and degrading his intelligence), his best friend John Sheppard brings Rodney out to the pier for a beer. Rodney wants to say his goodbyes while he still has his faculties, but John refuses -- he simply won't accept the possibility of losing Rodney.

This really gave me a hard time, especially getting it started, as the references were fuzzier than I would have liked, especially the one I started out with. Still, I'm pretty pleased with it. See the WIP progression here: wolfenmoondaughter.deviantart.…

EDITED: I was going to give this to David Hewlett (Rodney) at Dragon*Con in 2010, but there was a last-minute scheduling conflict that year, and I didn't get to. Thankfully, I did in 2015! From my con report:

Waiting my turn, I heard him tell the person ahead of me that his character on Dark Matter will be on the ship next season, rather than just appearing via vid-screen -- yay! After paying for a signature, I explained to the handler that I had also something for him to sign for the charity auction -- a custom My Little Pony of his character Patrick, from his film A Dog's Breakfast, complete with props -- but I hadn't been able to get clearance yet on whether or not they wanted it, it being so late. The handler confirmed my suspicion that I would have to trek back when I had the authorisation -- but thankfully, that's not how it worked out!

I had a folder full of art for Hewlett, which I took the time to show (rather than just hand the folder to him) only because there was no one behind me. It was very gratifying to get to see his reactions to my work -- even the custom ponies of his Stargate character, Rodney McKay, and several characters from A Dog's Breakfast. He cooed fondly over the photo of the pony of Mars (his dog) -- he'd signed it for auction a few years back, but someone else had gotten the signature for me, so it was really special to get the reaction myself. He seemed delighted with the other customs, enthusiastically geeking out (which was a relief, because reactions to my ponies by other Stargate actors had been mostly unfavourable -- all the more reason to adore the Squirrel King, as his fans, we Squirrels, call him).

He wanted a photo of the Patrick, and as he dug for his phone, I pulled out the page of photos of it I'd printed out for him. I told him I just wanted to make sure he got to see it in person, but hopefully I would get permission to put it in the charity auction. He took the pony and a pen behind the table, surreptitiously, saying, "Well, what if I just accidentally sign it? Oops!" I love this guy!

I was never sure if he'd seen the family portrait I'd done as part of a fan-group project -- he loved it, joking that he now had less hair on his head while his son, a baby in the picture, had more. He also thought he'd signed it for me before! (I hope he's just remembering seeing it online, and someone didn't print it out to gave him sign for them (especially if they claimed to be the artist)! Really, people, fan-art is personal and we don't get paid to do it -- don't go printing it out for autographs without permission!) He grinned gleefully over my portrait of him as the Fourth Doctor (done after reading he wanted to play the Doctor -- he was born in England -- and that Baker is his fave), and was, happily, impressed by the painting of Rodney from the episode "The Shrine." As I said goodbye, he said he'd see me online. That whole experience made the con for me, and was one of the very best celebrity encounters I've ever had ....

Rodney McKay, Atlantis, and this scene © MGM/Acme Shark. David Hewlett © himself.