the American Dream

[Revolution77]

this is a personal piece i did in Painter, it took about 4 hours to complete. I titled this piece "the American Dream" as an ironic twist into the idea of despair. here's a description of the idea behind the piece.

"go to school.
get good grades.
go to a nice college.
get a degree.
get a high paying job.
get a wife.
get kids.
get an expensive house.
buy fancy cars.
acquire debt.
work harder to pay off debt.
don't spend time with your family.
get old.
die."
-Denman Rooke

[El Jeremie]

A very optimistic vision of life ;).
I love the expression and the bored/tired/exhausted feeling of the character.
Good stuff but the ear in the shadow is too shiny, a bit more dark would be great. I would say the same about the red around the eyes which is too vivid. The red on the nose looks more realistic and natural.

[Teundeboer]

solid brushwork, me like

[NathanLong]

Pretty nicely done. I especially like the brush work around the eyes. If the painting is an illustration of the accompanying text, however, it doesn't quite get the job done. You wouldn't be able to get that meaning out of the picture if the words weren't there.

[Revolution77]

If the painting is an illustration of the accompanying text, however, it doesn't quite get the job done. You wouldn't be able to get that meaning out of the picture if the words weren't there.

ya, it's not so much about the text as it's about the overall feeling of complete despair and loss of hope. to me the title alone depicts that ironic idea, but i just felt like adding to the concept. also if you think about it, most abstract or contemporary art doesn't make sense unless the artist has some sort of paragraph or oral presentation describing what's behind it. but ya, it was just something to spur some thought. thanks for the compliment!
-cheers