Thoughts in thoughts in thoughts...

Recently my friends and I were talking about the extremely detailed vectors that a lot of game designers have to make. I was actually able to bring this image up and compare the extreme detail that this painter did to the computer images that you can zoom in on when creating them. When I think about real detail, I love to look at the things that artists created back before the 1900's because I believe they had a real eye for detail. This particular image is the size of a postcard! I think that's absolutely amazing! One of the other things that I love about this image, is that she put her thoughts, her mindset in the mirror. It shows what she is thinking about as she is reading this prayer book. Also, Mary is seen twice in this painting. Once in the foreground and also in the mirror sitting in front of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I love the detail that went into this, and also the image of a woman's thoughts. The church was a big influence in that age.
When I step back and take a long look at it, I think of those fun house mirrors that are facing each other. So when you look at them you have hundreds of images of yourself seemingly going farther and farther back in space. But here it's only one way. We only see how she thinks about her meditation. What would not surprise me, was if the painter put another mirror behind the main Mary in the window image showing what she would be thinking of she really was sitting in a church with Mary, Jesus mom. That would not surprise me with all the detail that is already going on in this image. It still amazes me how one artist can make a painting so small and detailed and do such an amazing job at it.

Inspiration

I know that posting a picture of Vincent Van Gogh may seem somewhat stereotypical, but I have found a new respect for him. One of my favorite tv shows to watch is Doctor Who on BBC. He is a being who lives for hundreds of years and his space ship allows him to travel through time and space. His ship is called the TARDIS, and it stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. But in one episode, the Doctor and his companion go back in time to when Vincent was alive, right before he did the painting of the sunflowers. There was something that I realized about artists and painters, that we dont always live the perfect life and not everything is grand. I do not know exactly what was deemed wrong with him, but I believe that he suffered from mental illness. Whether it be depression or some sort of mania, I believe that is what inspired his work. When Vincent met the Doctor, he was able to see some sort of monster and only Vincent was able to see it. He told the Doctor that he wished other people could see the world as he sees it, with colors swirling and molding to create a beautiful canvas that he just had to capture. There was one time that Vincent suddenly got so upset because the Doctor said something that sounded like an insult that he threw himself onto his bed and started to sob. I saw something in myself when I watched that episode. I realized that my depression can be a help to my artwork. How I portray myself and my work can show people what really goes on in the head of someone who has to deal with depression and other mental illnesses. I can't stand it when others stereotype mental illnesses because they dont understand how they think. From that one episode I have found a new respect and love for Van Gogh's art, and for him as a human as well.