“Song Of The Siren” by _Z eD_

Zed’s socials: Instagram | DeviantArt | Facebook

Though I discovered this artist only a few months ago I’ve been thoroughly impressed. _Z eD_ has both a comprehensive and dynamic visually library and a strong foundation in the core principles of great art. From implying detail, to the ergonomic use of light and shadow, to posing and much more. For this analysis I will make liberal use of zoom to dig into all of the little things that work to create this piercing and eye-catching piece.

Browsing through _Z eD_’s portfolio this piece immediately jumped out at me among their work. Much like mythological siren, this piece is incredibly mesmerizing. The siren’s gaze, the myriad light effects big and small, and the careful allocation of detail harmonize to affix the viewer’s eyes to this painting.

As I did with another piece sometime ago, I highly encourage looking at this piece with various zoom levels to get a greater appreciation for all the things happening within. While the care put into this painting is clear at any distance, the magic is somewhat hidden behind a lean-in. With a tiny flick of the mouse-wheel so many things caught my attention right away. For starters the use of clumps of shadow and then highlight to give the hair an added sense of detail is a big one. Another would be the textures in the face paint and the adorning jewelry, or the stokes and color choices with the water. The way movement and point of view in tandem with other key choices here elevate the mood can not be overstated. The eyes in particular, as we look closer have an entire universe of detail in them as if there is a separate piece within.

Something that I really wanted to dig into with this piece is color selection when painting skin and particularly how not just light but also things like water and environment affect decision making. On the face we notice more pink and orange-y hues and then as we move to the visible ear I notice greenish blues and reds meshed together to represent both a reflection from the water and also the presence of shadow. A key element that really elevates the mood here as well is the terminus(hard shadow edge) created from the sunlight, on the right side of her face.

On another note, I would be remiss not to talk about what lies beneath the water. The part of the siren’s body obscured by the water brings a whole ‘nother dimension of depth (see what I did there) to the painting. This in conjunction with a kind of 2nd person view, and the environmental details like the flow of the water, blurring and far off objects, really dissolve the boundary between painting and viewer. As I often point out, losing yourself in a painting and becoming part of the story is a mark of a truly great piece.

Lastly, I want to discuss the important role of color. While I’ve seen a great deal of content suggesting color doesn’t matter, I think there is a missing part of the conversation. For instance the rose-y ness of the checks and the bright blue color used for the irises provides not just realism but additional sensory detail that tells a story. If her checks where blue and her eyes were red that informs a really different sort of feel than the one captured here. It’s not about obsessing over the hues and hex values of each individual color, but about what story a particular color or shade is going to tell. Since the psychological effect of colors is not random, a sign of true mastery over color is to create an effect with an unexpected color or tone. Of course saturation and lightness may be a question of light, but really all color is light dependent. In absolute darkness what colors are there to be appreciated? In other words, even form can be illustrated, elevated or held back by color selections, which is counter to the ideas posited much of the time on this topic. I think _Z eD_ does a great job letting the colors and tones bring life to their work, not just as a garnish, but as an element that brings everything to the next level.

While I could hardily exhaust all of the possible notes to be taken on this piece, I highly recommend studying this one and giving _Z eD_’s work a few looks and hopefully a few stares.