Virtuality

11 x 17, gouache on Strathmore Illustration Board.

"Lets dance tonight to a virtual song,
Press this key and you can play along.
Lets fly tonight on our virtual wings,
Press this key to see amazing things.."
-Rush, Virtuality

This is my entry for ~StrictlyComeDrawing's 5th theme:
The Virtual Image

Okay, so I'm usually pretty dodgy when it comes to how I interpret these themes provided to us here in this contest, I'll admit it. Yes, sometimes I try to outfox myself with an unusual or unexpected approach to the theme...

Not this time.

Oh, I was excited when I first received word of this round's theme, folks. Very excited. The concept of Virtual Reality teeters right upon the brink of sci-fi, of which I'm a big fan, and my mind made the automatic leap to the term Virtual Reality when I first heard the words "the Virtual Image." From there, it didn't take me very long to conceive what you're now looking at in front of you.

This painting's a pretty good example of having a rock-solid concept that suffers slightly because of its technical execution. If I had another shot at this one, I'd do quite a bit differently. I really like the concept though: two lonely people finding solace in each other through technology.

I really wanted this one to have a big romantic Hollywood movie poster feel... but it came off more as a cover for the world's worst romance novel. Oh, well...
Once again, my new scanner's washed out so many of the more subtle colors of this piece. For example, there's a very light field wash of lime green directly to either side of the embracing 20s couple, but it's barely perceptible here in this scan. I once again chose a pretty simple color palette, but the two main colors (red and green) weren't chosen randomly. For some reason, the term Virtual Reality seems to instantly conjure in my mind images of glowing green lights... so that's where the green glowiness came from. The big reddish couple embracing at the top of the page, because of their positioning in the image and probably due to the atmosphere of their pose, reminded me of a giant heart shape floating above and between the two figures at the bottom of the page. I chose the reddish colors for them to reinforce that subconscious heart shape.

I then poked around the net for a few photos of Virtual Reality equipment, threw it all into the sauce, bada-bing bada-boom: The Virtual Image


Colour 2/2
Composition 3/3
Originality 5/6
Technical Skill 6/6
Research 3/3
-1 point for lateness

Total: 18/20

A truly spectacular piece that is next to flawless. Although you did succumb to the ‘computer-related’ side of virtual that I was hoping people would not use, you have managed to create an effective twist on the over-used theme making the piece you own. A great use of colour, composition and research - this image was truly worth the wait. Well done!


What's this? A theme interpreted exactly as intended by *artofmadness? I don't believe it! LOL just kidding this is excellent! The only thing I would have done (had you do because there's no way I could have created such a masterpiece ^^) to get more of that 'movie poster' feel is perhaps put the 'virtual' characters in a spotlight of white and surrounded the actual characters in blackness - only lit by their computer screens. Still, wonderfull use of complimentary colours/lighting and references! Fantastic!

Colour - 2/2
Composition - 3/3
Originality - 5.5/6
Technical Skills - 5.5/6
Research - 3/3
-1 point for lateness

Total - 18/20


1) Colour – 1.5/2 points
The colors are lovely, but there is a bit too much white going on for my taste, I find it distracting. This might be just my monitor, though, or the fact that I have a terrible cold () so I will not take away too many points for that.
2) Composition – 3/3 points
Works super, good job!
3) Originality – 4.5/6 points
Sadly, not quite as original as some other entries, which used the other meanings of the word “virtual” as inspiration. Still quite interesting and definitely very amusing, though! (And true, too, haha.)
4) Technical skill –6/6 points
You are an extremely skilled artist, what should I say?
5) Research – 3/3 points
A decent amount of research.
Total: 18/20 points (-1 point for being late, makes it 17/20)


1) Color 2/2
2) Composition 3/3
3) Originality 5/6
4) Technical skill 6/6
5) Research/ historical accuracy 3/3

Late: -1

Total: 18/20
Its incredible. And probably very true to how the internet has shrouded peoples true identities. Well done and as always very beautiful painting.


1) Colour – 2/2
2) Composition – 2/3
3) Originality – 6/6
4) Technical Skill – 5/6
5) Research – 3/3

Late: -1

Total: 17/20

Very clever and very original! I thought for a moment that the man's avatar was supposed to be the woman, and the woman's was supposed to be the man, which in my opinion would have made it even cooler. The piece is beautiful - the only thing I might suggest is that the composition makes it look like a cutout of a larger piece. It feels like the edges ought to be finished.


CREDITS:

:thumb50476452: by
(one of the greatest stock-images I've ever seen!)

:thumb182515151:

[link] (warning: mature content!) by

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