[Art Post] Find your Way
Beware! Very long artist comment ahead! ^^; How was that? You can measure the importance of a piece for me by the number of signs in its comment? *g* Oh well...
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As for the content of the piece: Bloodhounds can be very … peculiar when it comes to ways in which they spend their „leisure time“. Many of them like to enter mazes and labyrinths for example, those are similar to the ones we know here as in: you start at some point and try to find your way out, but they are usually more elaborate than a system of high hedges or long twisted tunnels. This particular maze lies within an enormous cave and everywhere you will find smaller platforms. On top of these stand stony objects that are illuminated from above. These objects are transporters, that can bring you to another platform. They only work into one specific direction though and you can't always tell by looking at them. So sometimes you're forced to “run in circles” in order to get back to where you have been before. Also the little platforms all look pretty much alike so keeping track isn't always easy. Mazes like this one though are usually more meant to serve the purpose of enjoying solitude, as no maze will have two hounds at the same time in the same place (don't ask how it works, it simply does ;) ). A hound can spend hours, even days in such a labyrinth, just focussing and sharpening his mind, meditating, testing their own patience and mental stamina... And since all Hounds who can enter such a maze have the ability to open portals, they can leave unharmed whenever they wish.
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This piece has started as long ago as 2006, which was my absolute best year when it comes to Bloodhound art! I don't know why, but in that year the pieces I did that circled around Ileyeah all turned out the way I wanted to. They were - if I dare say - perfect for me and I loved all of them. Yet some pieces that I sketched I knew I hadn't the skills back then to colour them, neither traditionally nor digitally. So they had to wait. Just Like “Approaching Storm” -->
“Find your Way” was put on the back burner, occasionally de-dusted, tackled and put back disappointed. Within the almost 5 years I have tried for as many times to colour this piece and was never happy with it,because I had a very special atmosphere and light scheme in mind that I simply couldn't pull off. I tried again sometime last year and the style was similar to “Approaching Storm”. I looked at it and finally realized that that was the wrong way to do it. This piece couldn't live through a variety of colours and details, because that wasn't what was important for it... So I reduced the colour palette drastically and dared to sink in many parts of the piece in darkness and mist. I altered the dimension of the piece, putting Bloodi in the right corner instead of the middle and started again... and this time things finally worked out. It's still not perfect. I am sure I made a hundred mistakes when it comes to the light and what not... but nonetheless I am excited to see this piece being done... and also being happy with it.
Yes... yes, I love this piece... I am happy with the atmosphere, the light and the fact that not every single piece I create only has a nice effect because your eye gets drowned in details...
And even if it wasn't created _for_ this song, this particular music piece was constantly in my mind when I started this... which is why I borrowed the title from it --> Final Fantasy VIII - Find your Way
Long comment is long... I apologize...