OOP: Painting Sirius

[KickAir 8P~]

No: HPFGUIDX 62192

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "filo_roll" <filo_roll at y...> 
wrote:
> Question:  Why don't they just paint a picture of Sirius?  
> All those headmasters in Dumbledore's room are technically dead, 
but 
> is still physically alive in their paintings.  They can talk, run 
> around... They are still living through their portraits and hardly 
> dead at all!


< KickAir 8P~ >
But what does it take to make one of these portraits?  Maybe 
(similiar to the magical photos), you have to have your *live* 
subject sitting there in order to capture his personality in a 
portrait.

I think the reason we don't have any portraits of Silas in OOP is 
because JKR was trying to force awareness of the stark reality and 
consequences of death -- Harry tried both the Mirror Silas had given 
him and cornered Sir Nicholas the NH before he even started facing 
Silas' death.  Even having a portrait around would've undercut this, 
but that doesn't mean one won't show up later.

And just a thought on the photos:  portraits are completely 
interactive, almost like having the person there, but photos seem to 
have limited interaction and no verbal or near-verbal comminication 
from the subject.  Maybe it's a magical trade-off -- the speed and 
convienience of photography producing results adequate for many uses, 
but nowhere near the level you get taking the time and effort (both 
from the artist and the subject) of a portrait.





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