My time at the moment is taken up with an animation project that is both time consuming and fascinating. Since I’m drawing the frames myself it can take up to 8 hours (in my inept handling of the computer program) to produce a mere 18 seconds of animation! But it is fun. It incorporates a 3D surface rendered image of a head, and mixes cut slices of the brain. I don’t know if it is possible to upload it to this blog, but I’ll investigate when it is complete. Any advice would be gratefully accepted. Presently it is in Adobe After Effects, with the main work being done in Flash.
Chest 80; Listen to that voice
This weeks offering contains the X-ray of a person in acute heart failure following a large myocardial infarct – a classic heart attack. Not much of the original X-ray is seen in the image, though an ECG lead can be seen on the left.
I’ve tried to illustrate the chest pain that radiates to the left shoulder, coupled with feelings of deep dread that people report when the attack is at its height. The wild patterns were achieved by blending two photographs of a blazing fire, and these were placed for contrast and focus over a close-up picture of a yellow allamanda flower, the golden trumpet. (I could say that the person is hearing the golden trumpet calling, but that would be just too cheesy.) There is often, but not always a prodromal phase with chest tightness or pain before a heart attack and people often say I thought something was wrong but ignored it, hence the title.
Parts of the image remind me of silk dress-pattern prints that I have seen, that is probably because I have not used a blur to focus the eye – there is even focus all over the picture consequently although there is lots of movement, it is a flat image without much depth.
wow… that’s an explosion of color, and i am grateful for your explanation! i love the image and the narrative.
it’s good to tackle new tasks, and i am sure that you’ll master the challenge. i hope you’re able to share it with us when you’re finished!
Thankyou! I think that an artist’s description is a valuable part of the provenance of a piece of work. I am enjoying the animation but it is a challenge. Tony
Wow! My first thought on seeing this explosion of colour was silk dress fabrics. Thanks for the details on how you brought it together I would never have guessed a blazing fire over a flower. Animation, that’s a different tack. Sounds like you may have become obsessed 🙂
One of the Indians at work wants me to have it printed on sari material – that would be a new departure! Many thanks for the comment. Tony
Now that’s something to think about, your own line of fabric!
Beautiful image. I immediately thought of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef (which I was fortunate to do many years ago) when I saw it! Your explanations are always interesting, too, although, I must admit they fill me with a bit of dread and anxiety that are totally opposite of what I’m seeing — a glorious explosion of color and a very uplifting image.
I have worked most of my career watching distressing situations that occur and develop in peoples lives. I aim to release those tensions with my art. People sometimes say there is a sinister undercurrent in these pictures, but I look at it the other way (is the glass half full or half empty) Under the sinister aspect of the disease/picture/life there is always something beautiful, something to be thankful for. Tony