Mitch Perkins wrote:MovieStuff wrote: Unfortunately, any train in the snow is now the Polar Express. Thanks, Mr. Hanks. :roll:
Roger
Not at all -
What makes your image similar to The Polar Express look, IMHO, is your emphasis on the photo-realistic technical aspect of the deal, (while still retaining a sort of fantasy feel), a focus on the train itself rather than "the human condition" or some sort of feeling or mood, (as in the Monet), and a largely two-tone (blue and white only), approach to the snow -
Mitch
Yeah, I kinda agree. On the other hand, I suppose my train looks like the Polar Express as much as you and I would look alike because we were both standing in the snow. Stand the train (or one of us) in the desert and no comparison would exist. While I understand some peoples' connection, I tried my best to avoid it where I could. My goal is to sell this as prints to train enthusiasts and what they like is mucho detail, which would leave Mr. Monet's painting out of the running, though I prefer it to my own train painting!
etimh wrote:
I didn't want to be too critical, but I used to be a painter myself. I was going to say, "Get some color in that monochromatic snow!"
Still, good work, Roger.
Thanks. Yeah, the background is kind of secondary and I purposely chose a monochromatic approach to contrast the grungy, mechanical look of the loco with the pristine look of the snow. In fact, I was sort of planning to just go blinding white! But, in retrospect, I probably made a mistake choosing snow for the background at all. Poor planning on my part, I guess. I didn't really even consider the Polar Express connection (hated the movie) until someone mentioned it as I was painting the background but I forged ahead, anyway, and left out the mist and falling snow and things that would deepen the connection. But, yeah, I might just replace the background altogether with something else because every other person that looks at this sees the goddam Polar Express. Any additional snow, mist or atmosphere will only make the problem worse, obliterate the much coveted detail, and make it even less likely to sell.
But thanks for the honest feedback, guys.
Roger
