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Description
My really big entry for the good vs. evil contest...

I have been working on this for some time now, and I thought I'd explain this piece a little bit.

I didn't want to do the classic devil vs. angel interpretation, or the face split into two pieces... This piece is supposed to be more than that...

It represents evil through greed. Greed is the desire for greater and greater wealth and power. In this scene, the hands desperately cling to precious stones, coins, and jewelry as it falls like sand through their fingers. The sand represents the worthlessness, and inconstancy of all evil and selfish desires.

The sand falls through the fingers showing how their greed is never satisfied, and simply grows on itself. The sand pools at the bottom, surrounding everything, and suffocating those trapped beneath it. None of the greedy hands try and help the one struggling from underneath. Both this and the suffering faces emerging from the dunes represent the consequences of sin and reckless greed.

But where does good come in. I struggled with this for some time before deciding, and eventually decided to leave it up for interpretation. Is good simply the absence of evil, or is it more than that?

Humans with their hands designed for taking, grasping, and stealing, represent evil in this picture. The good, therefore, is the one thing devoid of human influence: nature. The tree seemed to fit in with the piece, being the one beautiful part of the picture.

Also, the tree coming out of the hand (which is decomposing into soil) serves as an analogy for the ability of humans to do good deeds, even if this ability is usually neglected.

--

Thank you all for your support, and wish me luck in the contest!

Time: 50-60 hrs.
Medium: Photoshop CS2 tablet brushwork

Description
My really big entry for the good vs. evil contest...

I have been working on this for some time now, and I thought I'd explain this piece a little bit.

I didn't want to do the classic devil vs. angel interpretation, or the face split into two pieces... This piece is supposed to be more than that...

It represents evil through greed. Greed is the desire for greater and greater wealth and power. In this scene, the hands desperately cling to precious stones, coins, and jewelry as it falls like sand through their fingers. The sand represents the worthlessness, and inconstancy of all evil and selfish desires.

The sand falls through the fingers showing how their greed is never satisfied, and simply grows on itself. The sand pools at the bottom, surrounding everything, and suffocating those trapped beneath it. None of the greedy hands try and help the one struggling from underneath. Both this and the suffering faces emerging from the dunes represent the consequences of sin and reckless greed.

But where does good come in. I struggled with this for some time before deciding, and eventually decided to leave it up for interpretation. Is good simply the absence of evil, or is it more than that?

Humans with their hands designed for taking, grasping, and stealing, represent evil in this picture. The good, therefore, is the one thing devoid of human influence: nature. The tree seemed to fit in with the piece, being the one beautiful part of the picture.

Also, the tree coming out of the hand (which is decomposing into soil) serves as an analogy for the ability of humans to do good deeds, even if this ability is usually neglected.

--

Thank you all for your support, and wish me luck in the contest!

Time: 50-60 hrs.
Medium: Photoshop CS2 tablet brushwork