2011, Bring Me The Horizon

Happy New Year to everyone! 2011 is going to be a powerful year of transformation, a time to find your own unique expression. A time to let go of old patterns, a time to expand and be open to the unexpected. I definitely feel it.

This started out as a plain painting of Oli Sykes 'til I decided to mess with his hair as if blood (stylized) was dripping down...then I had this weird dream where Oli kept coming up with the Tarot card 3 of Swords, known as "The Lord of Sorrow". So I decided to add that as well.

So, here I've taken my basic acrylic and oil painting of Oli's head and shoulders, and given it a background in Photoshop that includes the Tarot card meaning and some extra blood. I liked the juxtaposition of the smooth serenity of his face- an almost angelic quality - against all that cartoonish carnage. I could have really gone even further...cut his heart out like in his video...hmmm...that's an idea! Anything's more interesting than the plaid shirt he was wearing in the ref photo.

Scanning a painting into Photoshop and adding backgrounds allows me to experiment with ideas before I commit them to the painting permanently. I can also choose to bring out different "versions" or series this way.

I was planning a video "speedpaint" tutorial on this, but my new camcorder hasn't arrived yet. Stay tuned.
Next up on my board: Blink 182 :)