To nobody's surprise (haha), I've got various notes on this one:
- I tried this as a "WebP" this time, which should improve quality and reduce file size going forward. Various places have problems with that format, but it seems to be okay here, and I believe at the PixelFed instance, too, which should help me move away from (the chronically unreliable) Imgur, in general.
- I couldn't find the proper source or original title for this piece, so that's just me above coming up with a likely name. It's certainly a Martin work though, which can be confirmed by his siggy near the lower-right margin. Btw, one prior Martin piece I shared here was "P'pa! Ta braguette...!".
- Specific thanks to artist-creator Horacio Altuna for help identifying this one. If you're unfamiliar with his work, Altuna's probably best known for tasteful, erotic farce. Indeed, he's something of a legend at this point, so check out that Lambiek link above for more info. He's also got a great Twitter stream in which he routinely features cool stuff by other artists. The feed's been helpfully de-shittified, and can be browsed HERE.
- There's also an 'AI' issue here, and I'll explain: First, I used the nifty online tool "Waifu" to upscale the art and remove artifacts, then I manually darkened the lighting and bumped up the saturation a smidgen. And then I leaned in to ChatGPT to help confirm some of my thoughts about the piece, namely that it's set during and in WWI's Western Front, and depicts the French army moving in and out of a major city in NE France or Belgium. GPT postulated that it doesn't seem to be a specific city, but might be styled after Verdun, Arras, Reims or Metz.
- I've been occasionally murdered here (and elsewhere) for leaning too hard in to AI tools to lead or assist with various projects, but I must say... without such tools, this particular artwork would be much lesser in quality, and I'd have much less info to share about it. FWIW!
The lighting and perspective are delicious
(っ˘ڡ˘ς) . If I may ask, what is your background? You have a very educated eye.
Whoa, thank you. oO
I'm basically a dilettante, dabbling in the arts, zoology, performance, history and so forth... and one who's also pretty head-over-heels for BD. I'm also middle-aged and disabled, which on one hand has significantly limited my life pursuits, while OTOH given me extra free time to put in to little projects like this.
May I also ask how you discovered us? Your own background, perhaps?
Also-- got any preferences here in terms of content..?
Ooh, you seem like an interesting person. :)
I wanted to populate my home page with things adjacent to my interests. So art was at the top of the list... And looked for active communites and found yours.
I like graphic novels/ BD/ comic/ manga... but truth be told, I haven't read that many, I know the "popular stuff" and own very little. Since I strongly prefer physical media, I just don't have capital to procure things that catch my eye. I still like seeing, and getting to know even without context. I'm here to broaden my horizons.
As for me, I am an "art-degree "^Tm^ wielder. (Graphic designer). Taught drawing/ painting for a few years, ocasional poster on !artshare@lemmy.world . In short, I love everything art related. Visual or otherwise.
In terms of content, you are doing great. I'm thankful that you are doing this. So please take it in any direction you want :).
Enchanté. So, 'home page' being your subscription feed I take it? If so, cool-- I need to build that up too, having lost 2yrs of subs when Lemm.ee (my old home instance) went down last month. *&@^#
Nice to hear about your art background! Btw, what kind of painting would that be?
EDIT: Oh whoops, I forgot to mention-- I totally get your preference to have physical books in hand, and it's taken me a long time to get used to digital consumption. Indeed, one of my missions here is to take advantage of the e-content online and give thanks by trying to show off the best of it, in some cases actually spurring people to buy the physical books, which hopefully repays the creators.
Encantada igualmente! And yes, that's what I meant.
I taught basic watercolor/ acrylics/ pastel technique, the introductory stuff; and drawing fundamentals/ figure drawing. Now a days I work mixed media and digital most of the time. My actual forte is drawing rather than painting though.
In regards to physical media, I need to be able to easily go back and reference stuff for it to stay with me and get indexed in my visual library, otherwise it kinda goes into the void after a while... Also, what can I say, I just have an analogue heart. Still, one needs to adapt, I like having this space as a reference point, to begin with :).