This picture is called the mushroom desert because it's a desert and it/s full of mushrooms but there is more meaning than just that. It's the mind of a person just about to lose it and go insane.I have left the entire background as it was since I found a photo that just fit right into what I was doing.
Everything is in black and white to give it a dark feeling. I added a Victorian house in the middle where the clouds center towards the house and I lightened it slightly so it would stand out. The house is therefore the brightest thing and the place where sanity still lives.
Right above the house I added a cloud that I darkened and that looks like a person (does in the original picture as well) because insanity is always lurking around. A bit hard to notice, but I placed three faces in the clouds, cloud faces that I blended the best I could and made more transparent. They represent the voices in an insane persons head or maybe split personalities.
Next was the mushrooms, which is the same mushroom copied five times and lightened or darkened depending on which side of the picture they were placed. Mushrooms are usually associated with drugs but here I just meant them to be a sign of seeing illusions.
The frog I placed at the front so he was more noticeable and tried to blend him into the ground slightly. The frog is wearing a king's crown which is unusual for a frog and also represents illusion and seeing things that are not really there.
At the back I hid another frog but an unrealistic one that is actually made of wood. I placed him in a shadow and made him more transparent, so he looks like he is disappearing. This contradicts with the real frog: as in in real v.s fake. The person can't tell the difference anymore and thinks they are the same and therefore doesn't need two because they believe what they see no matter how strange it is.
I also hid a skull in a darker corner so it looks like part of the mountain as a kind of lurking danger feeling. And lastly there is an explosion that creepily looks like a clown and that I have darkened and added more contrast, and made more transparent too. Chaos has broke loose and is randomly exploding and destroying what is there, getting closer to the house like impending doom.
Right above the house I added a cloud that I darkened and that looks like a person (does in the original picture as well) because insanity is always lurking around. A bit hard to notice, but I placed three faces in the clouds, cloud faces that I blended the best I could and made more transparent. They represent the voices in an insane persons head or maybe split personalities.
Next was the mushrooms, which is the same mushroom copied five times and lightened or darkened depending on which side of the picture they were placed. Mushrooms are usually associated with drugs but here I just meant them to be a sign of seeing illusions.
The frog I placed at the front so he was more noticeable and tried to blend him into the ground slightly. The frog is wearing a king's crown which is unusual for a frog and also represents illusion and seeing things that are not really there.
At the back I hid another frog but an unrealistic one that is actually made of wood. I placed him in a shadow and made him more transparent, so he looks like he is disappearing. This contradicts with the real frog: as in in real v.s fake. The person can't tell the difference anymore and thinks they are the same and therefore doesn't need two because they believe what they see no matter how strange it is.
I also hid a skull in a darker corner so it looks like part of the mountain as a kind of lurking danger feeling. And lastly there is an explosion that creepily looks like a clown and that I have darkened and added more contrast, and made more transparent too. Chaos has broke loose and is randomly exploding and destroying what is there, getting closer to the house like impending doom.
Maria, the thought, creativity and story behind your image is fabulous! I am very impressed that you had a reason for all your decisions, rather than just making it "look interesting".
ReplyDeleteThe black and white format does work very well to merge the various components but.. some of the features are so subtle that I would not have seen them without your direction. I hadn't notice the foreground frog and had to really hunt for the one behind the house. The clown in the explosion cloud is very cool, but I hadn't picked up on it. I zoomed in and still can't find the skull or the faces in the smoke creature (which is my favourite part by the way).
The challenge if to find a balance between subtle and intriguing and still making it understandable to the viewer. Keep that in mind next time. A fabulous message is not well executed unless it is communicated clearly to the audience. One step might have been a title that suggests the message like "Overwhelmed by Illusion" or "Living inside one's mind".
Great start.
Great job, but five copies of the mushroom ... I count a total of seven ... or I was eating too many mushrooms today :-)
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