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LindaRHerzog — Digit's Balance
Published: 2006-09-09 23:36:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 10226; Favourites: 943; Downloads: 204
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Digit's Balance is 18 x36 in OilI had a dream to do this painting and had no idea what it meant, but was determined to do it. The next morning while exercising, I was watching the Discovery station and playing was Sigorney Weavers 20 year visit back to Rwanda after doing Gorillas in the Mist. She made a stop at Digit's grave, and it hit me like a ton of bricks to call the painting Digit's Balance. Digit was Dian Fossey's favorite gorilla. Digit was killed by paochers who chopped off his hand to sell as ash trays. The European Robin symbolizes compassion.
Thanks to Henriek DA who helped out with a photo of a gorilla hand. It was very hard to find a photo of a gorilla hand in the position I wanted so I had to piece it together from a few photos.
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Comments: 129
Interestingly enough, man's ape ancestry and the bird (aka modern living dinosaur) are the major, most well-known tenets of evolution, infusing this with much relevance and power simply by the visual.
Add to that the knowledge of how precarious and unlikely a balance of factors that support fragile life- from the moon's precise orbit to the relatively paper-thin atmosphere- that the changing of even one of them would wipe it all out, and this becomes much more than three subjects on a two-dimensional surface.
And they say science doesn't fit into spiritual experience. Ha.
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It bothers me a bit... the bird should be on the other end, the shorter (and I assume lighter) segment.
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What if the knee end of the femur is naturally heavier than the ball and socket joint that goes into the hip? (it certainly looks bigger at least)
I don't know the actual answer, of course, but it's a possibility.
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I need to stop watching so many sci fi films, this just reminds me of 2001 A space Odyssey.
Beautiful piece by the way. Very pretty.
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Me too! Virtual five.
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Amazing drawing and concept, I'd love to have the patience and knowledge to draw like this. I usually stop when I can't find the brushes/techniques I need. Not sure if it's supposed to be off-balanced, is the bird on the right side? Either way, it's still amazing!
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This thing pretty much reeks of symbolism, that of the Robin nearly notwithstanding. The bone, the overbalance of same, with the bird balanced there.. the whole thing balanced itself on the tip of a single finger. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words. There's a tome represented here.
What dreams may come, hey woman..?
Really, REALLY like this.
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Beyond talented. Beyond primitively beautiful. Just raw awesome-sauce!
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I loved this painting the minute I laid eyes on it, in the article by $techgnotic Its partially cuz I love animals but also because it has a sense of the serene in it yet somehow also conveys a morbid message... beautifully done.
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A nice work of art - heightened by an amazing story.
Top notch!
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reminds me than birds are lighter than air..........so thats the impresive balancing act!!!!
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First i liked it on first Sight.
Then it remembered me on Stanley Kubricks ' 2001: A Space Odyssey'
And then i read the 'behind the Picture'...
In all three Cases i have to say: You did an Awesome work on that.
Great Talent, nice Details.
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Great artwork, love the coloring and the message! Well done!
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This is very powerful!!! I cant believe how perfect it just seems!
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This is stunning, thought-provoking and very powerful. Beautiful work. <3
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...also (proto) man holding nature in/on the balance. Superb.
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when i like something i LIKE!!!!!!!!! great work!!! details are lovely!!! and nice concept why dont you tell us more about your concept?
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I saw it as a trophy (the bone), nature (represented by the robin and the gorilla) had won, and humankind were finally dead at last, leaving the earth alone, having got rid of the global pestilence homo sapiens.
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Ah thanks. That is one of my personal favorites.
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In this painting ,are you suggesting that that is Digit's femur?
I too utilize much dream imagery in my work but my usual medium is metal sculpture. I have had several dreams of the HUMAN FEMUR lately and am feeling the urge to make one soon(in stainless steel).Often the symbolic significance of these archetypal objects is lost to me at the outset,but always proves relevant later on...
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Oh you should do one. Looking at your work, it will turn out fantastic.
I think the bone means fragile life to me in that one. I try to get the meaning out of my dreams I have that I paint. Sometimes it just doesn't come till way after I paint it.
Thank you.
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Love your process Linda,
since it's so similar to my own.
Michael Parkes was one of my faves in the eighties and nineties when I was teaching at Berkeley in my capacity as sculpture Tech(staff ,not faculty).
I tried to take one of my classes to see him since he lived in the area. Somehow our schedules got messed up and it never materialized.
Since then magic realism has become an interest of mine.
So nice to see such a high level of technical skill and your inspired work on DA.
This is VERY IMPORTANT for the kids on here to see...
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That was a very thoughtful comment. Thank you very much. What a bummer you missed the class. I would love to have that opportunity.
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Ironic that you've sent me a note today,
I just finished the femur (I spoke of making a month ago) in stainless steel late last night.
Hopefully I'll get good shots of it this afternoon and post it tonight...
As usual the anatomical research I had to do to fabricate a reasonably accurate iteration of the RIGHT HUMAN FEMUR was so incredibly interesting. I got great images from a Google search and with those as reference was able to cover every angle...I LOVE anatomy. the structure of the human body is just fantastic...
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I just wrote you on that. I am still smiling.
Yes. Google sure saves a lot of trips to the library. Also saves money on late fees. : )
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I'm now trying to find images of a right whales vertebrae,as a sculptural model...
I (think)it's the largest(vertebrae) in the animal kingdom...
My father once had a potential commission to make a display structure for an adult male right whale skeleton for Harvard University ,to hang outside the Museum. But the weather was too much of a factor and the bones are very porous and filled with oil which would have to be removed somehow before they were sealed. He was further asked to make the parts that had already decomposed out of stainless steel. It would have been a Herculean task. At length they rejected the price tag. But not before they sent him detailed schematic drawings of the creatures entire skeleton,so he'd have a guide for reassembly. There was one sheet on the largest of the vertebrae and when my father opened it,we both just sat in total silence and rapture at it's incredible beauty...I was 9.
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It makes me think of the first discovery of tools or something along those lines. The reason why is probably from that seen in the beginning of "A Space Oddessy 2001", where the gorrilla figures out how to use a bone as a smashing stick. Any way really good stuff.
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Smashing stick. I like that. Thank you!
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Thank you very much. That one is one of my personal fav's. - Linda
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You always make me smile. Thanks!
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Gorgeous. Dian Fossey was a childhood hero of mine; the painting is a wonderful expression of what exactly she did and cared for.
The detail in the gorilla palm and the robin's feathers is spectacular.
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this is truly beautiful. but i wish you'd painted the whole gorilla!!
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One is coming soon on a bike. ; )
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