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InsAnnaty — Soldier
Published: 2007-04-01 06:00:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 2987; Favourites: 47; Downloads: 36
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Description
oil paint on gesso board... 2006.When a soldier comes home from war they may end up being dehumanized. Many become addicted to substances that numb their pain and experiences. The cigarette represents addiction.
The face is in the shadow so that this can represent not a particular individual, but the more the general soldier.
I always loved 1999 because if you turn it upside down it says 6661. The devil wins... war is evil.
This particular piece is very brush strokey.. Right before I did it some drunk asshole took a machete out of my hands and cut my webbing between my thumb and pointer finger on my painting hand.. Luckily no nerves were hit, but I was on a lot of vicodin when I did it. My hand still hurts more than a year later.. but I'll be okay..hehe.
Cheers ladies and gents!
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Comments: 57
The Rough texture, the slumped shoulders, the ruffled coat, The downturned eyes and lips all convey a very heavy emotion of abandonment and loneliness, almost like a child who was just broken up with by his first girlfriend, or a Boy who was told that his parents were killed in a car wreck. The theme of being orphaned is also brought to light, considering that he's (assumed) just coming home, or was discharged, meaning he was torn from the family he once had, his "brothers". This is a tough thing to come back to, this way of life, the way we think and move, and act, and interact.... I tip my hat to the men and women in the "sandbox" and to anyone who spent time in the "jungle". You're better men and women than i could ever be.
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Goergous painting. I like the highlights on his skin and style how You smudge brushes on canvas. It looks really good.
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i'm soldier too ! anyway !!! i know a man in this mood !
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Nice! Thanks for being a soldier.. I respect that.
Cheers!
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such a very nice piece, different... i like the way you depicted his lifestyle, great lighting too
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Thank You, I appreciate it so much
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I'm back to finish up here. As far as your tragic machete story goes, at least you had vicodin. That stuff usually makes it all better. You were still ahead of the game though, because you could "strokey" your way through something like this.
My own dog bit through my hand, and I was not so lucky for the next few months.
I would venture to guess the cards represent the game of chance soldiers take reintegrating themselves into society after facing horrifying and traumatic events far from home. The work on the cig hand is fantastic BTW.
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Hi!
Yes, vicodin DID help!!!! Sorry about your hand. What kind of dog do you have?
Yes, the cards are a symbol of chance. I didn't think of the chance of regenerating themselves back into society, but being a soldier in war you don't know what your chance is of living.. But, it can mean that too.
That's why I love symbolistic painting... because even after you do it you can still pick out things and make them have other meanings than you intended.
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The one that got me is a Springer spaniel, she got into it with our other dog and I had had a few drinks and thought I could be a hero. Never pry apart a dogs jaw after a few drinks. I wasn't her fault and I love her still but the pain was just delicious.
"you can still pick out things and make them have other meanings than you intended." I agree with you totally, that is the neat thing about art. I still see stuff intended or unintended ironies, so do the people around me. Recently I had posted a few that seemed to have no purpose, just a chaos of symbols and images, but I conned Decarabia69 into writing a few descriptions for me, and they have all kinds of bells and whistles that I never considered. I said to myself, "thank god it means something to someone."
I don't know about you but I sometimes feel so close to my art, I cant see it anymore. Its easy to analyze another's art with some degree of objectivity, but it gets real esoteric and existential when I try to explain what I did. Maybe that is why it seems so magical when I create something out of "nothing." Sorry if my typing voice seems a bit gushy, I am drinking a porter (beer) so that how I feel.
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THANK YOU!!!!!
Cheers!
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this is probably one of my most fav portraits you've ever done. *applauds*
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Thank You!!! People either love this or hate it.. People have said it makes them too sad to look at.. Ignorance is bliss though for some.
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Very true. I could see why it would make people sad to look at, but there's so much truth to it though. I really like it alot
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Thank you I'm so glad you like.
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Awesome painting, I love the style you used. It's so full of emotion.
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Thank you so much!!!!!
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A real eye catcher this, stopped me dead it did and made me look closer. Well done!
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Awesome!!! Thank you so much!
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I just found this picture and I am instantly in love with it. It has such a delicate and balanced quality. I really like the shadow in the mans face and the folds of his shirt. I commend you on your efforts!
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Thank you so much.. I am very passionate about this subject.
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Another great piece - I see echoes of Stanley Spencer and Paula Rego in your work - not so much stylistically, but in the symbolism and storytelling.
Sorry to hear about your hand - the artists nightmare, losing your hands!! Still, I guess we have feet, if the worst happens 
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Nicely detailed and colored. I really like the pose and lighting. Very haunting and powerful imagery.
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i love it...because i am anti war alot of people jump the gun and assume i think that every soldier is some reatarded baby murder...but this picture captures what i feel in my sympathies for the common soldier, simply because what they do is unimaginable to those that have not experienced it...and thus why i feel war should be the last option...and artistically i think that you really showed everyone a a little bit of what it means to serve your country...bravo
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Thank You! I am definitely anti-war as hell and it should be the last resort no matter what. Throughout history war has never truly solved anything.. Instead there needs to be more compromise. I too, respect soldiers greatly. Sadly, they are sometimes forced to fight for ignorant causes like the US's war with Iraq right now. They are brainwashed, left traumatized for life, and are sent pain killers by the government..
My grandfather was a Prisoner of War in Korea for 5 years.. and to survive had to eat his dead friends.. He was addicted to government drugs for so many years.
It really is sad.
Thanks again I'm glad you appreciate this piece.. that means a lot to me.
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all ways when i see a soldier, i feel pitty for him...and his family...!
its a very good piece!
i think today when you see pic like that, its atomaticaly awaking your emotion...and that what happend to me.
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Aww thank you.. It's always nice when my work has that effect. It makes me feel like I've truly accomplished something.
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such a beautiful and strong painting, you always inspire me to try and improve
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Aww thank you sweetie.. You inspire me as well!!!
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Thanks.. I'm glad you like!!
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Wonderful!!!! Love the colour texture, the light, pose and great words
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It's a great painting ! I read the part where you are telling about your hand ...
I hope it will cure completely.
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Thank You! Yea my hand is my life I would die if I couldn't paint.. but I'm very stubborn and a fighter!!! My boyfriend rubs it for me for an hour everyday..hehe.!!
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Great colours, great technick, great selfinterpretation of this painting
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