Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Evaluate: Shadow of the horse

My piece "Shadow of the Horse" depicts Andrew Hussie, creator of the website Mspaintadventures.com and webcomic "Homestuck", holding a fanwork while he stands in a beautiful field populated by unicorns and a horseheaded giant off in the distance over the mountains. Over his face is a shadow of a horse mask, with his eyes eerily peering out in a pure white.

His eyes give a haunting sense that clashes with the bucolic and bizarre scene before him, both in the meta-painting he's holding and the background behind him. While the mood of the scene behind him is tranquil, with flowers, trees, a village and unicorn, the looming horse headed giant past the mountains and Hussie's shadow ridden gaze give the impression of uncomfortable foreboding.

Really, what I was going for here was trying to capture Hussie's own sense of style, his bizzare and unnerving way of twisting something cute and adorable into something vaguely creepy and haunting. The use of horses was a reference to his obsession with them, a running gag in his artwork. The horse mask stock imagery used is also a popular internet meme, due to its awkward facial expression and hilarity in making any situation ridiculous. Really, it's just one big internet joke, this piece.

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