Character: That brainless fellow

#21

It seems you have had a very visceral and personal reaction to the crucifix, but there are other ways of looking at it.

As stated, it was put there with good intent so it isn’t meant directly as a slight against Christianity.

And it is a symbol of false hope, not because Christianity doesn’t offer hope, but because the brainless man is unable to grasp that hope.

In it’s own way it is an interesting coment on hope and faith as a uniquely human condition resulting from our consciousness.

But it is absolutely meaningless to the brainless man. He is just placed there and has coins thrown at him. The ultimate freakshow, rendered completely devoid of personality or reason or hope and made into an object for spectators to enjoy.

#22

for some reason your character reminded me of rev. henry cane (i just spent the last 10 mins trying to find the pic and name of character) from poltergiest II and i think if you use some of the creepy characteristics of this character on your own it might add the kind of creepyness this work seems to emote…

#23

I did’t mean to make the eyes glow…however, that is what I said…I meant it to be more of something in focus…

think the return of the king poster with aragorn. See it in high-res and you will see what I mean…your eyes automatically fix on aragorn’s eyes…I don’t know…some thing to do with pretty much making the eyes “stand out”.

#24

It seems you have had a very visceral and personal reaction to the crucifix,

No I didn’t. You might go back and reread a bit, to better grasp what caused my reaction.

#25

I realize that not everyone that posts on this forum may have as deeply seated belief as some that free speech is integral to a functioning society. However its a free community and if an artist decides to state his message with a piece of art that is his perogative, and the focused critique should then be on whether he achieved his stated message.

As far as design, emotional content, and the ability to do what every good piece of art should do ( get people talking about it). This work combined with some of the suggested items, will and has utterly succeeded.

#26

Ordibble: Couldn’t have said it better myself.

damax: Pretty amazing similarity there! Maybe he put himself in my subconscious mind some time long ago… Thanks for spending your time looking for that.

dpvtank: Oh, sorry, I see what you mean now - the glance that instantly grabs you… Would be neat, but I honestly don’t know how to produce that… Some trick of the trade I’m yet not aware of :slight_smile:

Electrofirma: Let’s just agree that we strongly disagree here and leave it at that. I appreciate you’re giving your opinion anyway.

#27

Electrofirma: Let’s just agree that we strongly disagree here and leave it at that. I appreciate you’re giving your opinion anyway.

We probably agree more than you know, but I don’t think this forum is the place for airing those views, or making veiled references which state our views. With all the turmoil in the world it would be nice if we could have this one place, free of ideological and political bulls***.

EDIT: If you are interested in airing your views or clarifying them, feel free to send me a PM.

#28

The problem with removing/replacing the pupil and/or having the character gaze blankly at his lap is that it then ceases to engage the viewer directly. If you do that, then you would need to add to your environment to bring the interest level back up. I also agree that the lighting needs to be more dramatic.

As far as there being any kind of religious message, I don’t feel the inclusion of a rosary, by itself, makes much of a statement (which, incidentally, I didn’t even notice until it was pointed out). It doesn’t seem to have much supporting context in the image, other than to contrast with the character’s evil expression.

I have difficulty pulling any real emotion out of this image because the style is very much along the lines of horror comic books (not meant as an insult), which I don’t take seriously.

All in all, I find the image somewhat interesting as a novelty, but not particularly arresting. Maybe with more work…

#29

wow – things really got moving on this thread. Great responses everyone. However I think htere is one area you could improve the image’s impact – and that I dont think has been suggested yet…

make the character more malnourished – the ribs are showing and the shoulder is good – but the rest of the body does not follow through on this theme. give him a more pronounced pot belly (malnourishment results in the muscle mass being broken down and this included the abdominal muscles which results in pot belly) and make the legs much more skeletal – they don’t get used after all on top of the malnourishment.

The image also has a degree of surealism that could be enhanced – if you want. A cheery countryside image in the window and some more development of the drop of at the bottom of the image (perhaps revealing an earthy underworld with worms, or a mechine underworlld full of gears and plumbing).

Lastly – if you do anything, in any way to “improve” the image dont forget to pay as much attention to how the face and in particular the eye relates to the image. In a very real way that one little pupil is the main focus of the entire image! Its exact placment, size and relation the the eye and face is what creates the most powerfull connection with the viewer – the rest of the image builds out from there. You can do a lot to the rest of the image without completly changing the overall feeling of the image – but – by just a subtle change of the eyes you could change the reaction to the man from one of pity (downcast, large, soft pupil) to one of fear (beady, sly pupil like you have now).

#30

Well, since I hope we’ve worked out our differences over subtle sub-meanings, I do have a suggestion…

Put a door in the side of the box, and a short, maybe 25cm, brass railing across the front of his stage. Coins is a good idea also.

#31

I would go a bit further and add some leaky roof in there as well…
the house looks all broken and stuff…it would be cooler if it seems like its raining and the water is dripping inside the house

think fight club scene when they are inside the house and the water is dripping all over the house.

#32

Mark has some very, very good points about the face and the eye-- actually, I didn’t even notice that there WAS a pupil in the eye until I saw other people talking about it and went back to look. With the glare of the window kinda washing out the face, I had thought the eye was just blank. Some say he’s grinning, but I didn’t really get that impression either, the mouth just seems kinda open to me, not really forming an expression.

#33

I agree with Electro,
I was only thinking this morning about the front of it.
Yeah, some form of ‘barrier’ I had thought glass, but a rail or wooden ranch fence would serve.
After all, he is ‘an exhibit’ so I think the suggestion of an enclosure needs to be given IMHO. Maybe pull the camera back a little to show the “edges” more?

I also agree that it should be run down, adding to the feeling of neglect, for him and his surroundings. Plus, the idea of a sunny countryside out the (grimy) back window would for sure sell the contrast.

Boy - this is really interesting!

#34

Wow. Amazingly interesting input here.

Marcia - yup, the eyes are important “viewer engagers” here. Somewhat troublesome, since the way it is arranged now isn’t really possible. The earlier suggestion to have him staring blankly down his lap is, in reality, the only possible thing.

Mark.Snoswell - the eyes again, I’m really on the fence here not knowing what to do. I think I might keep them looking impossibly towards the viewer, but change them too big soft sickly looking pupils. Perhaps. Making him more skinny is a great idea as well since it would make him more balanced. I like that surrealistic angle as well. Might look into something there.

Electrofirma - A railing! That would frame everything better and add to the exploitation/exhibition theme. Great idea.

Dpvtank - Leaky roof is good. My original plan was actually to have a lot of raining going on, but I didn’t have time to do it. Will do, and add leaky roof and water damage.

Gnarly - Interesting. We all focus on different things I guess.

Colkai - Grimy back window is on the list! (the short list even)

Thanks everyone. I’ve got stuff enough to keep me busy until christmas now :slight_smile:

#35

James,
Just happy to be helping.
Haven’t time to work on my own at the moment - but I do love sharing ideas.
Really looking forward to how it pans out.
Just how many different ideas are now floating around your mind? :wink:

THIS for me is what forums should be like - congrats to all for setting this Evocative area up - I really do think it will help not just the contributing artist, but everyone who takes part in the process.
As they say…“It’s all good!” :-)))

#36

A railing! That would frame everything…

A very short railing though, as if it was built to simply keep the chair from rolling out.

#37

Great artwork! I love the scene and character, although I do have trouble with the emotion side of things.

I find myself trying to pull an emotion out of this artwork, instead of it comming out to reach me.

I think its the relationship between his eyes, body language and grin.

Something just doesn’t seem to mix. Some might debate this adds to the brainless theme, but it tends to throw me off the plot just a little bit.

The way he his haunced over with head down works very well with the eyes looking up through the corners at us. It makes me feel like he is aware of whats going on, but it doesn’t get to him, and he want’s us to know that. But then the mouth contradicts the eyes, giving him a completely different emotion. It’s not a smile of settlement. It’s a cheerfull smile, which seems unbalanced.

#38

Originally posted by Pi3141
It’s a cheerfull smile, which seems unbalanced.

I totally agree. It’s been bugging me for some time now. All this talking has revealed a few inconsistencies that I hope to rectify.

On the other hand, I’m a real sucker for contrasts - but it should probably not be present as contradictions within one and the same character. At least not in a still like this.

What I’ll try to do is to make him look more “dead” while maintaining the strong focus around the eyes somehow. This means I need to change the eyes and wipe that grin off his face. He really is meant to be an object rather than a person.

As I’ve said: There are loads of things I can do to improve this, and I probably wouldn’t have figured them out without the help of all you guys (and girls) commenting on it.

A side note: The Evocative forum starts turning out as quite a work of genious by the CGNetwork crew. Like colkai said above, this is the way to go. By doing away with the petty technical details and focusing on the results we can all help out improving eachother’s final products rather than the particular details involved in producing it.

#39

On the other hand, I’m a real sucker for contrasts - but it should probably not be present as contradictions within one and the same character. At least not in a still like this.

I love contrasts too. And if you think about it, you already have a great one going here. The fact that his body is an object, he is dead, yet inside… there is still life and that is shown to us through his eyes.

The Evocative forum starts turning out as quite a work of genious by the CGNetwork crew. Like colkai said above, this is the way to go. By doing away with the petty technical details and focusing on the results we can all help out improving eachother’s final products rather than the particular details involved in producing it.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s allows us to express the artist inside, and settle down on the computer tech side of things.

#40

Hi,
do you think the light on the floor may be too bright?
It seems that the floor is wet:)

but I really like the man who sit on the whellchair.