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On 9/23/2017 at 5:56 PM, Requiem said:

I may be old fashioned, but I also have a lot of respect for people who can actually paint realistic figures. Most 'artists' these days just do those post-modern splotches and splashes because they can't actually paint. You can actually paint! 

 

On 9/24/2017 at 6:26 PM, Vampyrique said:

Ha! The idea of being able to actually paint? That's so two hundred years ago. 

These days, it's not really about art; rather, it's about feeling important and unleashing your inner elitist. It's about who you know. Sipping expensive wine and hobnobbing with the wealthy and the superficial. Showing off your ability to see the sophisticated intellect behind seemingly random blotches of ink or the three-dimensional profundity behind a red 2D square. If you walk into an empty room and can only see a plastic spoon resting awkwardly on a blue chair as it is literally displayed, you've only revealed your inner limitations. 

 

I have a lot of respect for some abstract painting and conceptual art, and I enjoy figurative expressionism more than I used to. I definitely wouldn't have developed that appreciation without being basically forced into it at college, but I'm glad I was, because it opened me up to experiences of pieces that taught me interesting (and maybe even profound) lessons about the way I perceive things. It's a weird and at times frustrating process to try and reconcile those lessons with my approach to my own vastly different work, but I'm grateful for the background, and hopefully I'm better able to think about and control how my work will affect other people as a result.

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On 8/13/2017 at 11:17 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

Ambiguity is one of my major goals, at least in my personal work, not so much with the album covers - I have a few ideas I'm trying to express with each of them, but I'd like for people to want to figure things out for themselves. Above all I'm trying to make these paintings feel relatable on a human level, and at the same time symbolic, which is a weird tension that's captured perfectly in some of my favorite medieval and Italian/Northern Renaissance paintings.

Examples? I'd be curious to see if I've been missing stuff from these historical works you're mentioning.

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@Iceni -

Van Eyck's Adam and Eve:

5d07d9aa3513e2036a32f2a4cda7d87b.jpg

...from the Ghent Altarpiece, which is worth perusing in detail (there is a website somewhere with mind-blowingly hi res photos of the whole thing):

Lamgods_open.jpg

This polychrome Lamentation sculpture at the Cloisters:

DP366884.jpg

Some of the figures in Rogier van der Weyden's "Last Judgement" for the Beaune altarpiece (also look at his "Deposition":

Rogier_van_der_Weyden_(1399of1400-1464)_

Most arresting for me, personally, is the Godelieve polyptych ("Murder Of St Godelieve"), especially the expressionlessness of the figures in her martyrdom scene on the right, which I've spent hours viewing in person:

DT224782.jpg

Fra Angelico's "Entombment":

entombment-1440.jpg

 

I find their lack of expression captivating, and somehow more emotionally weighty and convincing than the overwrought drama of some later works like Rubens' "Crucifixion of St Peter".

I have to say that the best example of the tension I'm talking about, though, is later - one of my favorite paintings, David's "Death of Marat":

jacques-louis-david-mort-de-marat-17931.

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@FatherAlabaster The Adam and Eve comparison most got my attention. Looks like they were intentionally made with a resemblance. Interesting that Adam covers his chest but Eve seems content to go bare-breasted. What are the figures on the top right doing? Top left looks like Cain and Abel but the other one is harder for me to figure out.

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48 minutes ago, Iceni said:

@FatherAlabaster The Adam and Eve comparison most got my attention. Looks like they were intentionally made with a resemblance. Interesting that Adam covers his chest but Eve seems content to go bare-breasted. What are the figures on the top right doing? Top left looks like Cain and Abel but the other one is harder for me to figure out.

The other scene is Cain and Abel making sacrifices of harvest and livestock, respectively.

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1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

The other scene is Cain and Abel making sacrifices of harvest and livestock, respectively.

Oh, OK! I thought I saw sheaves of wheat. Interesting then that the discord between brothers is placed over Eve.

I don't have any art to show for it, but as a brief tangent I think the deep sea/ocean more generally as an alternative to space is underappreciated. Lots of really cool vistas and and atmosphere. The guy who writes One Piece might be the only author I know of who's explored it to a really appreciable extent within a more modern fantasy medium. Biggest draw of ocean over space is that there's so much life down there of such a variety.

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On 04/02/2018 at 12:18 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

Hey BAN, here's the sketch I mentioned. I don't know if they'll wind up going forward with this idea, but I'm pretty happy with it regardless. Would be fun to turn into a painting.

27747569_10210873574945312_7783703953978

Looks cool, really like the shape and textures on the trees. Is that the same character from your profile picture?

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On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 5:22 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

Here's a variant of a cover I recently finished for a dark neoclassical outfit called Autumn Tears:

35328317_10211715434151266_8511633481313

 

On a side note I'm annoyed with the broken links above, and I'll try to fix them asap.

Fucking amazing.

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On 8/19/2018 at 1:48 AM, Balor said:

artcontestentry.jpg

I thought that I would share this here.  I made this for the art contest that Militant Zone recently put on, and ended up winning second place.  It is a collage - the first that I ever really made.  Any recommendations on where I can improve?

First off, considering that this is your first attempt at making a collage, then it is very well done :)

Now asssuming that you have used at photo editing program to make it, then perhaps softening the edges...just a tad...would improve future projects. A real "Wow!" factor would be adding some shadows, either using an added shadow tool or a Burn tool - as for the latter, go for baby steps - it is hard to religthning a shadow even with a Dogde tool, without the whole thing looking like a real mess!

All my artwork involves cutouts set up in a collage method primarely using Photoshop. Got any questions or need advice...well, I would be happy to help and you know where to find me :)

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11 hours ago, Tortuga said:

First off, considering that this is your first attempt at making a collage, then it is very well done :)

Now asssuming that you have used at photo editing program to make it, then perhaps softening the edges...just a tad...would improve future projects. A real "Wow!" factor would be adding some shadows, either using an added shadow tool or a Burn tool - as for the latter, go for baby steps - it is hard to religthning a shadow even with a Dogde tool, without the whole thing looking like a real mess!

All my artwork involves cutouts set up in a collage method primarely using Photoshop. Got any questions or need advice...well, I would be happy to help and you know where to find me :)

Thank you for your kind words and advice.  I actually made this collage by cutting out pieces of paper by hand, and then gluing them to a piece of cardboard.  That being said, I agree that the edges could definitely have been cleaned up a bit more.  I think I will have to be a bit more patient next time!  I like the idea of adding shadows, though - perhaps watercolors could work?

Do you have any pictures of your work here?  I would be interested to see them.

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On 8/23/2018 at 5:18 PM, Balor said:

Thank you for your kind words and advice.  I actually made this collage by cutting out pieces of paper by hand, and then gluing them to a piece of cardboard.  That being said, I agree that the edges could definitely have been cleaned up a bit more.  I think I will have to be a bit more patient next time!  I like the idea of adding shadows, though - perhaps watercolors could work?

Do you have any pictures of your work here?  I would be interested to see them.

I have no experience in working with watercoulours, so I am afraid that I cannot give you any advice on that. But give it a try...it might just work :)

You can see my Online portfolio here. Starts with the first projects I made, scroll down for most recent ones. The early ones make me cringe...but it is fun to see how I have developed my skills during the years. Feel free to download anything that you like :)

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15 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I have no experience in working with watercoulours, so I am afraid that I cannot give you any advice on that. But give it a try...it might just work :)

You can see my Online portfolio here. Starts with the first projects I made, scroll down for most recent ones. The early ones make me cringe...but it is fun to see how I have developed my skills during the years. Feel free to download anything that you like :)

I like the atmosphere and lighting.  The glow on the lamps is especially cool!

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On 4/4/2019 at 4:48 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

That's the one! Thanks man, glad you like it. I also did a variant that they may have used for a vinyl release, for which that cover image was actually just the "underpainting":

AT+final+small+061518.jpg?format=2500w

Also, welcome back, it's great to see you around here again. :)

Wow, also very cool!!

And thanks ?

I've been trying to teach myself to paint for about six months now. Haven't done anything particularly 'metal' so far (or indeed anything good ?) but anyway...

Fl3CirB.jpg 

jcysUmY.jpg

wVa5Hvk.jpg 

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13 minutes ago, Thrashman said:

Wow, also very cool!!

And thanks ?

I've been trying to teach myself to paint for about six months now. Haven't done anything particularly 'metal' so far (or indeed anything good ?) but anyway...

sFeMoCM.jpg 

nkWHW8K.jpg 

h6QwkZI.jpg 

Everybody gotta start somewhere fella, my mother has been attending classes for a good few years and knocks out some fantastic pieces.  Keep at it and good luck.

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1 hour ago, Thrashman said:

Wow, also very cool!!

And thanks ?

I've been trying to teach myself to paint for about six months now. Haven't done anything particularly 'metal' so far (or indeed anything good ?) but anyway...

sFeMoCM.jpg 

nkWHW8K.jpg 

h6QwkZI.jpg 

I like em, there's nothing wrong with work like this. Nice graphic design, good colors and textures.

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