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Published: 2011-02-21 21:00:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 6902; Favourites: 123; Downloads: 99
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Description
Self-portraitdecided to do something slack. Febuary is always a counterproductive time for me.
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Comments: 49
that seems more like "my soul portrait"
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mmmm the concept of self-destruction huh? nice
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I've wanted to comment on this for literally weeks now, and still can't think of something suitably intelligent to say beyond: I like this a lot! I don't have a flying fuck of an idea why, really, but I like it.
I think it has to do with the mere fact this was a spur of the moment thing you did, to try to break the February despair, and that has been reflected in the picture, with its muted colours and motif. The style is loose, but it fits the subject very well.
I guess the "ouroboros" comes from the snake-thing eating what I assume is the self portrait. At the same time, the snake looks as if is part of your entrails, a part of you. So in a way, you are being devoured by yourself, turned inside out and wrung of all creativity. That's the feeling I get.
To allieviate the pain, or something to that effect, to perhaps find creativity, and thus stop the pain, you dig your fingers deep into your mind, the source of ideas, to try to force them out, but what comes only manifests as a thin trickle of blood, that only further feeds the hunger of the despair-snake.
The end result, no matter what, will be death, and that is coming closer with the moment, which is what the skull growing out of your skull symbolises.
That's how I interpret this piece. Not the most intelligent as I probably over-analyzed like woah, but still...
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damn, my brain eats itself if i don't make it busy
fav'd
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It's really well done, I really like the colors and the style, but how this is a Self-Portrait?
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So the mystical, skinless snake of win created you? That might explain a lot.
February, is spring coming where you live or what?
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Raptor Jesus? Is that you?! Only... are you a snake now?
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nice work!
i think it would be better if the snake that is made of your intestine, are shown more clearly busting out from your gut.
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Counterproductive, egal. The various faces of your body are accentuated very well by the impressionistic manner of colouring--which, despite being a relatively simple technique of painting for some, can still only be done through convincing anatomy.
And what's your interpretation of Ouroboros?
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doo you keep the man eating snake creature in your cupboard and how do the cats respond to it?
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and i have a skull growth on my hand
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Self-portrait? The spiritual kind or you finally decided to shed your mortal coils to bring upon the End of Days?
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Damn. If you ever become one of those famous artists/painters, this is gonna be one of those pictures future generations are gonna have fun deciphering in the art class.
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I thought I'd try analysing this, but I feel completely out of my depth. But as this artwork intrigued me and you went to the trouble of creating it, I feel that as one who appreciates it, I should give something back.
Accordingly, I would like to give it a shot. If my attempt proves too long winded for your liking, then I'll understand if you don't read it. But I've always thought that if you're going to bother doing something, you shouldn't cut corners.
This isn't the Ouroboros I know. You've done something different here.
I'm no professional art critic nor have I truly attempted 'textual analysis' (see: redundantly sharing one's personal impression of a piece which, in my view, is meaningless if it fails to correspond with that of the composer) since highschool English class, but I'll have a crack at this.
Provided you'll humour me. Which you needn't if you think this is too long to read.
There's none of the clarity and totality of the traditional Ouroboros here. Instead of a creature eating its own tail and thereby representing a cycle, we have a twisting serpentine horror in the process of devouring a humanoid figure.
In my humble opinion, you're contrasting the title and the expecations it raises with the actual content of the piece, in order to deliver a message.
The message *I* receive is complicated, but I have to start somewhere. Perhaps you are trying to depict the struggle of the human, of the self actualised being and his ego, against incarceration within cyclical repetition and predictability, and stagnation and primal instincts, in order to grow and create even as the id fights to devour him.
And yet, even in the midst of this seemingly titanic struggle, the humanoid figure fights against itself. Rather than battling and freeing itself from the primal, reptillian manifestation of the brutal, survival-driven subconscious, the base instincts that even now threaten to devour it, the humanoid occupies itself with inner conflict, literally *tearing* itself in two from the cranium downward.
It is a protagonist, but it is not a beautiful thing with which we are encouraged to empathise, or for which we should feel sympathy. It is dark and demonic and twisted. This is a struggle between two things as inscruitable and awe inspiring, as familiar and depraved, as the human condition itself. In my opinion, you are depicting the ugliness of the warring instinct and intellect on an *individual* and profoundly personal level. Neither one is somehow beautiful or sacred. And neither should they be.
The scar down the side of the humanoid could be just another detail in this richly textured feast for the senses, or it might somehow represent the splitting of the side of Jesus, or some other obscure yet deliberate allusion that I am simply *not scholarly enough to recognise*. Then again you could be fucking with me, or I with myself. Perhaps it's an allusion to narcissism, to extreme self worth of the being that is depicted, or to the value the artists the intellect and mind.
On one of the two hands that split this figure in two, we see a skull - an optical illusion that tugs at one's sense of perspective, both superimposed onto and organically a part of the face beneath. The fear and horror of death, perhaps? Both a part of the individual and a component in his struggle against himself?
At its core, I feel the overall 'theme' of this piece is indeed personal conflict, by the self, against the self. Against and between the following;
Fear of, and fascination with, mortality - one of the driving forces behind our quest for technological advancement and spiritual enlightenment. The skull on both the hand and face.
The unbreakable cycle and the drive to break it; repetition and stagnation of the ego and one's creativity, a cycle the thinking being depicted has apparently broken, if only for now. represented by the subversion of what an 'ouroboros' traditionally represents.
It is a battle against the vicious and, as we see by the sheer scale of the serpent, near omnipotent power of the primal and violent animal core of this human beast, rising up from below to devour the conscious mind with fury, hunger and predatory bloodlust.
A battle scarcely fought in earnest, as the mind and ego turn on themselves, splitting themselves down the middle, fraught with fear of death and cognitive dissonace, torn asunder by their combined strength.
I suspect that this is indeed a self portrait. It may be a depiction of your struggle - as your creativity waxes and wanes, as you expect it to in this month (mind over matter), the primal cycle threatens to entrap you and consume you, to break you down to something lesser.
You take the immense strength of the conflict within and struggle to direct creatively. We see a moment of this struggle in 'Ouroboros'.
What if the being depicted were to faulter in this three way struggle, as he seems to be doing here? He would then have to fight to break the cycle of stagnation from within a seething prison of hate, breaking him down into a base shadow of his former self.
He might even tear himself in two and the broken halves would be gleefully devoured by the monster that waits below. An unpleasant thought - the cycle would continue and he would be enslaved by it, and by the anger and the primal, brutish id.
If this is indeed you we are talking about, that would end very badly for everyone you hate.
That's what I see here anyway. I'll not pretend to know definitively what you tried to create or why you tried to create it. I'm simply playing detective with what I know and what I see. And I'm an amateur at it too.
If you've humoured me, tell me - how far off the mark am I?
Again I'm sorry it's so disjointed and lacking in structure. I'm not pretending to be professional here. I hope it makes sense to you on some level.
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Deep respect for your comment. What already was a great work of art now makes a lot more sense.
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I'm glad you found this illuminaing, but keep in mind that this was my personal response to the artwork. Don't take my word for it!
It is shaped by my novice understanding of Freudian terms, two years of advanced English in the latter years of highschool, a lifetime of absorbing trivia, and my own experiences/understanding of the world and of others, bashfully projected onto an artwork and the artist behind it.
Most people could do what I have done here I'm sure. And many of them could do it better and more objectively.
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Yes, maybe I overstated a little, and I realise it's your view of things. Nevertheless I found your writing perfectly described the concept I vaguely had in my mind already. You have a way of writing that takes a small subject and expands on it over great lengths and depths.
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DUDE. This is a comment any digital artist dreams to get.
I'll answer in-depth later, just wanted to let you now know that I highly appreciate your post and the time you took to write it.
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Gross typos and a fundamental lack of thought went into this on closer inspection. To paraphrase a favourite film of mine, I've ripped it in half with a machine gun. And now, I'm going to 'fix' it with a bandaid.
You take the immense strength of the conflict within and struggle to direct creatively. We see a moment of this struggle in 'Ouroboros'.
You take the untapped and untamed energy of this internal struggle, which threatens to tear 'you' apart in the absence of an outlet, and endeavour to direct it creatively through art. We see a moment of this struggle in Ouroboros, an artwork in which you bravely and boldly share this struggle with the world, and attempt to resolve it by venting it through a creative medium.
As opposed to a destructive one, that is.
Here we see you *overcoming* your February blues - this picture is a moment of triumph in the struggle depicted. This victory is no means final. As we see in Ouroboros, the fight is far from over. The Ouroboros is a powerful metaphor and its meaning is self evident.February will come again many times before you meet your end.
This work is a bold statement with this in mind. February will come again. And now as then, I will triumph. That is the cycle. This artwork is a self portait that conveys vulnerability and, paradoxically, might born of self confidence. A challenge to a hostile universe, besieging the protagonist and without.
Overall, this should not have been uploaded when it was. I should have gone through it on a full night's sleep, instead of propped up on caffeine pills and Irish whiskey, still fucked by a sleeping pill hangover from huge blue tablets that stink of formic acid.
When or if you truly sit down and address this post, I fear you may be disappointed for the same reasons I am. Normally I'm a perfectionist and I am seeing a tragic *lack* of perfection in what I have written for you. Next time I shall do better. As you seek this sort of feedback, I should like to provide it where possible, unless you'd prefer I did not.
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That means a lot from an artist of your esteem. It was time well spent and I'd gladly spend it again.
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Invisible hand, somehow THAT is the most creepy thing in the picture.
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*twists head to see how this is a self-portrait*
*chalks it up to metaphor and symbolism*
Even when you're being slack you pull off cool shit ._.
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I like the theme of this piece, with you appearing to shed your skin whilst being devoured. However, I'm curious about the title. From what I've understood, Ouroboros is usually associated with a serpent devouring it's own tail, representing infinity or a never-ending cycle (or some equivalent to any of these). Is there such a theme in this piece, or am I just reading too much into it (i.e. Ouroboros = The Snake)?
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someone's spine/head/stomach is killing them. :c
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I believe it's counter-productive for quiet a few people. Something about the snake eye catches my....eye.
...HA!
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SELF Portrait?
SELF PORTRAIT!!!
Sorry, I'm still a little crazy from reading that excerpt of the King in Yellow. Creepy work as always.
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LOVE the blue and red tones.
February is just an awful month in general. So damn cold and wet and icky.
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Like a dead rape victim.
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Yet only warm for the first five minutes.
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That is nothing like February.
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It is on odd years, in odd places.
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Not as such the beginning, but here it isn't even March yet and we've tornadic weather.
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Nice, had to turn up the brightness on my monitor to make it out properly. A splitting headache and upset stomach?
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Very nice rendering, I like the cool grays against the red
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