All Things Art and Good III
(The reasons behind the series of articles titled All Things Art and Good and the format followed in each article is explained here, in the first post in the series.)
I first came across Philip Straub‘s artwork, as I do a lot of digital artists I like, on the CGTalk forums. The painting was Llanowar Reborn and I thought that looked absolutely wonderful, what with all the greenery and me being a sucker for anything that’s got lots of foliage 🙂 But that was before I saw Infinite OZ – I was in awe the moment I saw Infinite Oz! One of the few things which trumps abundant greenery in my book of art appreciation is a beautifully done sunset or landscape – and this was both, and in an absolutely stupefying manner 😀
Words fail me when I try to describe Infinite Oz … and yes, I used to call myself a writer 🙂 There’s the calm serenity of the pastoral landscape, the farm with the red barn, the cow placidly chewing cud in the near distance, the swing on the gnarly tree next to the fence, the rolling landscape disappearing into the haze in the distance, and of course, the golden sunset – all of this combines to create a powerful image which makes me long for bygone days and simpler times.
But what makes the image really powerful is the ominous tornado in the distance and the glowering skies. They seem to hint at troubled times approaching, at danger and trials which might destroy the serene scene before us. When I look at the image, it’s almost as if I want to capture every bit of the beauty in the scene before it is destroyed forever by the approaching storm. So I gather in every little detail – the little yellow, blue, and orange flowers; the stream meandering it’s way through the pasture; the golden and rosy tints on the clouds and keep on staring and staring and staring 🙂
But the really wonderful thing for me is the fact that Infinite Oz is just one of the wonderful and inspiring paintings on Philip’s site. There are a whole heap more to explore, enjoy and to stare in wonder at. For instance, there’s the aforementioned Llanowar Reborn, full of greenery, mysticism, and mystery; the colourful, comical and childhood memory evoking Enchanted Evening; the simply mind-bending composition of foliage, water, rock, and lava in the book cover simply titled Atherton; and the somewhat mystical and fantastic Temple.
The above list still doesn’t do full justice to the range of imagery and artwork you’ll find on Philip’s site but I’m simply trying to provide a small sampling so that anybody reading this will be compelled to go there and take a look at all that’s there. If you appreciate beauty, you’ll not be sorry that you did 🙂
[pg-image src="http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/magic2.jpg" caption="Llanowar Reborn" link="http://www.philipstraub.com/magic2.htm"] [pg-image src="http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/ioz1.jpg" caption="Infinite OZ" link="http://www.philipstraub.com/infinite0z1.htm"] [pg-image src="http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/enchanted_evening.jpg" caption="Enchanted Evening" link="http://www.philipstraub.com/enchanted_evening.htm"] [pg-image src="http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/Athertoncoverf.jpg" caption="Atherton" link="http://www.philipstraub.com/Atherton_cover.htm"] [pg-image src="http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/interface.jpg" caption="Temple" link="http://www.philipstraub.com/Temple.htm"]
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