Lydrae - The Transponder

¤ Lyridae created "The Transponder" and includes it in his Gallery on deviantART. Lyridae is a young man from German who creates computer graphic images.

¤ A new wave of information technology -- space communicating with the Earth via a bluey-green plasma -- a one way portal. This communication device has one drawback however, it has to be careful not to singe the Earth's surface. The way it communicates with the planet is by etching small codes into our fingertips. Unfortunately none of us has been able to decipher these messages from space -- but that is okay, because it just adds to the mystery.

~ Mags

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Everything mentioned in the above review is not factual, it is purely fiction.

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¤ There is a lot going on in this interesting cosmic image by Lydrae. Taken in quickly it reminded me a lot of images of a sword in front of a shield -- a blazing blade pointed up toward the sky. Looked at closely you can see... well I don't want to describe too much of the detail -- leaving it to the gallery to see for themselves.

It is another beautiful use of a limited pallet. I know that some would look at this as an advantage for decorating, or for a choice of gift for someone when you know their favourite colours -- but I also know it can add power to a composition. This one has interesting flow -- your eye is drawn to the cosmic bodies and then upwards with the plasma-like torch. It reaches up to the dark void where the eye rests a moment in the dark and then flows down the sides to pick up the image of the spheres once more for another ride up the image. That is the flow for the image as a whole before looking at the details that abound in it. Looking at the details is like taking side trips on a vacation.

I wonder... "transponder" refers to a device that receives a signal and then rebroadcasts it immediately. Is this what the artist intends -- is this a signal being rebroadcast? What was the source of the signal and to who is it being broadcast too. Questions to ponder, I guess... though you might want to look at the details in the piece and perhaps find your own answers.

~ Darrell

Robert S Connett - Night Trawler

¤ Robert S Connett's "Night Trawler" can be found on his "flickr" page on "flickr". You can also find R.S. Connett's work on deviantART as "vmaximus" -- "vomit maximus" in his gallery there. Do not forget to click on the "All Sizes" link at the top of the image to see the large size version to take in the impressive detailwork of this artist.

¤ Taken aback -- obscure, fanciful, or just plain crazy -- I'm not quite sure. One thing I do know however, is that this artist isn't afraid to push the boundaries of what we consider to be artistic. But that's what I think gives this artist his appeal. The dark hulking colosus in the middle of the work looks like its an invention from a Sci Fi movie set being sent to its final resting place. The other inhabitants of the water look like they've just stumblied upon modern man gone wrong.

~ Mags

¤ I prefer this artist's later works and his works with places and things, to those of people, beings, and animals -- but that is my bias. People need not like all of an artist's works to like the work of an artist. I recommend looking at what the artist has to say about his own work under the images on flickr. He has a talent for writing as well as painting.

Connett puts great detail in his work -- working with magnifying glasses and jeweller's glasses to accompany the hair fine brushes he uses. In "Night Trawler" there is nowhere you can look and not see something of interest, something to make you wonder about what it is doing there. There are themes from other paintings repeated here: I see the people with telescopes that I recognize from the "Spying on the Dark City" painting; I see the city of glass from "Spying on the Dark City" and "Dreaming by the City of Glass" as well as other pieces; and themes from other paintings.

There are many stories being told in "Night Trawler" and though many are put their by the artist, many more are set to be created by the viewer.

~ Darrell.