3D Apocalyptic Scene: Reflection

Name: Antonette Nolan

3D Apocalyptic Scene Title: Lone Optimism

Medium: Photoshop

Date: Wednesday, April 8th 2015

Technical

            Within Lone Optimism I used a couple new tools and technical steps that I had not previously had much experience with. These include using the “define brush preset” option to create several specific brushes, including the broken TV and car-boats, and using specific colour-layering to make the overall image 3D.

Idea or Concept

            My initial idea of an apocalyptic world consisted of a very vague concept of hope after nuclear destruction. This concept changed a lot as I worked on the actual piece, however. I found myself omitting many of the things on my initial list, while simultaneously adding things that I hadn’t previously thought of. In addition, I began viewing the piece more and more as a representation of the hope that inevitably springs up within the individual after turmoil. This lead me to title the piece Lone Optimism. The broken TV, car wrecks and oil barrel impart a sense of desolation, while the mother and child alone on the beach bring an atmosphere of peace and hope to the piece.

Influences

            I think I was actually a little bit inspired by Tyler Brett and Tony Romano’s post-apocalyptic illustrations. I often found myself thinking about the picture in which the snow-covered cars are being used as shelters, so I think that could have been why I saw them as potential boats in my own piece.

Composition

            I balanced the composition asymmetrically, but the “weight” in Lone Optimism is distributed evenly throughout. I intended most of the emphasis in the scene to be on the mother and child, but am not sure if I succeeded in this (the figures, to me, still seem to ‘melt into’ the background a little. My eyes first focus on the tree on the left, then move up and across, following the “car-boats” and flock of birds to the tips of the right-hand tree’s branches. Finally, they go to the figures on the beach. Each of the images is placed in a specific place and on a certain angle to push the viewer’s eye in a spherical motion around the entire montage.

Motivation

            I have always been pretty fascinated by World War II, but have a specific interest in the attacks made by the United States on Japan. As a libertarian, I am often frustrated by my peers’ lack of critical thought in regards to the US’s part in wars. Usually it is simply accepted that, “if America is doing it, it must be right”. I, however, believe that bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were huge human rights abuses and ought to have been denounced as war crimes. This mindset, I guess, is what motivated me to depict a post-nuclear apocalyptic scene.

Critical Assessment

            Personally, I found the two trees against the boats as the most successful parts of the piece in regards to three-dimensionality. I think the most interesting and thought provoking, however, was the mother and child. The depth made by the opacity differences and overlap of layers in the end result was a nice surprise for me. If I had had additional time, I believe that I would have added many more images to further portray a post-nuclear war zone. These would likely include garbage heaps, machinery parts, rats, and perhaps a crumbling building on the opposite shore.