He Who Looks Down
Looking down on everyone and everything.
I finished that bit of black and white simplicity earlier today. I like it and of course it comes fully equipped with some sort of profound message.
We don't like it when we observe others looking down on everyone and everything. Just who do they think they are? Right? So we look down on them. A vicious cycle that can only spiral... downward. Intriguing.
Yet, if you had not looked down today, you would not be reading this.
So? What is the Artist Himself trying to say today?
That's always for you to decide.
I will thank you for looking down on this today. Whether you looked down on this post literally or figuratively. Doesn't matter to me. It's all important, it all matters. Thank you.
"Black and White?"
"Usually you're so colorful!"
Your encouragement. I stepped out of my comfort zone, started experimenting. Here's the colorful, funny man being serious with black and white. You folks seem to like that too. I won't argue. I'll just be grateful. Thank you.
The Black and White Section of My Art Gallery Grows
Let's go for a quick walk.
Everyone should know. If you remember the post that included Double Down, you might remember the simple request I left in the headline. That one put me in the top 20 trending art posts that day. Thank you.
Yes, maybe you remember the joke that day as well. The only black and white image full of color in existence today. Maybe it actually is though. Who knows! We had fun that day. I remember it. Thank you.
A quote from the original post:
To some, the image looks like nothing but black, white and a few shades in between. Others will see the side profile of a face looking to the left, and nothing more. Those who can see within will find a black bird flying towards what the face sees.
Something like that. You can decide why this all occurred, on your own.
Seven months ago. Going in, I had no idea where that image up there and the words contained within would get me.
It turned out to be one the most successful and rewarding publications in the history of me.
It was my first real step into the black and white world. Imagine that.
Thank you. My wish came true.
Well since you're being all serious, those "black" parts would almost have to be made of some deep ultramarines or indigo, plus a vibrant crimson, perhaps a deep magenta, enraged by just a hint of cadmium yellow, but their orange only makes it so that they and the blue are all seen at once. It's loaded with colors!
More seriously, I don't think I consciously saw the bird or the face the first time I saw 'I Wish I Could Fly', I must have decided that it was abstract, and that was that. Now-- is that a slate junco?
That is fancy way of saying black is a color! But in the "business" we call it black and white, even though I see gray as well. I'm not sure if I can call it monochrome too. I think that's using different shades of one color. Hmmm. I just confused myself.
I tricked many people with I Wish I Could Fly. It's abstract, but not really!
Slate junco? More like a brewers blackbird.
I finally bought a tube of 'lamp black' in acrylic the other day, I had been out of black for too long, and I was tired of making my own, wasting my colors in the darkness.
The guy with the bird in his head though, so cool looking, it looks like he's made of chrome. A hood ornament.
I have to ask. To me it's obvious because I put it there.
Can you see the face of the man actually looking down in He Who Looks Down?
What about two hands trying to reach one another?
Right away, except I thought it was a she and that everything else in the image was long hair hanging down. When I saw the title I had to look again, but still missed the hands!
How about the side profile of a face in the letter C on Color?
Nope. You've got pareidolia, but don't worry, it's not serious.
Personally I don't like them.
Too bland and not really communicating any emotion or message .
Thanks!
This is awesome ! Like your work !!
Thanks! You just made me realize my work even extends to the far reaches of Nepal. This is truly astounding. Thanks again!
Thank you so much my friend ! Your work is awesome !!
I enjoy your work! It helps me to understand and appreciate how you think. Thanks my friend.
You're welcome. Thanks for having a look down today! I appreciate it.
Double Down reminds me of the cave of wonders from Aladdin in the way it looks. Like mysterious tiger-like faces. I like it when you're calm. But I also like it when you're wild. In general I appreciate all your hard work no matter how wild or calm you are.
Well. I just appreciate how so many of you allow me to be human. The amount of energy it takes to do something like what I did yesterday is sometimes more than what I have stored up. Impossible to be on all the time.
About these faces you see often on my blog. Everything I produce starts out incredibly carelessly. I just go all over the place, dropping colors here, there and everywhere. Things start taking shape, then I fine tune. If I notice something starts looking like a face, then I run with it. They appear out of nowhere, then I make them show themselves. Creepy, right? Of course, there are days when I just straight up feel like drawing a face. Those ones aren't really up for interpretation. I find it so interesting though. Everyone can see something else. It's always there, but they just can't quite put their finger on it. I'm rambling.
When I look at Double Down. I see the alien on the bottom. I think most people start at the top!
I am beyond impressed with your work! I enjoyed this post immensely! I'm upvoting and following! Thank you very much for sharing! Wishing everyone the very best of health and happiness! Blessed 2018 my Friends! :)
Beyond impressed? Wow! ...and here I thought I did a terrible job today!
Thanks for stopping in. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I sees him, to me it looks like he is staring down into the abyss in which at the bottom is some kind of sphincter with grasping greedy hands pulling in all around it.
Ammarite?
Nailed it!
Hey. I just woke up from a nightmare where a community of people was being chased by dangerous wild animals and a mean pig, all while odd blocks kept falling and pinning people in their tracks. We didn't all make it out alive. I had to go back in with these other people to look for survivors. Things started to get better but eventually I woke up and now I'll never know how the story ends.
Sorry I'm not able to leave a decent response. I'm only on sip one of this pot of coffee I'm going to need today.
Black and white are colors, too. These images are all very colorful!
I looked down on He Who Looks Down and I saw the face and the hands … I looked down on I Wish I Could Fly and I saw the face, but not the black bird … I looked down on Color and I only saw a word … and I looked down on Double Down and I saw two jet planes flying straight at me. One of them was upside down. Maybe I just need to practice looking down on everyone and everything a bit more?
Sometimes we must look down. Sometimes up. Sideways might help. Maybe look in the mirror too.
You cracked the secret code. Good job.
Good advice for a new year. Resolution: Look everywhere patiently and with purpose.
What was the request, please, remember me?
I remember you!
and do you remember yourself?
I have my name written on my shirt so I don't forget... but I lost it.
Who is that man.
You... are confusing me today. What's up?
Not much, I am just extremely bored and I shall entertain myself more.
Some seriously awesome artwork bro. Once again you created another work that I liked better than the last one. And I loved that one! I guess the reward doesn’t reflect but I think you B&W is the shiznat
The rewards thing is up and down. I never depend on that going in. I can't. Imagine. If I knew this was going to be a flop, it wouldn't be here! Then wtf can we enjoy? Nothing! I like my black and white stuff. I have a few much older ones, but they're crude looking. I used to use a cheap program. I'm glad I switched to what I have now. Next is a new computer, I hope, sometime. I want to make some massive things, but processing power is limited.
Wow, I really like your art style-- similar to what I was trying to achieve years ago when I was on an artistic kick.... but yours is actually good! :) What is your creative process-- what tools do you use to create these paintings?
Hey! I appreciate the compliments. Thank you.
Creative process. This is all digital art. When it comes to certain things, I keep a lot of the trade secrets to myself. I'll often use tools in ways they weren't designed to be used to get certain effects, but not always. I use many different sizes of the airbrush tool at varying pressures and a virtual rubbing technique to blend things when desired. I rarely use high tech tricks that make life easy. I never apply a push button filter or things like that. The Double Down piece was a bit of fun with the mirror tool. I guess that would be similar to a tool that has 4 chalk sticks. Move it once, get 4 lines in different places. Details were added later though, so not everything is precisely mirrored.
The top three were all produced on a single layer. The bottom one, I Wish I Could Fly, was produced using multiple layers. Much like physical art, except I don't have to wait for the paint to dry to get the desired effect.
I do like to keep many of my secrets though. There's a reason why my stuff doesn't look like all the other stuff. I want to keep it that way!
Oh, don't worry-- I wasn't planning on stealing your secrets! I was just curious.
Personally... I was doing everything with GIMP and made heavy use of the Filters menu to generate cool looking wallpapers and stuff. They looked neat, but never anything like real "art", you know?
But that was all years ago when I was unsure whether I wanted to pursue my creative side or programming. I like to leave the artwork to the experts these days. My left brain won the struggle :)
I can always tell when someone is trying to pass off a push button effect as art. All they really need to do is tell people that it's an altered PHOTO, but for some reason I guess they don't think there's a market for that. There is though. Oh well. Their loss.
I used to love black and white photos....but ever since this bizarre challenge started I despise it. You need to add a splash of red to that picture...oh gosh this is depressing.
You know what! ... I don't think I'll be doing a Serious Saturday ever again! These ones did so well in the past. I was instantly met with the comment spam first, then this other comment about how someone came here to tell me they didn't like it... LOL! I thought to myself, shit... that took balls. Went and had a cig and tried not to murder the first person I saw. Ugh... whatever. It made me laugh too.
As for how this place gets cluttered up with the same stuff over and over and over and over again due to those contests... yeah. All that's really doing is stunting the creative process for many people here. Just following the herd instead of doing their own thing. It's unfortunate. I agree. These coming from me is a HUGE difference. I'm not even following the herd I created for myself. In my world, this feels risky. Today I paid for it. I felt a lot of rejection, but not really. Know what I mean? Just smile and nod. Tomorrow is a new day.
Can be frustrating not seeing beyond what one is looking. Don't know if it's about some special spatial view training or not. Who am I kidding, explanation kills art, so whatever my lenses capture I manage.
I'm not frustrated! I'm grateful! Thanks for everything! Normally I'd vote for comments after people come here, vote for my stuff, then say what's on their mind. Looks like you got it covered though! Have a nice day!
Jesus, I'm the one who is frustrated. Made that comment in based on this line:
Take it easy man.
It's best if everyone sees what they want to see. That quote was taken out of context maybe. I'm thinking I should have left it out of this post now. Oh well.
I'll be honest with you. Much of what I said here today requires people to read between the lines. Even the vote comment. I was hinting at something.
All in all, I'm learning something. Maybe I was wrong or something got lost in translation. Something feels off. Maybe I am the one who is frustrated, trying to hide it.
Vote comment? Sure, plus you're right - I did have it covered.
Something feeling off? It happens. Just one of those days.
Have a nice year ahead.
Excellent work I liked it so much I wish I could continue your work on this as I will give you all the support I hope you will support me if possible Thank you for your time
I won't even flag this. All you did was build me up, to break me down. Why? I can handle the truth too, you know.
Wow thanks!