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stigmatattoo — untitled drawing
Published: 2009-05-09 04:02:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 3769; Favourites: 106; Downloads: 0
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+marker & white-out pen on paper, 8 x 6 inches. 2009.can't decide which way i like it best.
head-up the focus is in the eyes and you have to force the attention away from them to explore the rest of the image. it's a portrait and you can't work around it. upside-down the focus is the white cross, which opens the image and makes it easier to look at, the neck/chest area gains a different aspect and the face dissolves...
upside-down is winning by a bit. Critique is enabled so tell me what you think. +
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Comments: 35
I think I would have preferred this as a strictly delimited diptych, but that is about the only truly critical point I have.
As with the bulk of Daniel's work, there is a striking balance and control of both contrast and overall tonality. Symbolic and topical interpretations aside, one can get very easily lost in examination of minutae; small crevices of crafted negative space and visceral movement of ink, strange subdivisions of the surface and a loose, but otherwise very deliberate sense of construction.
The content, while superficially could be construed as "gothic" it really isn't. It is more substantive, and its subtlety works that to a fine degree, which also pushes this beyond that trappings of "dark" works.
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It looks alot like your woodcut work, which is my all time favorite of yours. I just love this style. They feel different right side up and upside down... I think from afar you're right about the center of focus but when I look at it large and up close the cross really draws me in on the right side up and the eyes on the upside down... Maybe I just have a thing for upside down facial features though. I think they compliment each other well. Standing alone I think I like the upside down better. <3
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It looks like a print
I like the fact that you put the two pictures together... To me it looks fine like this, 'head up' next to 'head down'... Hope you can understand my poor english, I never slept in the last 48 hours and I can't almost speak italian, so...
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wow, i think i like it with both of them, makes it all the more curious
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The white lines traveling across the image draw your eye off the page. I do like the separation they create, but they also provide a bit of a distraction as well.
What seems to fix it is not looking at each one on it's own, but the 2 as a whole, and I think it's a strong way of presenting it. I know your goal was to give viewers the option of which way looked better, but I think it works in your favor to have it both ways. If you plan on making prints of this, it will be more time consuming to print it as such, but compositionally it really does help.
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Opino igual que ~VueloNocturno , me resulta mas dificil distribuir la atención a todos los elementos de la imagen en la versión de la izquierda ya que la mirada se me va inmediatamente al rostro, ahi las lineas son mas fuertes y estan los ojos, inevitable centro focal.
Por eso en la versión boca abajo me resulta mas armónica en cuanto a la composición, aunque es más fuerte en significado.
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Y leyendo otros comentarios, también creo que se ve interesante como un retrato doble más que como uno individual
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+muchas gracias por tu comentario 
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I think it looks amazing with both the upside down, and right side up versions together. They compliment each other, and this image overall is truly stunning. Detailed, and unique, and it really makes you stop and think and stare. Truly what art is all about!
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+thank you very much 
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A mi me parece que en verdad como la cara, por ser una cara y tener los ojos abiertos, de por sí va a atraer la atención de quién la mira.
No importa como estuviese puesta la pieza, siempre voy a mirar hacia los ojos, la cara, lo humano. Busco el punto de referencia.
Creo que el trabajo gana boca abajo porque se genera un equilibrio entre el magnetismo natural del rostro y lo otro que querés destacar: el trabajo de las líneas blancas y la cruz.
Estando boca arriba te olvidás de las líneas y vas al rostro, porque éste tiene mucho poder de atracción.
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+es lo que yo digo!
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It's a striking image- personally, I'd put the two right-side up, side by side, but mirrored, so they lean toward one another (like holy twins). That way the white line that more or less bisects their faces are aligned to intersect, forming a triangle (though that would happen off the page)- a classic compositional arrangement...but not so "classic" that it's stuffy.
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+oh, i could do that, too
i've gotten some good ideas off this one, thank you! 
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I must agree with aviencrest, I immensely enjoy the piece as a double portrait. Perhaps edit out the extra two signatures (?) and place them at the corners of the diptych. You could also try making it a vertical composition with the mirror image directly above or below the other. Brilliant work as usual.
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+ah good point on the signatures! might do that if i offer it as a print 
thank you! +
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This must stay as a double portrait, i find it much more engaging with the two faces, especially as it appears as though you have placed it not only as an upside down version but also as a mirror image (both heads tilt the same way in this version). I also enjoy the white lines that lead down the face and chest toward the cross. Amazing work.
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+ok, if you say so
glad you enjoyed, thanks for the comment
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I love 
For the reasons mentioned by people before me, right one will be better as a stand alone piece :]
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+i think i'm leaving this image as it is... or maybe changing it for the portrait and scrapping this one... 
they do look god like this, don't they?
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At first I thought these were prints and you had purposefully placed them next to each other.
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+lol yeah, i see what you mean
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I see the face as being the focal point in both positions of the piece. The white lines forming texture on the face are very sharp, which draw my eye directly to the face. The body, however, seems to fade into the background as the lines are much softer.
It's a lovely piece and I actually like the look of the two heads positioned next to one another. However, seeing as a choice must be made between the two, I would choose the "right side up" position. Of course, upside down another feeling is given to the piece entirely. A sense of upheaval and perhaps a bit of 'mockery', so to speak. Though that's just my take on it.
Also, I am really impressed by your ability to use such simple media as a marker and white out!!
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+don't really have to choose
i like the mockery bit on the upside-down one, thanks for the comment!
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While I'm certainly not one to give critique on an artwork such as this, I can say that I agree with the person above me in saying that the face is the main focus point of the piece, and me as a viewer tends to gravitate towards it. I also agree that the right-side up version is more appropriate for the piece because the pose seems so timeless. I certainly enjoy the etching type style you have going on here with the background halo, and on the man's face. Very elegant looking. Great work.
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+tried out a few new things with an old, almost spent marker and it worked
thanks for the feedback!+
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Personally, A face is still a face. Despite the cross my eyes still gravitate towards the face. The piece suddenly becomes something that "looks" wrong because my brain realizes that portraits don't hang upside down. I vote right-side up.
It's a very lovely portrait. Your marks are interesting and I think despite the viewer's tendency to get stuck on a face, the rest of the image is interesting enough to carry the eyes through it.
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+thank you very much for your opinion, glad you liked it
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