Regarding Libertine

I was asked by someone on DeviantART about the piece. Brought up some interesting points I thought I would address here as well as there, as it is so rare to receive a thoughtful critique on my work that I'd like to take the opportunity to not only respond to the person who posed the issues to me but the audience watching my work at large....

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It was mentioned the piece in the work in progress pic was more tender and soft and that the final product was perhaps violent, frustrated, and flat. ( http://sagittariusgallery.deviantart.com/journal/23346931/#comments )

Truth be told I was having an issue with it when it was soft and tender because that's not what the imagery was. The scene isn't a tender moment. It's visceral and rough. The before and after is the difference between making love and fucking. There's an aggression to the scene that was not channeled in the work in progress pic further on down the blog. It was where I was hung up. It wasn't saying what needed to be said.

Depth...I either work it in or I abandon it completely. Many of my works (such as "Enraptured" for example [link]) don't focus at all on depth but more color and movement. A color making up a certain part of the body. This piece I would say has more depth than my "color block" pieces (the extended leg pops from the canvas a bit for example) but yes, it is quite flat. Of course, the point of view comes into play here - it's there. It's in your face. It's unabashed. He is hidden aside of course from his manhood penetrating her, but she is the focal point. She is the act. The act is her. It's a raw statement on lust for the flesh. It isn't about love. It isn't about making love. It's about a basic desire to screw.

We exist in this strange dichotomy where romance is amplified by chick flicks and presented in the video store steps away from Debbie doing *something*. Men aren't the only lustful beasts roaming the earth looking for a hole to satisfy themselves with. This piece explores the other side.