HOME | DD

Th3w-san — Recursive Frustration

Published: 2010-02-16 21:00:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 1092; Favourites: 16; Downloads: 37
Redirect to original
Description Okay, this requires a bit of explanation.
I'm taking "Advanced Two-Dimensional Digital Art" this semester, which is basically a digital painting class although it's a little more abstract than that.

This was the first assignment for the class. We were supposed to create an "object self portrait"; basically choose an object that has some kind of personal significance and work it into a self portrait somehow. The thing is, we were supposed to, like, actually THINK about it and try and get some kind of actual MEANING into the image, which is not something I'm at all accustomed to doing.

SO, this is what I came up with. The "object" is the mountain. Basically, it's about how I'm completely obsessed with mountains and deserts and large rock formations in general (as pretty much anyone who looks at this gallery can probably tell ), but I'm eternally frustrated by the fact that nothing I paint can never look as spectacular as the real thing. Hence, me sitting in front of an epic mountain looking defeated. However, since the image is itself a painting of a mountain, it suffers from exactly the same problem that it's attempting to illustrate. So I smashed the screen.
So yeah, "Recursive Frustration," or, "If You're Going to Order Me To Be Pretentious I Will At Least Make Sure That Whatever Meaning I Come Up With Will Actually Make Sense Instead of Just Being Some Smug Postmodern Non-Sequitur."

Also, I have no real idea what my hair looks like from the back, but I'm pretty sure it looks at least that silly.

Ironically despite the point of the image this actually ended up being the best mountain I've ever painted. I might crop it and move the layers around do make a decent non-smashed version and upload that; the painting itself turned out quite well.

Anyway, stats.
I started working on this on the school computers and then took it home, so:
Photoshop CS2/4
Intuos2/4
Maybe 14 hours or so? I dunno I did like 2/3 of it in one retarded all-nighter due to grossly underestimating how much work I had left to do >.<
Also, in an unprecedented move I used a photographic texture on the dirt in the foreground. It was from my own photography, and it doesn't really make the image look less painted so I guess it's okay.
Related content
Comments: 6

TuanTaureo [2010-02-17 20:03:58 +0000 UTC]

Such a beautiful irony.

Lovin' the layering between your self-portrait-self and the visual aberrations from the fistsmash. It almost looks like it's your self in the image that's busted up the screen, now slumped defeatedly on its knees in front of the aftermath.

A neat little bit of fourth-walling there.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Kayru-Kitsune [2010-02-17 10:11:16 +0000 UTC]

Ironic that I'm looking at art with the word that precisely describes my mood the last few hours.

I apologize for the lack of actual content in this comment.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

UNGDI-SEA [2010-02-17 03:11:04 +0000 UTC]

You've done those mountains pretty well for something to be frustrated about. Either, nice way to put it with recursion. Even I can't quite do the snowy Himalayan mountains with patchy snow and rock kind of painting.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TheKittyLizard [2010-02-17 02:18:24 +0000 UTC]

Oi, Thew-san. Be thankful you can at least churn out SOMETHING presentable. I kind of wish I could get up off my game-playing tush and make something worthwhile for the first time in years...

Laziness is the first step to developing artist's block, kree. Putting up with the frustration of not hitting the high mark of quality you put for yourself is just a means of never slacking off long enough for that pesky block from making buddies with your ego. ((Let me know if you have ego problems, though! I still have my shotgun, and it's itching for another target... *grin*))

So keep painting mountains and smashing computer screens. *chuckle* We'll enjoy your work anyway.

-TheKittyLizard

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TwingDing [2010-02-16 21:21:37 +0000 UTC]

It's so pwetty! Awesome job, Th3w, my man.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Swingerzetta [2010-02-16 21:08:09 +0000 UTC]

This is great. I love your clean, realistic, but still painterly style. the landscape is Gorgeous, and the concept is very well excecuted to. Sortof like meta-humor, I suppose, a picture representing the fact that it is actually a picture. I could also read it as a sort of fractured reality.

So, well done! I hope I can learn some of what you clearly have mastered one day.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0