It's satisfying to see you hitting your stride; it's early days for you and digital painting, but your Sophronia thumbnails are clear indicators that a) you're relaxing into this new mode of working and b) you're accomplishing some effective, expressive results.
Okay - so Sophronia it is: it's one of Calvino's most improbable cities - but it's natural to lean towards the more whimsical elements of the fairground city. I like the Dr Seuss idea - I can see that working nicely. That said, the thing that is perhaps MOST fantastical for the concept artist when it comes to Sophronia is not the fairground element, but the logistical element implied by the idea of all that masonry/architecture being folded down, packed up and transported away. There's room here for the concept artist to push beyond Calvino's text in an effort to answer the question he poses - there's room too for your paintings to really get into the contrasts in this city. For example, if you were to imagine the infrastructure required to move great chunks of the city, then you might be imagining stuff on the scale of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93TRQD-QEDg
Perhaps your 'interior' painting is of the loading bay or Sophronia's depot - maybe you're inside the dismantling control centre - because an operation of this size and scale would have to be co-ordinated from somewhere, right?
Another implication of this city is that the buildings themselves (in the fairground zone) might be sort of hybridised with fairground attractions; so it's not simply a question of 'tents' and 'rides' dotted amongst more ordinary buildings, maybe everything in the fun zone is designed accordingly - and city-sized? For an idea of 'massive' rides, check out this wonderful mockumentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93TRQD-QEDg
If the architects of Sophronia were 'theme park imagineers', what would the city's skyline look like? Likewise if 'fun' or 'adrenalin' or 'escapism' were the fundamental values of this culture, what would their religious buildings look like? What would the cathedral/churchs/temples of Sophronia look like if 'having fun' was a spiritual act?
So - the big challenge with this city is 'not' to think of it as simply an opportunity to draw fairground rides and roller-coasters - the big challenge is to a) to get to grips with the logistical 'what ifs?' of the central premise of a portable metropolis and b) to think like a Sophronian fun-loving architect in terms of imaging the fixed part of the city.
OGR 04/10/2018
ReplyDeleteHey Louis,
It's satisfying to see you hitting your stride; it's early days for you and digital painting, but your Sophronia thumbnails are clear indicators that a) you're relaxing into this new mode of working and b) you're accomplishing some effective, expressive results.
Okay - so Sophronia it is: it's one of Calvino's most improbable cities - but it's natural to lean towards the more whimsical elements of the fairground city. I like the Dr Seuss idea - I can see that working nicely. That said, the thing that is perhaps MOST fantastical for the concept artist when it comes to Sophronia is not the fairground element, but the logistical element implied by the idea of all that masonry/architecture being folded down, packed up and transported away. There's room here for the concept artist to push beyond Calvino's text in an effort to answer the question he poses - there's room too for your paintings to really get into the contrasts in this city. For example, if you were to imagine the infrastructure required to move great chunks of the city, then you might be imagining stuff on the scale of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93TRQD-QEDg
Perhaps your 'interior' painting is of the loading bay or Sophronia's depot - maybe you're inside the dismantling control centre - because an operation of this size and scale would have to be co-ordinated from somewhere, right?
Another implication of this city is that the buildings themselves (in the fairground zone) might be sort of hybridised with fairground attractions; so it's not simply a question of 'tents' and 'rides' dotted amongst more ordinary buildings, maybe everything in the fun zone is designed accordingly - and city-sized? For an idea of 'massive' rides, check out this wonderful mockumentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93TRQD-QEDg
If the architects of Sophronia were 'theme park imagineers', what would the city's skyline look like? Likewise if 'fun' or 'adrenalin' or 'escapism' were the fundamental values of this culture, what would their religious buildings look like? What would the cathedral/churchs/temples of Sophronia look like if 'having fun' was a spiritual act?
So - the big challenge with this city is 'not' to think of it as simply an opportunity to draw fairground rides and roller-coasters - the big challenge is to a) to get to grips with the logistical 'what ifs?' of the central premise of a portable metropolis and b) to think like a Sophronian fun-loving architect in terms of imaging the fixed part of the city.
Hey Louis - just sharing Ting's feedback with you too (Ting is also doing Sophronia) as there might be some stuff in there that's also helpful to you.
ReplyDeletehttps://tingzhaoucarochester.blogspot.com/2018/10/invisible-cities-ogr.html