Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Here's an example of the process this image has gone through. It has become a complete indulgment on my part as I'm sparing no expense of time on the details. I've tracked at least 1,700 layers on this image so far and expect to reach between 2,500-3,000 layers before it's finished.

And with the knowledge that this image is directly inspired by Ligotti's collection of stories "Teatro Grotesco" can anyone tell me what the characters on the stage represent? Or the figure standing below the stage looking up? I'm curious how obvious or not obvious it is to people familiar with the stories.

I don't usually work like this but this photograph of the interior of an opera house fit perfectly with what I wanted the composition to resemble. So I made this the background sketch that everything else was built on top of.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...mity/Theat.jpg

In this early version I was still figuring out the compositional elements of the stage. I was rushing a bit at this point so the bottom right of the balcony had a generic pattern I'd made just to get the space filled up. I went back in and injected several dozen layers as I wanted each area to appear unique, and by area I mean every square inch!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ty/Theater.jpg


And the most recent version.. The left side is still very rough. I've only dropped picture croppings that I think I'll want in the general areas I might want them. There's going to be a horde of floating creatures and specks of white in the black area above the giant to mimick a star filled sky. I'm hoping that pushes a greater sense of space into the mildly claustraphobic closed in box space of the opera room. Although a sense of claustraphobia might be desirable with this image. I'm going to darken the balcony scenes before it's finished to put an emphasis on the falling light at the center of the stage.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rmity/totg.jpg

Here are some details..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ty/artists.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ty/fisheye.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...y/skeleton.jpg

WOW. that is amazing, aeron! If this is just the unfinished product, I surely can't even fathom what the final product will look like

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Aeron, thank you for this stunning update. This image is All Consumptive. I am so thrilled that you are continuing to work on this piece! The devil is in these details.

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Aeron,
This is incredible how detailed this collage is! Amazing! Let us know when you finish it.

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Aeron,

Wonderful work! I can't peel my eyes away from it. I hope you've attracted some attention from publishers with your unique vision.

Utterly flipped out!

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Thanks everyone. I recently finished spenind 3 hours just flattening layers! I had around 400 in the layers window and I managed to cut it down to around 100 something. It was driving me mad. I might be getting a few things published, nothing concrete yet. I'm hoping to get this image put into the Echo Gallery in Chicago for their Halloween exhibit.

In regard to the stories this image is based upon, I took the concept that once an artist is witness to the Theater Of The Grotesque, they no longer have artistic desires. They go on with the rest of their lives as normal people who no longer make art. The character standing before the stage is an artist who's creativity is being absorbed. All the characters on the stage and perhaps even those watching from the balconies are representations of the imaginations of past artists who've seen the Theater Of The Grotesque and gave away their abilities to be artistic in exchange.

As an artist I think of the idea of losing any creative inclinations to a living death. That these people carry on with their lives upon losing their artistic intentions, I see it almost like they go on with their lives as zombies, and the theater keeps that part of themselves that gave any real meaning to their lives.

So long answer made short, the theater is filled with representations of artists. I don't know if that would be apparent to someoene else familiar with the stories.

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Great Yog, that image is simply amazing. Well done inDEED, aeron.

Re: Process Of Teatro Grotesco
 

Thanks, and to show more on the process of this image, here's a screenshot with the categorized image folders I've been using for this image.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ty/process.jpg

sweet jesus. even the philosophy behind it is absolutely amazing, and I agree with you on the part of how can artists go on without their abilities?

They now know how the soft black stars feel, eh?