[General Confusion]

I have to do some images, (well I'm quoting on some images....) but they have to be images that deal with the human psyche, in particular what scares us.. And I don't mean if someone has arachnophobia, then I draw a spider, nothing like that. The images sort of have to be:

� unsettling
� disturbing
� they have to make the viewer feel uneasy after viewing them

they aren't to be obviously suggestive, (like the spider example I gave) they kind of have to let the viewer take something away from it, through their own perceptions, somehow provoking a sense of bothersome to them...

Any suggestions that could lead my thoughts, artists to look at for inspiration, etc, etc... An artist I have in mind is Beksinski, he's sort of the only one who comes to mind, that kind of captures the mood I'm after.... And I know of Giger, is another but his stuff is too "in your face" for what I need... Clive Barker as well (not to fond of his stuff) Wayne Barlow, did the Inferno thing, and again that may be too suggestive

I really need to make some thought provoking images... the thoughts being bad ones... and yeah I guess it's hard to define, but my question is what are your thoughts on drawing images that portray a mood, more or less..... I've seen threads on here, deal with the science of lighting, and how do you portray movement in a static image, so this is sort of like that, coming from a more psyche angle....


I really want this project, I just am having such a hard time coming up with a foundation to work with.... so please put on your demented helmets, and give a brother a hand

to sum up my banter:

I need to portray psychological horror in a static image, I need to achieve that without the cheesy use of blood and guts (ala any new Friday the 13th you can get you're hands on)

so the question is: what type of content within an image could psychologically bother you if you saw it, could it be achieved by the rendering quality, or possibly....... I don't know fill in the blanks, if you'd like.... I'd appreciate you more than your starving dog would after you fed it

[Asurfael]

As an artist, sometimes I really fear blank paper... And I think that it's something people could relate to. Who hasn't had to draw/write something just staring at the paper with nothing in their heads... Just messin around with the idea

[xmmx]

hmm i think any type of image where you see someone unable to save his loved ones. such as seeing a guy being held back by police as a man hold a gun to his daughters head. i know it sounds sick but i think that is the idea.
( fear of the unknown )
( helplessness )
if you mix those to things together you get a disturbing image.

well my thoughts anyway

ohh yeah make sure that you can see the expressions of the characters in the image to humanize them to the viewer

[ July 30, 2002: Message edited by: xmmx ]

[VENiM]

i don't know if this is the kind of stuff you want but the pics on this site are truly desturbing and unsettling and whatever. i'll let you make whatever you want of it:
www.ogrish.com >> go to pictures

plz don't ask me how i know this site =/

[Rat]

Being trapped alone in a dark, windowless room without pen, paper, or any other means to write or draw besides my own blood for the rest of my life. To be cut off from everything/one I love.

[edit]Venim - that site's disgusting, but interesting all the same.[/edit]

[ July 30, 2002: Message edited by: Rat ]

[Catfish]

Dave McKean has some great unsettling work in some of his galleries.
In particular, check out the Option:Click section.
Black & White Lies is also good - I love Tip of my tongue.
He's also done some great work for the Sandman comics, in the Dreaming section.
[EDIT: My mistake - they're not the Sandman comics, just a related series.]

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: Catfish ]

[faB]

Will you play on the body or something else ?

A strange place can be a subject, or a person.

I think the colours you choose are very important as well.

Also a composition where you see through the eyes of someone, that is first-person can make the viewer more involved.

Following on this idea, I'd try to involve the viewer this sounds like the cheapest trick..

I dont know here's an example, just my 2 cents example ok.. lets say you paint the view of someone looking down at his feet, and the feet are somewhat melting and mixing with the floor, coupled with a good composition & color to suggest the viewer becoming stuck, unable to move.

Or another could play on the feeling of being unable to speak, trying to gesture or call people's attention but you are a ghost.. (i.e. 'The Scream' Edvard Munch)

[strata]

teeth scare me... mostly human teeth.

[AndyT]

Link

Angles, broken shapes...

[AdezJ]

it's unsettling to view a person in a situation were you know it's not a chance he will survive, or if he does it won't be without badly injures.
[Edit]It has to be the moment right before it strikes

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: AdezJ ]

[Anthony]

My current desktop image is kinda scary http://antsin3d.com/reeldev/meetingofminds.jpg

[hans_e]

Theres always the scene where a person is hanging hopelessly from the top window of a burning building

[Aber]

a mirror!

[AndyT]

NOT(!!!) obviously suggestive! Right?

[liv the fish]

I always thought this painting was pretty creepy and suggestive:

Mystery and Melancholy of a Street

(which took forever to find because I couldn't remember the title) Surrealism in general can be pretty creepy though.

Brian H.

[General Confusion]

great replies everyone

this quote I'm doing this for, is currently being posed as a calendar (that's all I can say about it, at this time)

Asurfael - sounds like a nice way to tackle a cover

xmmx - that's a good suggestion as well... it's portraying the fear without being cheesy with it, that's the question... I also don't want to be too literal, I think subjective is more disturbing, it allows the viewer to write their own story

Venim - that is some sick @#$%, not for the faint of heart (but good reference) hey did I say that????

Rat - solitude, confinement... thanks for the brainstorm

Catfish - great link, kind of where I was thinking, now I have to be careful of not letting his influence seep into my thoughts, but good link overall

faB - damn, another good suggestion, yes I will try to use the body as much as I can, it wil help the viewer identify more.... you guys are being extremely helpful

strata - funny thing there.. I went to school for special effects prosthetics and makeup, I worked with Bob Bottin (who is a wel known makeup artist) and the teacher once told me one of the most disturbing things visual is seeing teeth,( I dont know why) but you're right on.. I guess cause teeth are usualy obscured by lips, but when their visible, it sort of leaves you weirded out

AndyT - excellent very helpful. and I had that lnik as well, but forgot about it

AdezJ - Ikeep thinking frm your suggestion a scene from Texas Chainsaw, where a prro victim is about to meet Leatherface, so yeah I'll definitely think along those lines... it's gonna be friggin hard to sleep...

Anthony - is that your work? did you model it in 3-d

hans_e - great idea... except minus the burning building, I thinking more along the lines of anabandoned building, it will look more ominous

Aber - LOL, you've never seen me before LOL

AndyT - ???? are you referring to your link? if so, don't fret, it was a great lead..

liv the fish - I agree, I just dont sem to have the surrealist thing in check, but I probably should guide my thinking that way

here is an image I roughed out quickly, tell me what you think: (and I know this is the discussion area, I post it here cause it's part of the discussion)



thanks for the input so far, if anyone else has more shoot away

[AndyT]

I was just wondering if you were looking for more subtle stuff in general.

This is freaking me out for example
[EDIT]Or is it 'creeping me out'?[/EDIT]

I like your image but I don't think it's disturbing at all

[ August 01, 2002: Message edited by: AndyT ]

[General Confusion]

AndyT - ok, I understand what you meant now, and I think yeah, something subtle is what I need to do... so it forces you to think (getting into your head sort of) and yeah I agree my image isn't disturbing, I'm trying to put my finger on it, but having trouble doing so, the thing I don't want to do is "redo" stuff I have already seen.... so, I'll probably be throwing more images up here as soon as I can....

[Mharett]

yeah man,as stated up there, work with the composistion, put in angles and shapes that make the viewer feel unsettled. the best way i can think to make a disturbing image is to bend perspective. dont make a pic with bad perspective... make it so it kinda looks right, but not quite, and angles and shapes that conflict and such.

mhar

[liv the fish]

Now, I'm not much of a music person, but I think what Mharett is talking about is discord (I'm somewhat of a art history buff, but I'm not sure is this has a term in painting). Like having a differing angle than the rest. Or part of the perspective is somewhat off. Or a more extreme example, a family on sunny picnic with a skeleton in the background. All can be disturbing to varying degrees. Which is why I like the painting I posted. It has this discord.

An image becomes disturbing when you have an opposite element to constrast your main elements. The level of disturbance is related to the amount of contrast and the ratio of your disturbing to nondisturbing elements.

Hope that makes some sense.

Brian

[Anthony]

That sounds an aweful lot like psycho-babble Brian, but I getcha I don't think it comes down to a math formula ( NORMx-ABNy=DISTz, where DISTz becomes disturbing when its negative), but contrast is something that hits people. Just like something funny in the middle of a somber image or movie makes people crack up.

Andy-yah, those are 3d models of mine, like this creepy fellow

[liv the fish]

Anthony: LOL

I still haven't shaken off that semester of Psychology

Brian

[Impaler]

Watch Tool's videos a few times. Those are great examples of disturbing imagery with no gore.

Watch the beginning sequence of Mystery on PBS. Once again, disturbing imagery that you can't quite put a finger on.

Things that are desolate and lonely are very disturbing. A dead tree on a hill covered with dead grass, under a grey sky is an example.

Black is disturbing, no matter where you are. A sunny suburb with a black-cloaked figure in full gallop is disturbing, which leads me to liv the fish's point about discord. It's a hard thing to achieve, that dissonance between subjects and themes. Far Side was an hilarious comic, only because it was based on things out of place. If you draw a family having a picnic, with a 65 Impala bearing down on them, I'm going to crack up.