Being such a large piece, gathered from the artist's comments, there are so many small details that take more than one viewing to find - such as the tiny birds flying off both the Titan and the boat, as well as the Vitaly's signature and website cunningly disguised on the boat. This is a nice feature in many of Vitaly's artwork, as instead of the 'signature' standing out awkwardly from the piece, thus obscuring it and ruining some of the effect, it is somehow worked into the picture itself, which makes it both fun to find and a blessing for copywrite purposes!
Aside from the detail in this picture, we are presented with an awesome sense of scale, even though a relatively simple perspective is used - the extension of the piece to include not only the entire mountain but the clouds and even sky above that really hits it home just how massive the Titan is, which made it far more striking for me than if it had been cut any shorter. However, the clouds do appear slightly linear, all being much the same height, which could have been a result of trying to get them to fit in the piece - but that would be my only quarrel with them, as they are otherwise amazingly rendered.
The only other thing that struck me as a little off was the snow in front of the mountain/glacier - whereas to the right it appears to drift up to the cliff-face, in front it seems a bit set aside and distant from the rocks. Although this is probably because it is a 'dune' of snow or other such formation that falls in front of the mountain as opposed to up against it, it still looked a little strange to me. Otherwise, it is again excellently executed.
When I first viewed this piece, this struck me as being very original, while not necessarily for the fantasy genre, but for Vitaly's work - it seems as though he is stretching and pushing himself to do something different, and for a week's work on something new and exciting, this piece really shines. I am not sure whether a particular theme or message is being put across here - aside from the obvious possibility of climate change - but the mood and sense of tension and expectation is palpable, the Titan's single 'eye' appearing to stare beyond the painting and into us.
As a final note, and something that I only spotted while writing this critique - I suddenly noticed a large, strange shadow inside the glacial mountain behind the Titan that got me excited, as it seems that our new colossal friend could not be alone for much longer! So the wonderful plot and story of this astounding artwork deepens.
Aside from the detail in this picture, we are presented with an awesome sense of scale, even though a relatively simple perspective is used - the extension of the piece to include not only the entire mountain but the clouds and even sky above that really hits it home just how massive the Titan is, which made it far more striking for me than if it had been cut any shorter. However, the clouds do appear slightly linear, all being much the same height, which could have been a result of trying to get them to fit in the piece - but that would be my only quarrel with them, as they are otherwise amazingly rendered.
The only other thing that struck me as a little off was the snow in front of the mountain/glacier - whereas to the right it appears to drift up to the cliff-face, in front it seems a bit set aside and distant from the rocks. Although this is probably because it is a 'dune' of snow or other such formation that falls in front of the mountain as opposed to up against it, it still looked a little strange to me. Otherwise, it is again excellently executed.
When I first viewed this piece, this struck me as being very original, while not necessarily for the fantasy genre, but for Vitaly's work - it seems as though he is stretching and pushing himself to do something different, and for a week's work on something new and exciting, this piece really shines. I am not sure whether a particular theme or message is being put across here - aside from the obvious possibility of climate change - but the mood and sense of tension and expectation is palpable, the Titan's single 'eye' appearing to stare beyond the painting and into us.
As a final note, and something that I only spotted while writing this critique - I suddenly noticed a large, strange shadow inside the glacial mountain behind the Titan that got me excited, as it seems that our new colossal friend could not be alone for much longer! So the wonderful plot and story of this astounding artwork deepens.