[Socar J. MYLES]

Yeah. That's a Saint Bernard in the background. Don't get on my back about it, eh? It wasn't MY idea. (Excuses, excuses! )





The area to the right of the horse's head doesn't show up too well with scaling and JPG compression, so this is a brief explanation of what's there in the full version: The knight is not missing his hand. The horse's mane is blocking it from view. He DOES have a leg, and if you look REALLY closely, you can even see it. It's just rather dark.

[ October 15, 2002: Message edited by: Socar J. MYLES ]

[ October 15, 2002: Message edited by: Socar J. MYLES ]

[LoTekK]

lol, when i read the subject heading i expected two different pics!

great stuff as always, socar... i love the palette and lighting in this piece... it's something unexpected, as i was expecting to see the typical "dread knight against a foreboding night backdrop" deal... lovely brushwork, too, but again, that's no surprise...

one crit: the saint bernard looks a little wonky... i think it might be the [apparent] position of his front right (our left) leg... seems a little far in...

[Max]

You always inspire me with your art !!!

[Gimbal8]

Cool painting. But why not a platypus instead of the Saint Bernard?

[brainwash]

It has a very nice feeling and athmosphere, your painting! Unfortunately, that we cannot see the background better.

Hey, why do you know St. Bernard? I thougt it's a Swiss tale/story and no one knows Switzerland!? :]

[tayete]

Nice one Socar! I expected the knight to have a rat on his shoulder!

Mmmm...the only thing that doesn't fit with the rest of the pic is the San Bernardo. It seems a bit off the mood...

BRAINWASH: In Spain they are called "San Bernardo" too. The ones that help lost people in the snow with a small barrel of cognac (brandy) they carry hanging from their collar (yum, yum...)

[Awetopsy]

Socar, I love your fiery pallete in this. great stuff as usual.

I only have one crit/suggestion. whynot face the horses head towards the left of the picture to help the silhouette of the knight.



the shape of the knight seems a bit weak right now and I think its because of the silhouette of the horse.

also, the dog shouldnt have a tree growning outta the back of its head.

Hope this inst too brutal of a crit. :P

[egerie]

For the curious souls on this forum it's history lesson time !!!!! (yay)

St-Bernard is from the Menthon castle ( France / previously Savoy contry) which he escaped the night before his wedding to become a man of faith......

The thing is... he founded a community in the mountains around 1025 -if memory serves well. Consequently, the community carried on helping travelers in need troughout the years.
The breed of the St-Bernard dog looked nothing like Disney's Beethoven. They were sturdy and looked a lot fiercer.
Oh and that stuff about being good dogs for digging people up ? The rescuers were starving the dogs and letting them on avalanche slopes for them to dig the survivors in hope to EAT THEM. Most of the times the rescuers could get to the dogs in time when they found something
Nowadays we use german sheperds more often than St-Bernards.

Sorry Socar for being picky but you touched a subject that is close to my heart..

ege, who's SO homesick now..
"t�ta d'bou�e !" -mamie

[GG]

I know I like a painting when I want to walk into it and nose around for a while. I really want to follow that path to the mountains (I'm sure I'd find a rat somewhere!).

[Socar J. MYLES]

Thanks for the replies!

LoTekK - Thanks! Glad you like the palette...I've been having fun with these warm autumn colours lately. Good point about the Saint Bernard...I think I put a fold in the flesh that should not have been there.

Max Kulich - Thank you very much!

Gimbal8 - Well, if someone paid me to put a platypus in a picture of a knight, I would.... (The contents of the background are dictated by the $$$ god)

brainwash - Thank you! Sorry about the small size of the image...can't really post larger images on the net because people steal them. I actually don't know anything about Saint Bernards...it was just part of the commission...sorry.

tayete - LOL! I should have put one there! I know the dog doesn't fit that well, but I couldn't think of any way to make it blend in more, and it HAD to be in the picture.

Awetopsy - Thanks...and thanks for the suggestion! I think turning the horse's head would balls up my compositional mojo, though. Although you do have a good point. I am going to put up a detail so that the shape of the knight can be seen better--it does seem rather obscured, especially at the low resolution. Very true about the dog, too. I should move it either right or left--the tree looks retarded smack bang in the middle of the head!

egerie - Thanks for the history lesson! Very interesting stuff. I would have drawn a fiercer dog to go with the knight, but it's actually a specific dog (someone's pet). I had to draw the dog in the photo.

GG - How did you know? There's a huge rat city right on top of that mountain! Seriously, though, glad you like it.


Here is a detail shot which shows the dark area better. If you still can't see it, turn up the lightness on your monitor:

[Bare Bonez]

Nicely done. The St. Bernard reminds me of the Stephen King Thriller Cujo..

Maybe the Knight was sent to capture Cujo. As he was galavanting through the forest, Cujo snuck up behind him.

[J Bradford]

I like it that your expanding your subject matter more! This is probly my favorite piece yet.