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snowunmasked —
Lament, reprise
by-nc-nd
Published: 2010-10-23 16:01:42 +0000 UTC; Views: 31236; Favourites: 2188; Downloads: 450
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Description
18x24 Arches hot press paper
Watercolours and Masquepen supernib
50 days, approximately 230 hours
あがかえりみすれどはなはちりぬべし
When I turn to look, the flowers had all fallen away
It has been more than a year since my father passed away, and my grief has shifted to a new realm. Much to my surprise, a piece that I thought I would never revisit was actually calling for me to give it the attention it deserves.
The initial shock has passed; the briefest wash of understanding keeps coming and going.
- "There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man - with human flesh. " - Frank Herbert, Dune
Thank you my dear friends SRaffa , johnpaulthornton , GillianAlexiel , JurgenDoe and synconi for taking an interest in the work-in-progress.
Thank you for looking
. . : : katherine-cheng.com : : . .
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Comments: 828
I really like this piece for many reasons the picture itself tells a story of loss which makes it even more emotive.
I like the way how you've combined blues, purples, yellows and greens it really complements the theme it's own way, your understanding of anatomy and your constant motivation to improve is shown greatly here. Compared to your other attempts on prospective with your previous attempt on this piece that you did last year here you've taken the concept a little further by being a bit more daring by slightly changing the position of her face and her body.
I also like the expression on her face it gives off a sense of loneliness regret the part of "Lament, reprise" that really keeps me coming back to this piece is the eyes as the eyes I feel really give this piece a lot of impact.
It's a very emotional piece which is why I like it so much and I hope to see more of your work in the future e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h… " width="38" height="15" alt="
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Thank you so much for your beautiful words
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Your welcome I'm glad they find a place in your work
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It's not often I look at a piece of art and instantly a gasp leaps from my throat as tears spring to my eyes. That is what happened to me upon viewing this new work of yours. I am staggered with the personal and artistic improvement that you show us with each successive painting.
This work is so mature, so passionately evocative, that I found myself initially looking at it with an overall feeling, seeing it with my heart instead of my eyes, seeing it as a whole piece instead of first examining the details. This, to me, is indicative of true art. A piece, that upon viewing, grips the observer with instantaneous, powerful feeling in some way.
And for me, the feeling was indeed both strong and instantaneous. The viewer immediately understands that the subject is coming to grips with a painful piece of her life; she is holding it out, away from her, really looking at it and addressing it fully despite the exquisite agony it's causing, and in doing so is also examining her own life, her frailty and mortality, but instead of it being a negative thing, she is gaining strength from doing so. There is great pain here, but great hope as well.
The gossamer vibrancy of the pigments at the top of the painting, the spherical wisps of circuitous brightness, the bright white of the sharp characters serve to leaven the pain of the piece with hope and possibility.
The blurred and fading lower part of her chest and arm evokes a feeling of "I don't know who I am, I am lost" as it slowly graduates into a sharp breast bone evocative of severe pain and gauntness of spirit; this feeling gradually comes into contrast with the sharper, stronger, more meticulous detail of the hand, flower, hair, and especially the very focused eyes. The new feeling, where the viewer's eyes are focused, is now "I am learning who I am, growing stronger as I deal with this painful piece of my life". She can now look at the pain almost dispassionately as she examines what it means to her and how to learn from it.
She may be completely supine at this moment we're viewing her, but we get the sense that it's no longer due to the crippling pain that initially cast her to the floor. Now she rests there intentionally, starting to relax from her ordeal as she reflectively meditates, and very soon, she will sit up and find ways to take in long needed nourishing affection, allowing the happiness of new connections and the love of old ones to refresh her soul, filling that love-deprived breastbone back out to a healthy robustness.
Once she has puzzled out this piece a bit more, she will then rise again, as if a phoenix; although forever changed, she still still the same. But now she has allowed her pain to help her grow; she is stronger, calmer, more mature; patience and sympathetic understanding now lie gently like a balsam over her wounds, helping soothe her heart. She has become a better being for having spent time in this personal, painful, examination in which she has now come to understand that each ending brings new beginnings; she now knows that in the breast of sorrow, painful experiences can also beat with love, and hope, for us all.
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Oh my god 
You just practically wrote a novel that, line by line and word for word, detailed everything I wanted to say in this painting.
I don't even know what to say.
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Well you know what they say, turn about is fair play *smiles thru tears* You made me cry first 
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I'm working on my part for a terribly belated collab. Something fun and extremely pop-art, which I've never seriously done before.
YOU?!
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I think living so close to something for an extended period is like wearing the same shirt every day for several weeks. It "gets it out of your system" as it were, and can make it easier when it comes time to finally take the shirt off and hang it up and put it in the closet. After such an immersion, you can more clearly see it's healthier to not wear the emotion so closely every day, but realize it's best to just wear it occassionally. But sometimes the only way to see that is to live in it closely for awhile, as you did here.
I'm excited about your collab, looking forward to seeing a few wips!! 
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I hear ya
So what is this commission? Something really boring?
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No, it's not that it's boring, it's a girl's face, it's just that it's a commission. I always struggle with them because it's "work" (being paid somehow removes the fun in my mind)
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Yeah, it's crazy stupid how my mind works
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It's not just your art which is inspiring but also your sheer determination to constantly improve yourself. Looking over the previous two versions of Lament, you can see how much you've improved.
The first thing that strikes me is that she looks very similar to you, did you model her after yourself? I think she does look like you a lot.
Anyway, the painting is very velvet looking, you almost want to reach out and touch it. The hair is simply beautiful, so delicately done. If you compare half you've previously done, this is a step beyond on a technique which didn't even look as it could be improved it was so good.
The skin shading, especially around the eyes and nose are awesome. I really like the multi-tones and the almost irridesent skin.
I adore the contrast in the palette... what only can be described as an aura in the top portion of the painting beautifully compliments the woman.
I have a couple of critisms. The lips seems too concave, they seem a little flat in comparison to the rest of the painting. I think if you added a bit more contrast in the shading and possibly some texture detailing or even a slight shadow under the bottom lip, they could look more plumb. The second would be her neck/chest area. I'm a little uncomfortable with it's rendering, I feels a little too slender and defined.
I didn't get the concept for this painting until this recent reprise... I can be slow to pick up on these things. It's such a powerful concept... mourning over a piece of herself. So eerie and I can certainly see how you've been so connected to the piece of recent.
Other than these two critisms, I think it's a fantastic reprise and you've truly upped the bar for yourself. You never cease to amaze me Katie e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h… " width="38" height="15" alt="
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Thank you Shar, your words mean the world
And yes she is entirely modeled after me
What all have I missed from you? I've been so scarce... what would you like me to critique in return?
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Woman, all I've been doing is my tutorials of recent! The freelancing thing is going very well
Only really done one big piece in the past few months: [link] - which people seem to dig like a hole haha
You don't have to give me anything in return - sometimes we're afk for reasons, sometimes we're not 
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I really can't much add to this as =SkillZombie has already told you and what I already have told you via email.
You have grown vital with your creation and it is so powerful and relfective of emotions ... With every new creation you became a truly master of mastering facial expressions and the hair is just magnificent and outstanding done.
I personally like the background very much ... because he is very harmonizing with the character himself.
Life meets death and the activity of colours meets the emptiness .. a wonderful and very beautiful design and you captured everything perfectly .. two thumbs way up e.deviantart.net/emoticons/t/t… " width="15" height="15" alt="
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I was very unsure of how to pull all the colours together with the background and am actually relieved that this is over
Thank you for watching the progress!
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You mastered it very well and your progress is absolutely wonderful to watch
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I'm trying to decide what to paint next
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You know where you have to send your WIPs
I'm sure whatever you come up with it will be wonderful
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I have a lot of ideas, I just can't decide on what to do next
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If you have lots of ideas and can't decide I can help ... follow your guts what you love to do next
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I actually have a collab that I've been putting off for more than a year
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Here we go .. now you know what you have to work on and the rest will come alone ... again ... go with your guts and I think you always do this in your work
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The strange and isolating feeling one feels when they lose a piece of themselves. You don't feel like you belong in the situation or existence that you currently reside within or even feel like there could have been an alternate path you could have taken to become something...more than you are now. Many things can trigger this state. Various thoughts of doubt, a mistake you could not take back, even...the loss of someone you love. We have all felt this strange emotional state stagger about us at some point in our lives and most of us have been able to step out of it. For the few that cannot, they are cursed to be enveloped in a torrential storm of should haves and could nots. Lament, reprise created by the talented 'snowmask, shows us the mental representational manifestation of how one feels when in this emotional state.
As per usual, the artist detail placed in the characters are exquisite. The various lines upon the female character's face capture the real appearance of a woman's face. The highly expressive eyes of the subject almost suck you into her mind as if you can almost feel and even hear what she's thinking. The gentle wisps of her hair trailing from her head and draping upon the floor are as delicately drawn as her face. The fleshy puzzle piece held delicately within the female subject fingers as a thin stream of blood falls upon the floor, adds so much more emotional depth within the piece that its almost staggering.
Let's not forget the outstanding atmosphere and use of colors on this piece as well. The color palette entices and draws the eyes of the viewer throughout the entire piece. As the orange glowing aura-like colors fade into a white shade as it descends and the ascending blue palette all come seamlessly together to generate an almost zen-like balance of warm and cool colors. The atmosphere feels as if it should be so quiet that you could hear a feather touch the ground and echo. It is the artistically and visual epitome of still-life.
On a symbolism state, the female subject could represent the artist snowmask herself. Having an inner feeling of pieces of her life, represented by the jigsaw puzzle patter on the subject's face, being out of place and not sure if said piece fits into what really makes her unique. I may not know for sure, but I hope that whatever turmoil she feels, she'll make it through and flourish as she always does.
From within itself, I can truly see an outstanding piece of artwork that genuinely saddens and makes the viewer really think as they stare upon its emotionless facade and see it for what hides beneath its brushstrokes. With exceptional details, a highly concise and eye catching color palette, and a deep message within, this is a piece that should definitely fit within anyone's favorites or wish list regardless of your artistic preference may be. Congratulations on yet another outstanding piece Katie, and its good to have you back. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/c/c… " width="20" height="20" alt="
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A million thank-yous are not enough. I wonder if you know how helpful you are to me
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You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Katie.
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Ok I guess. Stopped sleeping so that I could keep up with my infinitely growing pile of college work. But at least my ankles are healed enough for me to go to the gym again. My main project is to design and develop a webpage made of every programming language as a final college project.
Nothing else really important to talk about , really.
So how bout you? Did you live your fantasy with John Paul with the coffee and the moustaches?
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Speaking of exercising... I got these Reebok sweat pants (they look more like yoga pants...) today for running in colder weather. One is a bright aquamarine colour, which would look pretty asinine if they weren't on me, and the other is your run of the mill grey. And a sweater top in light grey, so if I run in the dark people could probably see me better and I won't end up as a mass of blood and meat on the asphalt.
We didn't do coffee and moustaches however we did have amazing curry, with his daughter too! Her birthday is coming up.
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Aquamarine is a nice color. One of the few colors I can actually differentiate from regular blue. But you can't be that brittle to end up as meat sponge on asphalt.
Ooh, sounds like you had a lot of fun! Oh and if you ever get the chance, tell John's daughter I wish her a happy birthday.
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I'm thinking of taking a steps class or something. Is that lame?
And I just left that message on his page for you
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No, steps classes aren't lame and neither is yoga. Despite me not doing those activities, I find step classes to be a very useful form of exercise.
Oh and thank you very much for giving him the message.
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My sister takes steps classes and I've always been curious.
Any type of aerobic exercise is useful!
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If you really want to build muscle and burn fat off of your lower body and abdominal area it'll work great for you. Most step classes work really well for women and the results are worth it if you decide to stick with the program. The only other aerobic exercise that I use is Parkour and its easily the best cardio exercise that I can think of, but I highly doubt you want to try that.
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I think I'd take steps after I've had a baby or something. Right now I run pretty vigorously 4 days out of the week, and do Yoga.
Parkour is just looks way, way too cool for words to describe
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Well, despite my past frequency of performing it, I'm actually kind of pudgy and I can do it. All you have to remember is as long as you know how to roll out of a fall and push and time your jumps as well as you can, you'll have no problems. Its just like I said about Parkour before Katie: "Sticks and stones can break your bones, but a 8 story fall off of a high rise will kill you."
If you ever start it, I advice stick to the ground level and see what you can maneuver through, what you can climb, what you can jump over and what you can dive through. Its one big trial and error course. Its just like with skateboarding, once you accept the fact that you're gonna be falling a lot, you'll do great.
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I love that quote. Actually repeated it to Keith
I've never skateboarded!
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Its not really that hard. With your yoga, ballet and running expertise you'll probably do very well. Just buy a pre-made deck and you can just take right off. Don't worry about feeling too old if you're on the board; Tony Alva is one of the greatest skateboarders who ever lived and he's 55 and still skateboards. Did I mention its an excellent source of exercise and cardio?
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Do I have to wear specific attire? I'm serious. Skateboarding Asian chick is so bringing it.
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Well the grunge and punk look still kicks it; which is something I can see you pulling off especially with the blue highlighted hair. Technically speaking, skateboarding does not have a dress code. I've seen people in business suits pull manuals and 50-50 grinds and girls in their underwear pulling gymnastic plants with no effort. So you can wear whatever you want. The biggest statement you'd want is with your board.
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omg business-suit skateboarding. I so need to incorporate that in a painting.
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Do it!
There would be no part of that painting that I wouldn't like; especially when I critique it.
Btw, how comfortable would you feel about rockin' one of these:[link]
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I like the first one and the third one.
Actually I wouldn't mind having one that's slathered with *lolitaAgogo 's paintings...
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Oh, well then you could actually get her stuff integrated into the board's deck. Its gonna be a custom job so it'll cost you a bit. But the end result looks so great its worth it.
But since you have such a knowledge of designer clothing and things of the like, what would you think to wear on a skateboard?
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You know, I'm going to have to think about this. I'm really enamored with the imagery of business-suit skateboarding. I have no actual suits though. And I can't very well wear my nice pant suits with anything else but high heels, and I can't skateboard with high heels.
I think there'd be a lot of flash involved though. 80s-all-out.
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