ART AUTOPSY: The Blue Devil by Ryan Burdzinski

July 3, 2014
Ryan
Art, Cleveland
1 Comment

Ever wondered where the ideas for my artwork comes from? In this new blog series, ART AUTOPSY I will be taking a closer look at each painting and sharing the pictures, materials and inspirations needed to create them.

At the time I was using photos from digital camera in these collages, so most of the pictures used here were take at bars around my school (where I worked and spent much of my time). I found that the neon lights and their reflections offered more exciting imagery than I could ever think up- so I started snapping pictures and putting them in a folder called “Source Material”. Then I began manipulating them in Photoshop, and putting them in compositions.

The Blue Devil (2005)

My inspiration

The Blue Devil was part of a series of 5, created for my senior exhibit in 2006. I have an fascination with color, and with this series am trying to offer a diverse color palette for each. For The Blue Devil I chose to work with vivid, primary colors. With my pictures chosen, it was time to put them in a composition that’s pleasing to the eye, and paint it. Once finished in 2005, I named this piece The Blue Devil– because its source images are all showing human vices. Smoking drinking, gambling & sex. The word “blue” in the title refers to a mood, not a color.

Photos used

Seemingly just a bunch of photos from the bar. Can you find where each photo are used in the final painting?

Goals for this painting

Like I always say, each painting should bring a new challenge. The challenge I chose here was what I call depth confusion. If you notice the tan structure entering from the left- it seemingly starts in the background but then goes behind AND in front of the red character on the top right. I’m trying to throw off the viewer’s sense of depth here, making them question the stability of the image as a whole.