Is this the Danish Royal Family, The Addams Family or perhaps The Omen?

MRRiley · 11-25-2013, 07:26 AM

"An official portrait of the Danish royal family that took artist Thomas Kluge four years to create has drawn criticism for being dark, "creepy" and resembling the poster of a horror movie."

http://www.today.com/news/painting-danish-royal-family-criticized-creepy-2D1...&lite=obinsite

That would give me nightmares if I had to look at it too often. Imagine being one of the family... UGH!

p.s. here's a photo of the Arteeeest with his macabre work... he's as creepy as the painting...

Last edited by MRRiley; 11-25-2013 at 07:45 AM.

Joel B · 11-25-2013, 08:22 AM

I keep looking at it waiting for the boy's head to spin around!! So did he show this on Halloween?

tuco · 11-25-2013, 09:49 AM

It's certainly different. But if the customer likes it, I guess that is the important thing.

**rbefly** · 11-25-2013, 11:21 AM

Remember when you were a kid and would hold a flashlight under your chin to get that 'monster' lighting? Hollywood used this for years.
Look at the boy's face (foreground) and the girl to his left (sitting on floor).
The creepy Gothic background, the lighting, the strange perspective and the overall HDR look. Spooky combination of choices.
Seems like a lot of repressed anger/resentment on the part of the artist.
JMO,
Ron

**qblade** · 11-25-2013, 10:24 PM

That is one strange family portrait - I wonder if the royal family feels good about it. Very very strange.

adwb · 11-26-2013, 01:20 AM

Originally posted by rbefly

Seems like a lot of repressed anger/resentment on the part of the artist.
JMO,
Ron

OMG is this a new comment line to be added to the PEG assessments?

Photographers apparent psychological state

bossa · 11-26-2013, 01:34 AM

It'd help if the light wasn't so incongruous.

Terrible work.

Joel B · 11-26-2013, 03:30 AM

New show for 2014, The Royal Walking Dead!

I agree with bossa, crappy work. Is this the best painter they could find?

reeftool · 11-26-2013, 11:31 PM

At least he can't be accused of being a cookie cutter artist. It's different. I'm assuming they researched his work before hiring him.

bossa · 11-27-2013, 02:44 AM

Originally posted by reeftool

At least he can't be accused of being a cookie cutter artist. It's different. I'm assuming they researched his work before hiring him.

The Princess on the left is from Tasmania (almost, but not quite, Transylvania).

The elderly man in the picture looks distorted (facially) and the colour balance of each face (or group) is different, hinting that the "artist" has slavishly duplicated the white balance of each photo used to construct the work. Seriously, a MF pastiche of multiple photo's would probably have worked much better than this forced excuse for a group portrait.

Joel B · 11-27-2013, 09:54 AM

Norman Rockwell always used photos to compose his paintings, and none turned out like this freak show!

bossa · 11-27-2013, 10:18 PM

A few other things wrong with that painting:
1: Princess on upper left has her hand inside the head of the woman in the red dress
2: woman in the red dress has her right hand on the leg of the prince at upper left
3: Woman in red dress has her foot up the backside of the giant kid in foreground.
4: Woman on right has her hand on the crotch of the baby
5: Each figure has no scale. They appear as flat projections in their own personal space, which is not helped by the bizarre lighting.
6: There is no space between the family group in back on the right and the man in the chair. ( I assume he is the King)
7: They all appear to have uneven blotchy skin. I attribute that to lousy painting skills.
8: Kid in foregrounds feet are on a different perspective floor plane to the kids playing at his feet
9: the toy at the right foot of the boy in front is upright and with no perspective ( as if it were taken from a photo at eye-level)

..and that's just a few out of the many composition faults.

It helps if you can draw, as you have to understand form to be good at that, but this guy doesn't understand form and has probably used a projector - and he may not have used PS to composite the images in the 1st place either.

**Rondec** · 11-28-2013, 04:36 AM

I am not a painter, so I will temper my criticism, but I wouldn't have been pleased, that's for sure. It is such an odd collage. In addition, the HDR look just doesn't work for portraiture. Nice Rembrandt lighting or something equivalent is a better way to go. Makes some of the kids, in particular, look really creepy.

Overall, the darkness is pretty overwhelming in the painting.

**rbefly** · 11-28-2013, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by adwb

OMG is this a new comment line to be added to the PEG assessments?
Photographers apparent psychological state

Hello adwb,
My remark was a tougue-in-cheek reference to an old quote;
"A photograph tells as much about the photographer, as it does about the subject'
Meaning, of course, how we choose to present the subject reflects our feeling towards it. In this case, I could only assume the painter wanted to show the subjects in the worst possible way. Out of the infinite possible choices for lighting, composition, background, etc., it would be hard to find a worse combination.
JMO
Ron

11-25-2013, 07:26 AM	#1
MRRiley Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sterling, VA, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,275	Is this the Danish Royal Family, The Addams Family or perhaps The Omen? "An official portrait of the Danish royal family that took artist Thomas Kluge four years to create has drawn criticism for being dark, "creepy" and resembling the poster of a horror movie." http://www.today.com/news/painting-danish-royal-family-criticized-creepy-2D1...&lite=obinsite That would give me nightmares if I had to look at it too often. Imagine being one of the family... UGH! p.s. here's a photo of the Arteeeest with his macabre work... he's as creepy as the painting... Last edited by MRRiley; 11-25-2013 at 07:45 AM.

11-25-2013, 11:21 AM	#4
rbefly Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Denver, Colorado Photos: Albums Posts: 2,030	Yikes! Remember when you were a kid and would hold a flashlight under your chin to get that 'monster' lighting? Hollywood used this for years. Look at the boy's face (foreground) and the girl to his left (sitting on floor). The creepy Gothic background, the lighting, the strange perspective and the overall HDR look. Spooky combination of choices. Seems like a lot of repressed anger/resentment on the part of the artist. JMO, Ron

11-27-2013, 10:18 PM	#12
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	A few other things wrong with that painting: 1: Princess on upper left has her hand inside the head of the woman in the red dress 2: woman in the red dress has her right hand on the leg of the prince at upper left 3: Woman in red dress has her foot up the backside of the giant kid in foreground. 4: Woman on right has her hand on the crotch of the baby 5: Each figure has no scale. They appear as flat projections in their own personal space, which is not helped by the bizarre lighting. 6: There is no space between the family group in back on the right and the man in the chair. ( I assume he is the King) 7: They all appear to have uneven blotchy skin. I attribute that to lousy painting skills. 8: Kid in foregrounds feet are on a different perspective floor plane to the kids playing at his feet 9: the toy at the right foot of the boy in front is upright and with no perspective ( as if it were taken from a photo at eye-level) ..and that's just a few out of the many composition faults. It helps if you can draw, as you have to understand form to be good at that, but this guy doesn't understand form and has probably used a projector - and he may not have used PS to composite the images in the 1st place either. Last edited by bossa; 11-27-2013 at 10:32 PM.

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11-25-2013, 08:22 AM	#2
Joel B Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Barnett MO. Photos: Albums Posts: 2,336	I keep looking at it waiting for the boy's head to spin around!! So did he show this on Halloween?

11-25-2013, 09:49 AM	#3
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,029	It's certainly different. But if the customer likes it, I guess that is the important thing.

11-25-2013, 10:24 PM	#5
qblade Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Edina, MN Posts: 258	That is one strange family portrait - I wonder if the royal family feels good about it. Very very strange.

11-26-2013, 01:20 AM	#6
adwb Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bristol UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,636	Originally posted by rbefly Seems like a lot of repressed anger/resentment on the part of the artist. JMO, Ron OMG is this a new comment line to be added to the PEG assessments? Photographers apparent psychological state

11-26-2013, 01:34 AM	#7
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	It'd help if the light wasn't so incongruous. Terrible work.

11-26-2013, 03:30 AM	#8
Joel B Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Barnett MO. Photos: Albums Posts: 2,336	New show for 2014, The Royal Walking Dead! I agree with bossa, crappy work. Is this the best painter they could find?

11-26-2013, 11:31 PM	#9
reeftool Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Upstate New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,555	At least he can't be accused of being a cookie cutter artist. It's different. I'm assuming they researched his work before hiring him.

11-27-2013, 02:44 AM	#10
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	Originally posted by reeftool At least he can't be accused of being a cookie cutter artist. It's different. I'm assuming they researched his work before hiring him. The Princess on the left is from Tasmania (almost, but not quite, Transylvania). The elderly man in the picture looks distorted (facially) and the colour balance of each face (or group) is different, hinting that the "artist" has slavishly duplicated the white balance of each photo used to construct the work. Seriously, a MF pastiche of multiple photo's would probably have worked much better than this forced excuse for a group portrait.

11-27-2013, 09:54 AM	#11
Joel B Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Barnett MO. Photos: Albums Posts: 2,336	Norman Rockwell always used photos to compose his paintings, and none turned out like this freak show!

11-28-2013, 04:36 AM	#13
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,662	I am not a painter, so I will temper my criticism, but I wouldn't have been pleased, that's for sure. It is such an odd collage. In addition, the HDR look just doesn't work for portraiture. Nice Rembrandt lighting or something equivalent is a better way to go. Makes some of the kids, in particular, look really creepy. Overall, the darkness is pretty overwhelming in the painting.

11-28-2013, 10:06 AM	#14
rbefly Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Denver, Colorado Photos: Albums Posts: 2,030	Originally posted by adwb OMG is this a new comment line to be added to the PEG assessments? Photographers apparent psychological state Hello adwb, My remark was a tougue-in-cheek reference to an old quote; "A photograph tells as much about the photographer, as it does about the subject' Meaning, of course, how we choose to present the subject reflects our feeling towards it. In this case, I could only assume the painter wanted to show the subjects in the worst possible way. Out of the infinite possible choices for lighting, composition, background, etc., it would be hard to find a worse combination. JMO Ron