Month: April 2021

Realism Fail

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I classify this digital art as a doodle to save my pride. I briefly ran into one of my friends yesterday who has the most amazing eyes (from an artistic perspective – no more). Anyway, this was an attempt to capture them that went awry. She ended up looking nothing like her, so, chalk up another blow for the ghosts of realism that haunt me – this is why I don’t paint actual people by the way 🙂 Yes, there are ways to cheat, but I prefer the old-fashioned tweaking of 300+ facial components. Still, I created, so yesterday was not wasted.

The Tiger of Xanadu

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So Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan (1797) envisioned a pleasure palace with dark undertones. The work was totally influenced by an Opium high. Opium, the Black Tiger, was heavily traded in China, the Tiger of the East. But enough history and Literature – this digital artwork is also heavily influenced by the 1980 movie Xanadu, with Olivia Newton John. “Who,” the younger ones ask? “Get off my lawn!” This movie was iconic in that it introduced me to the Greek Muses. Although they never physically popped out of murals to guide me, stupid childhood dreams, I do reference them occasionally in my work. Now, the artwork didn’t start off as art imitating performing arts, imitating poetry, imitating life – it just kinda developed after the song Xanadu popped up in my disco playlist (I listen to everything). The original concept was to see if I could build a tigers face from performing artists – stupid, I know – boredom does that. I’ll let you tell me if that worked. Anywho, creating this killed a few hours of my life, much like Coleridge and his opium addiction. Hope you enjoy!

A Vespertilian Thing

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She was no Mary Poppins. You felt it right away, there was something off about her, her elegance, how she smiled eerily at your vampire stuffed animal, ironically above you now – “Hold on,” your subconscious screams, “I’m not even old enough to know what irony is!” You begged them to hire anyone but her, but your mum and dad needed an overnight nanny, and they fell for that Sesame Street accent. “Oh, how cutely foreign,” your mom giggled, “privileged wankers!” Your subconscious meekly raises its hand, but you cut it off. “I know!,” you hiss curtly under your breath. Now, In the dark of it all, you’re paying the price. Plus side? Live forever. Negatives? They don’t make sunblock strong enough for what you’ll become. It’s enough to drive one batty!

Happy Earth Day 2021

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As the title says, please take this time to enjoy the oxygen the plant life on this rock give you and the symbiotic return of your hot air for them to recycle. Please sort your recyclables and ensure your tray is up and seat in the upright position as the Earth celebrates another solar birthday. oh, I’ve created some digital art to boot.

Butterfly on a Wheel

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This digital art (because what else would it be) started because I was listening to the song of the same name by the Mission UK, off their Carved in Sand Album. Extrapolating from there, I looked up the idiom, butterfly on a wheel, and found that it originated from Alexander Pope’s 1735 poem “Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot.” “But what does it all mean, Basil?” I asked myself in a fake British accent, a-la Austin Powers – meaning my creation, of course. Well, in artsy speak, I’m trying to represent technology breaking the fragile connection of humankind to nature. Notice how she is bound to a gilded wheel, force fed advertising a-la the movie “They Live”, until there is no longer a connection to the beauty which is nature, just outside the glass. You can see a real word comparison in any major city with people walking about staring at their phones, instead of what is around them. There’s other stuff too, like losing ourselves, but I’m getting into to/dr territory, or sounding pretentious. The part I like the most is how the circuit on her face looks like a tear.

BloodBathory

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What was I thinking? Erm… Flashdance meets Countess Elizabeth Bathory? I was having fun with this digital art. No regerts. I did try to fill up the frame as if she was pushing against the bounds of her world. So, that’s probably the artsy part. Otherwise it’s forgettable until some Dude or Dudette 250 years from now finds it languishing on an old cloud instance or 2020’s data dump on the dark web and starts hawking my artwork on the streets of whatever city will be the artistic capital of the Solar System. Sound familiar? It’s Vermeer, I’m referencing Vermeer 🙂

A Lifetime

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I wanted to name this digital art “Boy” after the Book of Love song I was listening to on repeat while creating it, but that would be falling into a familiar rut. What’s it about? Three generations of women? Nope, it’s the same woman over a lifetime. From the brilliant light of youth on the left, to the darkness that clouds the end of life on the right, she’s the same being. I threw in an hourglass in case the viewer didn’t catch the eyes. The blur on the ends is a meta-whatever for how the future and past are sketchy and the present should be focused on. Maybe it’s trite, whatevs. Like it? You’re in an exclusive club of 4. Drinks all around. P.s. does anyone else hate the artsy “well the artists use of fuchsia means this and that”? I really just want to say nothing and let the Art speak for itself.

Who Will Survive America?

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This digital artwork originated while I was listening to Amiri Baraka’s “Who Will Survive America?” Although the song originated in the heights of the 1960’s Black Power movement and kind of has race-war overtones, the heart of it is that only those who are not racist will survive the country. P.s. the dude is an amazing jazz musician, but… to the Art – we’re all one people, all red-blooded bags of water underneath, no matter our skin tone, religion, politics, etc. To survive America, we all need to act as one, to lift ourselves out of poverty of the mind, spirit, and body. This creation endeavors to show us who we’ll be when we get over ourselves.

I’ll Fall

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Like July in winter, a muse as perfect as she is a ghost. She’s intimate with flight, because she’s a bird of the sea. She’s perfect for me, but her imperfectness can never be. I’m only with her, in her royal court at Kush, past the weight of the day, in the dreams of the could have been. She flies with her broken wings and catches my fall, but will never know the depth of it all. She’s a mirage in my mind, of qualities transferred by the shores of my dreams. How I’ve fallen.

Fearless

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The genesis of this digital artwork is a couple things. First, I worked on it right after watching the Netflix documentary about Elisa Lam and the tragedy at the Cecil Hotel in L.A. This isn’t about her though, no connection, unless you want it to be a positive one. No cyber bullying, like what happened to Morbid. I’ve also done rooftop art scenes in the past, so it may be a theme of mine. Finally, the challenge was to make a realistic looking city without building all the city resources – which would tank my rig. I took the cheap way and created a 2D primitive with a city picture I found on Pinterest. The next challenge was to bring about a 3D feel, while getting the visual angles vis-a-vis the camera correct, and integrating the background with what’s going on in the foreground. After that hurdle, I had to get the ambient lighting of a rooftop correct. So, there’s the moon, the city below, the towers above with their red-lights, random rooftop lighting, etc., in order to bring it all together. Let me know what you think?

Abandoned America

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A digital painting for our times. The subject can be anyone in modern America, a veteran, someone with PTSD like a victim of sexual assault, someone financially ruined by medical bills or loss of a job, or a victim of mental health issues or addiction. Homelessness is not discriminatory, it can affect anyone with red blood running through their veins. The sad part is that most people will help a dog or cat out in the cold before they help their fellow man, hence the title.

I had to render this three times. Winter is a challenging thing in digital art. My first render I noticed 1.5 hours after starting it, that I forgot the effect of breathing in winter. It was a challenge to create, I ended up using a cloud with a lot of tinkering. 1.5 hours after the second render, I realized by looking at the reflection in his eyes that there needed to be a figure there to add that Je ne sais quoi, so there is an entire part of the scene you don’t see just to get that reflection. Yes, it’s a bit OCD for something that will be seen by maybe 10 people, liked by 2 🙂

Waiting for the Bluebell

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The Bluebell is a tree that blooms only once in a 1000 years, it’s bioluminescent flowers both fragrant and beautiful. The sentient tree is shy, however, and pulls its azure petals in tightly when gazed upon, so one must trick it by using a mirror or camera to view it.