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Artist Question

kmortis

Biomechanoid, Director of IDIOCY (Region 13)
kmortis
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
32,491
Location
New Texas (aka SOMD)
A friend of mine found this picture on his hard drive. He knows that he must have downloaded from somewhere, but he has no idea from where. He's looking to know the artist, cause he likes the style. Anyone ever see this before?

becks1.jpg
 
I haven't seen the picture before, but the style and subject looks very much like an Australian artist named Ainslie Roberts.
 
My first thought was it looks very much like the work of one of the many Tolkien fantasy artists, although it's not a scene from a Tolkien book.

Try searching fantasy art poster and print sites.

My second thought was "how the hell did those people get on top of those rocks?", so I guess I'm not much use here.

ETA Did the properties tab of the picture on his hard drive not hold any clues?
 
tkingdoll said:
My first thought was it looks very much like the work of one of the many Tolkien fantasy artists, although it's not a scene from a Tolkien book.

Try searching fantasy art poster and print sites.

My second thought was "how the hell did those people get on top of those rocks?", so I guess I'm not much use here.

ETA Did the properties tab of the picture on his hard drive not hold any clues?
Click to expand...
TK, not to my knowldge. He didn't mention it to me when he asked, and that is something that he'd do, so I have to imagine that there's nothing there.
 
kmortis said:
Kopji,
Cool, I'll look into him? her? that artist.
Click to expand...

It's a he: Fat-grumpy-looking-cigar-smoking-old-guy who does some amazing artwork mostly inspired by Aboriginal myths. For some reason I think he died a few years ago, but that might be just an assumption from his photo. :)

His work is not posted on the Internet afik. If that picture is one of his it might have been from an ebay sale or something. I own one of his books, I'll see if I can scan a (much reduced) page in to give a sample. Regardless, if you like work like you posted I think you would like his work a lot.
 
Rats, I hate that. I just deleted a couple paragraphs.

I'll just post two images. These are very low resolution so should not violate anyone's copyright or cause riots.
 

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The left one is called "The Banishment of the Cuckoos", based on a creation myth involving a god named Byamee. The Cuckoos only wanted to play and sing, so they were banished by their fellow birds to the north.

The right one is called "The Mopaditis and the Black Cockatoos".
The Mopaditis are spirits of the dead. After the burial rituals are done, the dead spirit goes in search of its final 'home', and is accompanied by a flock of screeching black cockatoos who warn the rest of 'heaven' that a new spirit is on the way.
 
Thanks!

Thanks, Kopji and AnotherSillyAlias,

I'd never heard of Mr. Roberts, but I'll have to admit his artwork is captivating. I'm also not familiar with aboriginal myths, but the illustrations certainly got me to wondering. I'll definitely take a look at the book and more of his work.

BTW, kmortis I passed the picture around my airbrush forum to see if anyone there recognizes it, but it's clearly NOT an airbrushed piece (the strokes from the hairy sticks are pretty apparent), but there are some knowledgable artists there that might help.
 
AnotherSillyAlias said:
Ainslie Roberts (1911 - 1993) Aboriginal artist.
Click to expand...

Hi, AnotherSillyAlias,

Just to clarify, Ainslie Roberts was not actually an Aboriginal artist, but rather a non-Indigenous artist who painted Aboriginal themes.

Cheers

Rod
(passing Aussie anthropologist)
 
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Rod Hagen said:
Hi, AnotherSillyAlias,

Just to clarify, Ainslie Roberts was not actually an Aboriginal artist, but rather a non-Indigenous artist who painted Aboriginal themes.

Cheers

Rod
(passing Aussie anthropologist)
Click to expand...

Ahh.. OK, thanks for that.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.
 
Rod Hagen said:
Hi, AnotherSillyAlias,

Just to clarify, Ainslie Roberts was not actually an Aboriginal artist, but rather a non-Indigenous artist who painted Aboriginal themes.

Cheers

Rod
(passing Aussie anthropologist)
Click to expand...
Thanks Rod and welcome to the forum. I did not think he was, but was not 100% sure.
 
I don't know it either, very cool though.

This points out PERFECTLY the absurdity of the "Orphan Works" legislation they're pushing in the US right now. Corporations want an abandoned art loophole to give them free art forever. The language for the legislation is mostly borrowed from the copyright laws for print - where there usually IS a clear attribution. Since it's nigh-impossible to figure out where an unsigned piece like this originated, a 'reasonable effort' is never going to be enough to locate a possible copyright holder. The proposed recourse for the infringed artist is useless for those of us without bags of money to spend on legal fees (if you find out, you can sue only for what you would have been paid).

Info for the interested: http://asmp.org/news/spec2006/orphan_faxcall.php
 
Lithrael said:
I don't know it either, very cool though.

This points out PERFECTLY the absurdity of the "Orphan Works" legislation they're pushing in the US right now. Corporations want an abandoned art loophole to give them free art forever. The language for the legislation is mostly borrowed from the copyright laws for print - where there usually IS a clear attribution. Since it's nigh-impossible to figure out where an unsigned piece like this originated, a 'reasonable effort' is never going to be enough to locate a possible copyright holder. The proposed recourse for the infringed artist is useless for those of us without bags of money to spend on legal fees (if you find out, you can sue only for what you would have been paid).

Info for the interested: http://asmp.org/news/spec2006/orphan_faxcall.php
Click to expand...

WOW! Thanks, Lithrael!

I'm a moderator on an airbrush site and copyright is ALWAYS a hot subject. Copyright infringment (it seems especially among airbrush artists) is a touchy subject and it's sometimes difficult to make the point that legislation is usually aimed at PROTECTING them.

BTW, welcome to the forum. PM me if you'd like to talk art or you're an artist. :)
 
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