quote Requiem

What happened to your Retribution piece, also? ;p

Stock difficulties, I'm afraid.


Thanks for your comments, Requiem.


O n i: The part of the whole thing that doesn't work is the gradient that is suppose to be the lights. The problem with that is it is contradictory of what a vector is suppose to be and it's like putting a black dot on a white wall. So you should either take them out or replace them with another vector with a low opacity.

Other than that, an awesome piece.

Haha, sorry Fevernova, though I do have a new piece that I'm planning to post up eventually - in the next few days, perhaps. I keep finding little bits that need editing or reworking, though ;o It will appear once I motivate myself to do these (and write the concept out in a coherent manner )

Ok, I've got to the point where I feel this is finished, or the details that need editing are so small that it won't make much difference ;p The theme of the piece, similar to Oni's, in loneliness - and how it's intrinsically linked to freedom. The concept follows, so ignore it if you just want to see the artwork ;p

Some historical context; upto the 18th century, or thereabouts, there was very little social freedom. People were born into professions and class, with few opportunities to break free. I'm sure you've all seen those period dramas where a rich girl and a poor guy are unable to express their love for each other because of class boundaries. There is a certain truth to this - if you were born a peasant, you were likely to live and die a peasant; if you were born nobility, then your course was similarly charted. Social fatalism ruled supreme.

Then, however, the large scale revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries occurred. The industrial and intellectual revolutions across Europe and the political upheavals in France and America were key to huge social changes, along with the strengthening of market forces. People were no longer satisfied with their given roles, and nepotism gave way to bureaucratic systems. Suddenly, people were free to control their own destinies, as it were - those born in poverty could rise to become rich and powerful, to make their own way without social restrictions (or fewer, at least).

People soon found, however, that there were several consequences to these new found freedoms. Although everyone was now free to become whatever they wanted, they were also free to utterly fail. The whole structure of traditional society had been undone; people no longer knew their roles, or what was expected of them. Many people had lost their fatalistic guide to look to, and so were stripped of their traditional identities. Combined with a society increasingly goverened by market forces and led by faceless business, alienation and disillusionment became common.

Thus, the founding of capitalist structures and the personal freedoms these grant are the cause of modern day loneliness. The feeling of being anonymous in a city and a mere face within a crowd are the natural follow-ons from being free. This is why I think many people actually enjoy being alone - there's no one to answer to, no unwanted expectations to live up to, and you can come and go as you please. Of course, it's a dark gift - you're free to do all of these things alone, unnoticed and uncared for.

Freedom is loneliness, and loneliness is freedom.


Freedom :: Loneliness

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Detail




If you stayed with me through all of that, then the founding concept is huge, and I don't think one picture really does the weight of it justice. There's so such to say, and I'll probably come back to it time and again in my work. I didn't want to use obvious symbolism, yet perhaps this also makes the work too obscure and unable to fully express it's core concept. Hope you guys like it, though, C&C welcome

I'm off to lie down.

Wow, incredible, Req. I was trying to think of some kind of criticism but I couldn't. At first I didn't like the simplicity and lack of detail in the bottom half, but then I realized that's part of the concept (I think). Pretty brilliant all around...the detail and color palette are fantastic.

I can't see it!

Major cock block...

Requiem Much of how the piece represents the concept is lost on me, so i'll assess this at face value. Your mix of layered vector shapes and digital painting (left side of her body in particular looks wicked) always looks interesting, and i'd say it works for the most part (i'm not massive on that pale pink-red you seem so big on), and it really goes well with the burst of detail within the simplistic canvas.

As always man, I dig this piece enough to consider bowing to you. Long live the king!

(Oh, and If Req is going by his usual techniques, that's a digital painting, O n i. )

edit; Just realised what a badly structured critique this is. Shit.

1831 is right, it's all painted from scratch in Photoshop, Oni (and a few dashed circles from Illustrator) It's true that I haven't really explained the symbolism within the piece - I'll have to do that tomorrow though, I'm afraid ;o

Darknet, the Multimania service has been haphazard of late ;o Alternative uploaded source for those of you having problems seeing it:

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Fev, the bottom half was meant to indicate the simpler structure that chaotic, modern life stemmed from. It also helped streamline the composition without taking too much focus away from the central imagery (though I did think it was too simple at one stage, which is why I included the mini-logo). You're right in that, undoubtedly, it's far simpler in appearence to the rest of the piece, though.

Thanks for the comments, all

One part of me thinks that some of this doesn't look too hard to do. However, it looks like it takes an incredible amount of time to do with all the vectors. And the difficult part of all of it seems like the Photoshop painting. I kind of agree with Fevernova that the lack of detail on the bottom threw me off but the more I looked at it, it grew on me.

It honestly wants me to try my hand in Photoshop painting. Did you draw that out then scanned it and painted in Photoshop?

I'm pretty sure he has a tablet.

but knowing requiem, I'm sure the primary stages were drawn manually.

Tablet or no tablet, it's extremely well done. Kudos to you.

I'm not so fond of the pinkish, dark red. Too overwhelming. :/

Reqium » Concept looks amazing, with a nice showcase of colour that's easy on the eyes. All the handwork has me mesmerized, to be honest. Kudos.

The Pursuit » Has some nice colours(yes, I'm a sucker for pleasing colours that suit the piece) that work well with the stock, but I feel the stock needs to be blended in more and the width cut a little. I like the effects you have going on there.



Meh.

My colors...