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lakan-inocencio — Plague
Published: 2013-06-07 18:05:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 1095; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 6
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Description
Stock UsedBase Model – Skydancer Stock 8-15-12 009 by
Goggles – Pilot Hat 4 by
Hat – Fancy Top Hat 3 by
Background – Premade BG Gothic mood by
plus some of my own stock art and various public domain images.
Another experimentation with photo-manipulation and digital painting. Most of the robes have been painted, and then a texture applied to them. The beak is completely painted, with texture applied. The hat was extended with painting, and the sash recolored and extended.
I was reading up about plague doctors the other day, and the image really captivated me. So I went and cyberpunkified a plague doctor. I'm thinking of creating perhaps three more, to do a horsemen of the apocalypse sort of thing. But I'd need to find something that would work for the rest in the same way a plague doctor works for pestilence. Ah well, we'll see.
Tools used
A cheap generic graphics tablet
GIMP 2.8
Average time to complete: 4 hrs
Related content
Comments: 35
Plague doctors are wonderful characters. I love the lighting and grungy feel to this piece, it really captures to atmosphere historical plague doctors would be in. The pose is great too, I feel like he's giving a patient a blessing before they pass on. Wonderful work.
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Thanks
I hadn't considered that (the blessing a patient bit) but it's a rather interesting way of looking at it.
Cheers!
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I'm glad you like it, thanks
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I love the mood and subject of this. C: You did a great job! I've always been intrigued by Plague Doctors.
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Yeah, they're one of those things from history that when you first read about them, they don't seem like they could possibly be real. Especially if you first encountered them in a movie or a picture, and then you read about how they were real people. Proof that truth is at times stranger than fiction, heh.
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I really like this piece, the mood it creates and the creature itself. I almost haven't worked with photomanipulations and i praise you for making it look like a single picture, you wouldn't even say it's a photomanipulation made of several different pieces. You've done well with the lighting, colouring and putting everything together.
However, if I was to change something, I would probably change the composition a little and leave more space around the character. Of course that's a matter of opinion, but for me it always seems a little uncomfortable when there's so little space left at the top of the picture.
In some places edges of the cloth also could be more clear, but other than that I think this piece is really succesful 
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Thanks! Of my newer work, I'm most proud of this one, though I do admit it could be better. Still, as they say, practice makes perfect, and I hope to make more pieces like this one.
Thanks again, cheers!
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You're very welcome. And thinking that your work could be better is a sign of profesionality, real artist never sees his work as perfect. However, you're already truly great my friend, keep up the good work
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My goodness this piece gives me the chills.
Where to begin?
I suppose I absolutely must comment on the thing that snagged my attention first... The sickly glow that emanates from where the mask and face meet up. It gave it such a mystic effect and almost gives me the impression of a lack of stability, as if the mask mare separate at any given time.
I also absolutely love the mood that screams in this image, a sickly sluggish and rather petrifying aurora that always pulls be back to that hand reaching... as if something just beyond what we can see is taking place. Something monumental.
There is so much power packed into this piece its hard for me to even begin to describe it. I hope I did enough to let you know I genuinely love this piece and find it a lovely treasure that I am happy to have happened by when checking out your gallery again.
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Thanks for the in-depth comment, it's very much appreciated! I salute you, milady
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Thank you for using my stock and the credit
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And thank you for providing the stock
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Reminds me to get a good plague mask. 
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Thanks
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I know this is probably REALLY weird, but I've always thought plague doctors looked cool. I don't know, there's just something interesting about those masks.
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Indeedy! Heh, even before I knew what they were and their association with the plague, I always thought they looked really cool and creepy. And yeah, it's really those masks that does it, gives them a sort of creepy mystique of sorts.
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Same here. I didn't really know anything about them but I kept seeing pictures of people with those masks and going 'what the heck is this?' I think the first time I saw one that I actually got a slight idea of what they were was AC2. Then I started reading some stuff about them. The masks look so mysterious.
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I think the first time I encountered the image was when I was still a wee 'ickle tyke, way too young to understand about the horrors of the plague and all. I think it was a cartoon? Or maybe a movie? That I saw them in, can't really remember now, hehe. What I do remember was that even back then, their imagery really caught me. It was only years later that I found out what they were, and that made them that much cooler
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Same here, the appeal increase to me when I found out what they were. I like masks and I have this weird thing about doctors so you're putting to things that I think are really awesome together. Now that is win! I think the appeal of the masks is that you can be anyone while wearing a mask because you're hiding your face. Same's true for anyone else. Which might sound a slightly creepy but it's an intriguing concept.
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I'd take it a bit further and say that not only can you be anyone with a mask, but also that the mask can define who you are when you're wearing it. You no longer just act the part you want, but the part almost becomes you in the eyes of others. Put on the mask of the plague doctor, and you're no longer you, you're some creepy guy who wanders around plague-ridden cities doing what doctor work you can. Same goes for any mask really, and I suppose that adds to their fascination and mystery.
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I love that description! It's true that a mask could very possibly define someone like that. XD I guess this would qualify as one of those 'awesome because it's true' things.
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Heh, indeedy. As they say, real life is almost always far more interesting than fiction. If you had made up the image of the plague doctor, people would think it silly. What business does a guy with a beak mask have with the plague? But the fact that it's real makes it that much cooler.
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That's true. I can picture someone going "Oh that's in a story? Sounds dumb..." but in real life, it's a bit harder to put the idea down since people actually did dress like that and do that job at one point. Not saying that it's immune to being put down, but the fact it was real makes it more acknowledgeable.
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Indeedy, even though it's hard to imagine someone doing the job, it's there in the books, it actually happened in history. And there are all sorts of things from real life that are just as interesting, even more so than fiction. Just reading through history, not the rote memorization of dates and facts that they teach in school, but the stories and ideas in history, there are so many things there that can spark interest and admiration.
Heh, now I'm tempted to do pieces of other historical figures and/or events in a similar style.
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History has always been one of my favorite subjects. As one who works towards being a writer, I get incredible amounts of inspiration from history, whether they be fictional stories or simply typing on some research I'm doing. There's much in history that can be used to influence such things, fiction and otherwise. Though plague doctors and other things of the sort may be slightly unbelievable even within recorded history, appropriate use of such things if fiction based on that history can generally benefit it since it has it's base in the real world where people can relate if it's more current, or say 'oh yeah! I remember learning about that!'
That would be amazing if you did!
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There are loads of fabulous stories in history. Personally, I find it a shame that more of those stories aren't taught in schools, especially now that I'm looking at it from the point of view of a teacher. Heh, now I'm even more convinced to do more figures from history, but altered and whatnot to go with my style of art.
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