In the alternate art universe of DeviantArt where sloppy asskissing is the normal means of interaction and true, serious critique is discouraged by all the fragile, insecure young egos of all those teenaged girl artists, it's actually very rare to actually see someone truly improve or get better from the start of their gallery to the end. An exception is the tragically named Mbbbbb, who obviously improves from the start to the end.
His early work is stiff and blocky.
Compare that to how fluid and natural this image looks:
Mbbbbb's focus is on the combination of sheer, intense and masculine massiveness and definition with youth and an almost feminine beauty. Those of us that like muscle guys for the "boy toy" fantasy are often disappointed by the fact that often most bodybuilders are scruffy faced Biker types, often in their forties and older. Arnold once argued that bodybuilding reduces the aging process, but that's only from the neck down, and no amount of muscle makes an ugly man beautiful. For that reason, Mbbbbb's art is a really successful fantasy in that way.
He obviously loves the thrill of domination, of comparison, of a muscle stud overwhelming others with their size and sexual potency and power. He is fascinated by the look of dramatic, jutting pecs and bowling ball sized shoulders in too-tight t-shirts, the wrinkles they assume with excessive tightness to the point of breaking. He loves their effortless success at physical contests.
Mbbbb's faces are simple as his bodies are defined. His drawings could be drawings of anybody, which is a surprise. My favorite part of his less-is-more attitude is the amazing way, after having seen some of these kinds of artists work, that they could do two or three strokes and suddenly they've got an eye. Whoa!
Mbbbbb, like Renaisssance artists, puts most of his energy into his sexual, beautiful men. Most of his women are a lot less interesting, depressing Clydesdale types.
8 comments:
Thanks for this nice article. You might also want to look at my channel on YouTube if you haven't already: http://www.youtube.com/user/mbbbbb
"...true, serious critique is discouraged by all the fragile, insecure young egos of all those teenaged girl artists... "
Wow! Ain't that the truth? I recently experienced, first-hand, the brunt end of making a harmless but legitimate comment regarding how one particular Deviant Artist's work looked remarkably identical to the work of Rowan McBride. My comment was blocked.
I'm intrigued by mbbbbb's work. Indeed, it's a very interesting take on the muscle genre. ;-)
Well In my Opinion, Criticism should only be giving out by those who Actually muster up the courage to do what the person who they are critiquing did. DeviantArt is a place of Some, yes, awkward artist, such as myself, But there is truly great Talent out there that gets all negative comments making them feel powerless and unable to strive to improve. And most of the negative comments are from passerby's that no nothing about art or the true perspective the artist is giving. So someone who has done nothing in his or her name and have not fully walked a mile in that artists shoes, should hold there tongues. And a mild opinion like ones seen in this blog, like "I'm so disappointed..." or "In the alternate art universe of DeviantArt where sloppy asskissing is the normal means of interaction" can sting people. Lucky for you, nobody feels that your negative remarks are that harmful, yet I'm standing up for those who think they are very unhelpful. And Not only am I an artist on Paper, I went to a Performing Arts School, where favoritism was used rapidly. So plucking out artist who rarely do much,But get a shape right, as opposed to those with some potential that are just not that good enough for a Critic like yourself is kinda wrong. So in away, I'm criticizing how you, and all critics that follow the idea of not becoming the artist, can critique something. I think I have said my say. I'm quite open to see any art you've done, because you may think you can't, but rest assured someone out there thinks you can.
Wow! Ain't that the truth? I recently experienced, first-hand, the brunt end of making a harmless but legitimate comment regarding how one particular Deviant Artist's work looked remarkably identical to the work of Rowan McBride. My comment was blocked.
Personally, I can take any criticism except that of plagiarism, as it is the one critique that is very likely to be true. :-)
Fakermaker85 -
I agree that the internet creates an environment of anonymity where really harsh comments don't require any courage to give, and creates a very aggressive universe of discourse.
Also, you do have a point: a lot of artists on things like DeviantArt are young and so going after them for being unsophisticated is a little unfair.
I was actually able to find a while back a work that contained the "fan-zine" work that lots of pros did when they were teens. There was an unintentionally humorous Edgar Rice Burroughs pastiche/rip-off by Michael Moorcock packaged in his tragedy-heavy Elric collection that the Big M wrote when he was a teen.
That said...
Criticism isn't a personal insult or an attack. The ability to take criticism is a part of maturity and being an artist, and is a big part of the desire to improve. That's what I'm saying: you need criticism to make the effort to improve, because otherwise you don't see what you're doing wrong.
And the idea that a person needs to be an artist or writer themselves to criticise is a silly one. That's like saying you have to be a master chef to know when you've been served bad food.
I have a suspicion that there's a gender-based sense of propriety at work, because my experiences with Romance novel fans (who, like deviantartists, tend to be female) have been the same. My criticisms of a few books were met with the other readers "closing ranks."
To Fakermaker85,
I'm not sure you were directing your comments to me or to Esperanto Grrl. But just to wrap this up in a non-threatening way... I never said I made a critique of an artist's work on Deviant Art. I did, however, make a comment. I won't go into the details of that comment relative to an apparent similarity in style.
Why?
Because it's not appropriate here. But suffice to say, I wasn't the only one who made that observation on Deviant Art. 'Nuf said on that.
There's a distinction with a difference between comment and critique. In fact, you'll also notice that I made a comment on mbbbbb's work above rather than a critique on the artwork itself.
I'm aware of this distinction because I've been trained in the arts and hold a master's degree in two disciplines. I can assure you that I fully comprehend what it's like to be reduced to a ball of putty during a "crit" among one's classmates and intellectual peers (which is generally considered by many to be much more devastating than by some individual hiding behind a computer). Please know that I feel your anguish. I also support your cause because an artist's ego is, indeed, sometimes fragile. But I didn't say anything that couldn't be regarded as anything but sincere. Esperanto Grrl's comments sum it up legitimately and fairly so I won't add anything more. I hope you see that.
Respectfully,
-ARCH
I'm aware of this distinction because I've been trained in the arts and hold a master's degree in two disciplines.
Archeon -
I feel compelled to ask this...if you're such a fab artist, how come the only thing I've ever seen by you are slideshow movies of David on YouTube? :-)
(More slickly done than the average slideshow, but still.)
LOL!
That's because the disciplines are in architecture -- the highest science of applied art. Why is it the highest? Because you live in it every day. Well, on second thought, maybe you don't. You'll have to show me. Kidding. ;-)
My screen name is a combination of sorts. Architecture and eon. Architecture: I'm a preservation architect. Eon: I specialize in the maintenance and restoration of ancient buildings and materials.
And yeah, the mini-movies I make of David are only a hobby but one that allows me to pursue my fascination with cinema. And yes, I realize those movies aren't singularly "creative" (I can only edit what MOS creates) but I still enjoy the editing process. I only wish I had more time to learn the software because it's quite powerful and can do so much more than what I'm currently capable of doing. But I'm getting there, albeit, slowly. ;-)
Looks like this guy is long gone. Looks like he became the same kind of artist you were talking about.
I have seen this first hand on Devianart. I asked an artist why they completely redid an image and they blocked the comment. Are all artists so weak?
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