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Published: 2008-06-26 17:49:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 1596; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 25
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There are many people who are lost, for reasons of their own: the woman whose husband recently died, leaving her with three children and a score of debts, the college freshman who has lost his direction in life, the businessman who's in over his head with a deadline he can't keep. All of them perfectly legitimate reasons. All of them with a right to feel the way they do.And then there are those like you, who should have no reason at all.
You don't know where you came from. That shouldn't be a problem: you are privileged, and it comes with the territory. You have never wanted for anything, never been in dire straits. You have led a reasonably happy life, dotted by the same fleeting difficulties the average joe encounters. There were never any issues concerning your origins; your inability to complete your genetics homework was simply an annoyance, an inconvenience, nothing more; you were never given grief by your peers. You should have no reason to feel bothered by your unknown history. But you do.
You are not concerned about *whom* you came from. You are not, have never been, tempted to find out; never had reason to entertain ridiculous fantasies. They relinquished all rights to you the day they decided not to keep you; they can go drown in a vat of untreated sewage, for all you care. Occasionally, you idly wonder if you have any siblings, but the answer would have no impact upon your life either way.
No, your concerns are more practical: what gene pool do you belong to? what lineage can you lay claim to? what is your family medical history, where does that put you in terms of risk? just what the hell *are* you, anyway? These are the questions that matter, and you will never have the answers to them, and it bugs the hell out of you sometimes.
Because, sometimes, at the end of the day, you find yourself admitting: you have no idea who you are.
... and you feel as if you've been cast adrift in a sea of humans, with only a broken compass for a guide.
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100 Pictures Challenge #16: Questioning.
A vignette. LOL.
Corel PhotoPaint. Something to the order of 500 layers.
Oh, and to the person who compulsively went on a hunt for The Mysterious Donut Girl - shame on you!
Oh, and by the way, no, the central character does *not* cast a shadow.
Related content
Comments: 106
Yayster [2008-06-29 10:41:39 +0000 UTC]
This isn't the sort of thing I usually see from you - I think it's awesome Love the vectorish style and all the things that are going on. Did you get bored of drawing people?
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DarthFar In reply to Yayster [2008-06-29 15:20:01 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much! Did you mean, did this make me bored with drawing people, or did I draw this because I was tired of drawing people with faces?
I'll let you in on a secret: my scrap pile is filled with "things you don't usually see from me". LOL. Actually, I try my best not to pigeonhole myself in one genre, y'know? I like to experiment.
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Yayster In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-29 15:41:06 +0000 UTC]
I mean full-bodied people in the same style There are a lot of them in there!
That's cool that you like to experiment. I'm trying to branch out more myself.
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DarthFar In reply to Yayster [2008-06-29 15:57:03 +0000 UTC]
Oh. Well, I did have fun *drawing* them... but man, *colouring* them was a whole new can of worms!
I would love to see you do more traditional pieces.
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tankgirly [2008-06-28 10:33:40 +0000 UTC]
He looks like that Asian fashion guru in "How to look good naked".
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DarthFar In reply to WraithTen [2008-06-29 06:40:39 +0000 UTC]
Not funny! *NOT* FUNNY!
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DarthFar In reply to WraithTen [2008-06-29 13:15:16 +0000 UTC]
[Far kicks Tory]
You're supposed to be on *my* side, dammit!
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WraithTen In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-30 02:01:04 +0000 UTC]
Ow! You're supposed to be nice to me, I'm old.
Fine: Tankgirly, that was totally uncalled for. How could you even think of putting the words Fashion guru, naked, and Far in the same sentence...I'm shocked!
Feel better Far?
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DarthFar In reply to WraithTen [2008-07-01 02:46:13 +0000 UTC]
Although that should not be taken to imply that I am completely fashion-inept and spend all my time in nerdy chequered shirts, fiddling with slide rules. Oh wait...
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WraithTen In reply to DarthFar [2008-07-02 23:38:08 +0000 UTC]
...wearing gray socks with black dress boots.
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DarthFar In reply to WraithTen [2008-07-03 02:39:24 +0000 UTC]
Oh shut up. Or I'll wear orange socks with them next time.
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WraithTen In reply to DarthFar [2008-07-03 12:39:15 +0000 UTC]
Funny you should bring up orange socks...
My mother used to have this pair of orange socks that she wore ALL THE TIME! She had absolutely NOTHING in her closet that matched them. It drove my brother and me crazy and we had a fit every time she had them on. So one day my brother goes into her room, grabs the socks, and throws them away. What does my mother do? Goes into the garbage and retrieves them, just for spite.
So either you're part French or she's part Chinese. Either way, you're both annoying.
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DarthFar In reply to WraithTen [2008-07-06 13:26:25 +0000 UTC]
She's probably part Chinese. Then again, there's also that other half of me that isn't accounted for...
Oh, and I was *born* to annoy.
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DarthFar In reply to tankgirly [2008-06-28 14:26:16 +0000 UTC]
What? Nooooooooooooooooooooo
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ShrunkenJedi [2008-06-27 22:57:54 +0000 UTC]
Sweet! Very crisp and stylized, obviously. I like it. The only thing I'd say is that the stop-sign seems a little bright for the color palette, but maybe you wanted it to stand out that much.
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DarthFar In reply to ShrunkenJedi [2008-06-29 16:24:30 +0000 UTC]
Thanks very much! and LOL yeah, I did want to call a little attention to it, though the red shirt was originally the same colour as the sign; when I changed the former, I sort of forgot about the latter.
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prionbrain [2008-06-27 19:17:03 +0000 UTC]
This is quite deep as a thought!!!
Great image by the way!
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DarthFar In reply to MASRMiller [2008-06-29 16:25:55 +0000 UTC]
Makes you think of that Dr. Who episode where that thing in the TV set sucked out people's faces, huh?
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MASRMiller In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-29 21:00:24 +0000 UTC]
never saw that episode.
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KnightSavtrian [2008-06-27 16:05:39 +0000 UTC]
You never stop kicking ass, do you? It's always a good day when I see a new deviation from you, especially something so....unlike your other stuff, somewhat introspective and of course completely encompassing "real" human thought sometimes.
I especially love the non casting shadow thing, I got that one without help. Yay!
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DarthFar In reply to KnightSavtrian [2008-06-28 04:27:20 +0000 UTC]
If that were true... there'd be a lot of people going about with sore bottoms... or I'd have a severely sprained ankle.
Thank you very much, Steph! What (subject/style) I draw or paint tends to be dictated by how I feel at the time.
And I'm glad you got the shadow bit. ^_^
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NatalieKelsey [2008-06-27 14:06:12 +0000 UTC]
I know that feeling. I wish it could be purely science for me, too....because I have the other emotional considerations as well.
The writing, as always is as good or better than the picture.
PS I am now going to put Wash up as he is, faceless, because you have given me permission to do so by putting up this picture.
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DarthFar In reply to NatalieKelsey [2008-06-28 04:23:38 +0000 UTC]
Then you'll need to call it "All Washed Out", or "It Won't Wash".
Thank you very much, Nan. My philosophy is not to mess with what isn't broken, but sometimes I wonder if, by being, insensitive, I might be missing out on things. ... Nahhhh. LOL.
Take a deep breath, choose a path - and have no regrets.
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tanabatablossom [2008-06-27 10:51:42 +0000 UTC]
Very interesting commentary, Far. I've always wondered about those unfortunate people who came from sperm donors, and whether or not they *know* how many potential siblings they have running around out there, and worse still, whether they've ever had any *close contact* with them during the wild years. Hey, it really is a small world after all. Interesting how the other people have no faces, but their often *stiff* postures make the viewer feel a bit uncomfortable. Like, what's the matter? Can we help?
Does the skyscraper in the middle purpose;ly not have any windows on its left side? And why exactly do you ... excuse me, the central character *cough* not cast a shadow? Is he meant to be perceived as invisible? Anyway, I think not only does the thought of 500 layers make my brain go to mush, but also reading something so deep at 5 in the morning.
Great concept Far!
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DarthFar In reply to tanabatablossom [2008-07-06 13:04:48 +0000 UTC]
LOL! Yeah, it makes me wonder sometimes if I've ever run into any blood relations. It's a bizarre, bizarre feeling.
The skyscraper in the middle does not have any windows on the left side because Far is a terrible architect and can't design buildings worth squat. Seriously, it never occurred to me that all the buildings had to have windows on all sides. I suppose it would save the people a lot of money on windows and cleaning...
Why does the central character not cast a shadow? Maybe it's because the person doesn't seem to make an impact on the world? Maybe it's because the person is genetically invisible? I'll leave the interpretation to my watchers.
Thanks, Bats!
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tanabatablossom In reply to DarthFar [2008-07-06 16:25:54 +0000 UTC]
I can only imagine! It's a seriously creepy thought, one that I'd rather not think about.
LOL! You and a terrible architect? Surely you jest! They don't have toi have windows on all sides, it's just that most of them just happen to, I think. It never occurred to me as to why they didn't just have two sides with windows.
Interesting thought, though I do think that everyone makes an impact on the world one way or another. If you're on this planet, you're part of the cycle. My interpretation of your piece is that somewhere in life, I think we all get a little lost sometimes. Maybe we're finding ourselves in a deadbeat job that we no longer enjoy, or we're freshly out of a long relationship and not sure what to do next now that we're alone again, or maybe we're just fed up with life as we know it and searching for that "ideal" that we always imagined our lives would be.
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theartyst [2008-06-27 04:26:57 +0000 UTC]
I don't know if anyone else said anything about your text on this? Did you write this or someone else - pretty deep! and well put.
Victor
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DarthFar In reply to theartyst [2008-06-27 07:13:57 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much! Yeah, I wrote it. I seldom use quotes, and when I do they're mostly for portraits of famous people (and I always put the name of the person who said it).
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wincenworks [2008-06-27 02:27:41 +0000 UTC]
I wanna live in an awesome city where there's a stone wall up in the skyline behind the skyscrapers!!!
Very nice piece Far... 500 layers... the idea makes my head hurt.
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DarthFar In reply to wincenworks [2008-06-27 03:42:45 +0000 UTC]
It's a city map, not a stone wall.
I guess it lost all detail when I set it to low opacity. But yeah, I, too would want to live in an awesome city with a stone wall up in the skyline, LOL!
Thanks very much! and the *sight* of 500 layers made my head hurt.
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wincenworks In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-27 11:39:53 +0000 UTC]
There you go, destroying my hopes and dreams. How could you?
How do you keep track of which layer is which? I keep painting on the wrong layer with 10
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DarthFar In reply to wincenworks [2008-06-28 04:15:29 +0000 UTC]
The trick is to obsessively label each layer. Mine usually go: "LINEART", "PEOPLE", "SOCKS/SHIRTS", "TIES/ACCS" etc.
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wincenworks In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-28 06:23:02 +0000 UTC]
I do that and I still get them mixed up anyway.
I'd cry, but it's not manly.
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InverseReality-2 [2008-06-27 02:09:57 +0000 UTC]
Whoa, dramatically different art style. reminds me of these instructo art pieces. I like the take on "questioning," but isnβt it a bit of a contradiction to not be concerned about "whom you came from" and yet be concerned about genetics? I mean, that person right before you has a whole lot to do with your immediate genetic lineageβ¦
Did I just type that nitpicking out loud?
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DarthFar In reply to InverseReality-2 [2008-06-27 02:56:35 +0000 UTC]
Well, there's a difference between not caring about the *people* who came together to make you, and the *genes* they carry. One is emotional; the other is scientific. As in, you never want to know what they were, what their lives were like, what caused you to be conceived and abandoned; you just care about the content of their cells.
A pretty selfish attitude, but genes are selfish buggers anyway, LOL.
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psychoticdustbunny [2008-06-27 01:35:19 +0000 UTC]
I so get this. Been there. I used to pray I wouldn't end up marrying a sibling. When I was pregnant I was sooo curious to see what my children would look like. Curioser and curioser.
*Tucks hair up and walks in opposite direction.*
I think I see Stephen too.
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DarthFar In reply to psychoticdustbunny [2008-06-27 03:01:21 +0000 UTC]
Well, I have no religious considerations so that isn't a problem... but haha, yeah, it would be bizarre to wind up marrying a cousin. My family tree is weird and tangled enough already as it is.
Oh, and I see I can never draw another picture again without you and Tory going on an easter-egg hunt.
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psychoticdustbunny In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-30 02:42:00 +0000 UTC]
A cousin, meh. But a sibling;
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psychoticdustbunny In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-29 05:41:12 +0000 UTC]
Wait! Garrity has chocolate! No wonder he can lure red headed women. I'm in!
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DarthFar In reply to psychoticdustbunny [2008-06-29 06:37:20 +0000 UTC]
Here. Have this tomato-shaped chocolate.
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psychoticdustbunny In reply to DarthFar [2008-06-29 14:41:55 +0000 UTC]
Uh uh. Cannibalism is where I draw the line.
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DarthFar In reply to psychoticdustbunny [2008-06-29 15:06:28 +0000 UTC]
Cannibalism??? It's just a lump of chocolate! It's not as if it was once a Torymato or something...
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