The Journey Begins...


First off I just want to say thank you to all that have made any kind of input for this image...Basically if you have made ANY type of suggestion at all then I have tried it even if you didnt get to see it painted...even the more wilder of the suggestions were at least given a quick go...

I'm more going to write more a "background" about the image rather than a story...and by the end i hope you can see why..

First off when I started this challange I wanted to go for something a little dark...something that could lead to death, although I didnt want death represented in the picture in a "hey this person is going to die in the next few seconds via a big monster" kind of death...

I wanted it a little more subtle than that...something a little darker even...maybe more terrible in the end..

Another underlying thought that i've had for the image is that the person is 100% alone...even quite distanced from the viewer..he has no idea that we are watching...no wave good-bye and he goes of on his little trip. He is miles away from any other living creature...(maybe)...and that could be the way that it will end. But then again he could reach his goal, a goal that is so far off, so at the edge of his dreams reach that we are not allowed (by some neat trick of the artist or camera) to even see what it is. his Journey will leave the viewer behind quickly.

Basically this painting is a reaction to all the cute, happy, sexy, fluffy images that we see around us every day...I dont know why in such a strange and lonely world we are drawn to paint such easy and happy topics..escape(ism) in most case maybe, or perhaps a kind of shutting out of the real world around us...who knows? of course I do it quite alot...lol

So, in the end I suppose my image is about the real world..an image of the way I see the lives af all around me...you can make what you like of that..hehe

One last and final thought I have to say on this painting is that i think (as so many others have said) that it raises alot more questions than is answers.
who is he?
where is he?
why is he there?
how did he get there? (no supplies??)
where is he going?
is there a goal?
will he survive?
...the list goes on...

My very last thought is about these questions...

If we, as the viewer, are given all the answers on a nice neat little plate, where then is the fun of the Journey of art? this is not my intention to be lazy or make a simple picture (actually i think its alot harder than shoving a story right under the viewers nose..) what i have wanted to say in this image is "its up to YOU...THIS IS YOUR JOURNEY! please make of it what you will"

cheers...love CYB

and thanks again to all here at CGtalk.
you are all the best!