Sunday, May 14, 2006

Illustration Friday -- Angels and Devils

Before Photoshop work





















After Photoshop work


WOW! Can you believe that we got another tough topic this week?

I don't think it was tough because of the lack of potential subject matter, but instead the vast amount of ways this could be taken. I had so many thoughts going through my head -- Dan Brown's book of a similar title, kids trick-or-treating, or an angel and devil fighting over good and evil to name a few.

In the end, I chose to do a rendition of the Tao, aka, Yin Yang, which is a Chinese symbol for unity and universal harmony. It shows the compliments between dark and light, good and evil.

I'm extremely disappointed in the way it scanned, so I had to take a digital photo of it. However, this photo still doesn't come close to how this looks in person.

The side which represents "Angels" has a light blue background with clouds, a sun which resembles the Compass Rose, a symbol for guidance, and purple flowers. All of these items have a light, soothing feeling.

The "Devil" side has a Pentagram, which often represents occult or satanic beliefs, a dark ground, with a glowing magma represented between the cracks, and a saw blade tooth pattern that could represent torture. All of these have very dark feeling.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Posted by Picasa

UPDATE: Here is the scanned version after some Photoshop work.

18 comments:

lil kim said...

That's very cool! The yin yang is such a great symbol - that battle/balance between light and dark. (I did a yin yang too) nicely done. :)

Lee said...

nice lou, I love the devil side, the saw blade was a great touch...looks like another tattoo design ;)

Anonymous said...

I agree with this being a tough topic! But you pulled through with a different and well done approach.

Lou said...

Lil' Kim: Yes, I agree that it is a great symbol. Thanks for the compliment.

Lee: That would be a really cool tattoo. Where would you put it? I would probably do a shoulder blade or peck.

Pear: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks for visiting!

HARDWAX said...

I love the symbolism in your angels and devils and it is beautiful piece of artwork!
I agree-there are so many interpretations; folklore, biblical, old wives tales and urban legend, jokes, etc, but you did a fine piece of work on the theme.

Linda said...

Cool interpretation, Wonderful work!

Anonymous said...

Just beautiful! I would love to see athis in person, because you are right, scanning and digitals sometimes just don't give the full effect.
Great job!

Anonymous said...

Lou, this is INCREDIBLE! You did a great job!!

verniciousknids said...

I like the way you chose an ambigram...really following through on the "Angels and Demons" theme! (Which I enjoyed more than "Da Vinci Code" actually!)

Nice picture too...thanks for the description :D

Kim de Young said...

I love this mixture of Eastern and Pagan, very thoughtful piece!

Tony LaRocca said...

Sometimes I wonder if Yin/Yang is the truest bit of philosophy, as it seems to survive through every age and culture. Very cool.

carla said...

Wow! Tjis is a great combination of symbols within a symbol...very compelling! I can imagine that this would look even better in person. Great interpretation:>

Michael O'Connell said...

great take on the yin and yang… the illustartion i sgreat… and so thoughtful…

Shano said...

Wow! Amazing! I love your unique take on yin and yang, as well as angels and devils. Very clevah! I especially like the crackling. Vr vr clevah!!

PS Thanks for the word verification of Jon Bon Jovi. BNJVI will save me much time! hee.

Twisselman said...

Great that you took this angle on the topic. When I was playing with the sketchpad (before I gave up and when directly to the computer), I kept trying to come up with the balance between good/evil thing... and the yin yang theme kept popping up... not by design.... Or was it by 'intelligent design' from beyond. whoa.
Anyway, very cool.

Patrick said...

You obviously put a lot of thought into this one Lou. The end result looks great. Nice work!

Michael O'Connell said...

lou… i posted a larger version of the tiny photo if you are interested…

Lou said...

Hardwax: Thanks.

Linda: Thanks.

Andrea: Thanks. After I got in the groove of drawing it, I really enjoyed it.

Mom: Because I had so many layers of colored pencil, the wax build-up of the brand I use caused the scanning to be inaccurate. That also caused a wicked glare from the camera flash. A little Photoshop editing fixed it right up though.

Melanie: Thanks.

Vern: I have to agree that I like Angels and Demons better. Deception Point was also very cool. I really enjoy that type of Government

PPC: Thanks.

Tony L: I think it survives because you cannot deny that every bit of good as a touch of bad and vice versa.

Carla: Didn't even think of the symbols within a symbol idea. Very cool. Thanks for that.

Michael: Thanks.

Shano: Thanks. The crackling came to me in a cartoon I saw where the ground began to crack and molten lava was starting to come through. I thought it was pretty evil looking.

Twisselman: I like the meaning behind the yin yang philosophy. I felt that I had to take that approach some how.

Patrick: Thanks.

Michael: Thanks and left a comment for you.