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garmr — The Thing
Published: 2004-01-31 22:03:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 2417; Favourites: 24; Downloads: 299
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Description
“…It lumbered slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeezed Its gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of the poisoned city of madness.“The Thing cannot be described-there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled…the green, sticky spawn of the stars, had awaked to claim his own.
“Three men were swept up by the flabby claws… the mountainous monstrosity flopped down the slimy stones and hesitated floundering at the edge of the water.
“…whilst on the masonry of that charnel shore that was not of earth the titan Thing from the stars slavered and gibbered like Polypheme cursing the fleeing ship of Odysseus. Then, bolder than the storied Cyclops, great Cthulhu slid greasily into the water and began to pursue with vast wave-raising strokes of cosmic potency.
“The awful squid-head with writhing feelers came nearly up to the bowspirit of the sturdy yacht.”
-From Call of Cthulhu, by H.P. Lovecraft.
acrylic on masonite panel, 12" x 16"; 27 hours work
OK, faithful few: what do I need to add to this piece? The composition is unsound as is, and my brain is numb, so I'm open to suggestions.
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Comments: 6
The lighter green in the foreground is an interesting contrast to the darker tones which dominate the background; really makes it stand out.
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Hmm... I think the wings needs to stand out more from the background... perhaps lighten them up a bit. Other than that I really like it, it's a different sort of variation from the usual Cthulhu.
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cthulhu!!! I fairly recently discovered Lovecraft, and think the guy was bloody brilliant (it's too bad he gets lumped squarely into the horror category so often, as his work is a lot more thoughtful and scientifically based than that would tend to lead people to believe). As for suggestions about the composition - I think that putting some kind of lighting - be it a couple brighter stars, or a creepy northern light like effect, whatever - in the top left corner might help with balancing the piece. That, and maybe work some of the brighter orange color of the head into the bottom tentacles (the ones that are more red now) and maybe also a little bit into the wing.
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wow, i've always had a special appreciation for ppl who can do stuff like this by hand with actual paints n such, drove me up the wall when i tried (and failed... miserably).
as far as suggestions are concerened i can only offer a small one and it's compostion related. next time you're gonna have a big focal point like that, don't lump it against the side (i know it's easier said than done, but also doing rough thumbnail sketches in the preproduction phase can also help it along), keep some distance from the sides to frame your subject (don't have it dead center, i used to do that all the time and it looked like crap) remember, you're showcasing it!
great work again and im sorry i turned such a 'small' suggestion into a really long one, i really like this piece and am currently perusing your gallery. keep it up!
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Actually, in this painting, the process overrode the composition: you see the background? That's how the whole panel looked when I started. I turned and looked and turned and looked and finally found the face of the creature in the randomness of the applied paint. Then he was kinda fixed, and I have to finish the piece by balancing the composition; probably a focus above the "head" and another in the opposite corner to generate a vortex flow through the piece.
But you're right, as is the weight of the piece is way off. I'm hiding it in a closet for 6 months or so to clear my head before I start again.
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