LMS3 round 1 entry

[CybrGfx]

It's very well conceived and executed. And very sad to look at. It only became beautiful when I read your explanation...And then, it did indeed become very beautiful.

The trick is to make the backstory to this a bit clearer for the viewer, so the beauty part more readily becomes apparent.

The butterfly is too white, and looks like a cabbage moth, and at first look, I thought he was trying to catch it to eat it.

Perhaps consider having the butterfly resting on his fingertips, rather than flying, and make the butterfly one of the beautiful blue ones, or even a monarch, if it better fits your color scheme. This would tie the beauty to the creature visually.

I don't quite get the cocoon thing when I look at this. The closed eyes don't look quite right, partly due to the overall disfigurement of the face. The "elephantiasis" side of the body looks to be part of the stump he is sitting on, color wise. The people don't look ugly, as much as demonic with the glowy eyes. Maybe giving them human eyes, but all stylized gray and soulless with black irises? The rusty bars in the foreground are too blurry for depth of field. While a camera would give that effect, the human eye does not, unless you are really farsighted. I would also put the sign saying Monasteriense on the outside of the bars, simply so the viewer can clearly read the entire word. Not being familiar with it, on the inside of the cage, I tried to read it, and as I wondered about the letter I could not see, I also realized I did not recognize the word at all, and that it "appeared to be misspelled," so I stopped caring about it. But that word is an integral part of your work, so it may need a bit more dominance, visually, than behind the bars.

The human leg, and particularly the foot, are so well rendered, I feel I could reach out and touch flesh, when I scroll down to where the knee is at the top of my monitor screen. That is how I noticed the monster side blending too well with the stump. The arm looks a bit streaky, and the facial features don't look deformed, so much as "melting," which the eyes seem to emphasize. You might try a version with the eyes open, and the mouth more realistic, but drooping on one side...It looks more like you cannot draw a face, than of a monstrous looking one.

This is really a visually rich work. Your light source is well rendered and consistent, and the overall atmosphere is excellent. Really nice job, shows a LOT of thought and planning went into it!

~Cyber

[ahbeejieh]

I'd like to thank you for going thru the piece and pointing out some insightful things there. You are right about what you said in the beginning, the concept pointed out in the description isn't too evident in the image itself.

I like your suggestion with the butterfly thing. I was trying to kinda hide from the viewer as to who the monster in the picture really is. So whether he was trying to eat the butterfly or is just kinda appreciating it was kinda up to the viewer. I thought the whole white butterfly thing also kinda gives out a " white dove" kinda vibe that symbolizes purity and spirituality or something. But, you're right, it does look like a moth.

I was trying to get in between the coccoon and elephantiasis disease thing. I guess I kinda failed there too. You're right about him blending too much with the stump.

Interesting point about the blurred out bars up front. I probably gave it too much. I just wanted the creature to pop out of it somehow and let it be the focus.

I wasn't really trying to achieve anything realistic with the creature's facial deformation. I just wanted to emphasize how different he looks from the people outside wherein their expressions are all sharp and pointing downwards towards the middle of their faces, in contrast to the creatures': pointing upwards towards the butterfly and spread out like arms getting ready to receive the butterfly.

It's always a pleasure to see another artist's point of view in your work. I need to find the balance on getting all these ideas out visually more clearly... I hope practice will take me there in time. I thank you for your time in criticizing and complimenting my piece man.

All the best,
~John Barry

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