Good and evil … the contrast of good and evil has appeared in every aspect that man could create. Man has created the arts to express ones self to define the very core of his/her meaning. In the beginning of time, man drew on the walls to tell of their ventures, of what was good in their life and what caused much turmoil. Thus the start of a type of expression, a feeling that defined the difference between yin and yang with the use of color and detail and enveloping different techniques to trick the eye and create it more expressive. Alex Ross is a man, like all artists; his medium is realism. The painting shown describes the contrast of good and evil, unlike the cave drawings; this envelops the use of different creative techniques with the picture placement and contrast of color. Alex chose to go with heroes in the light, bad guys in the dark, in order to personify color to emphasize the contrast of smooth good and sharp evil.
Superman and Brainiac [and so on] are contrasted in the middle with the use of good being primary triads, and evil being its negative. Opposite in everyway, just like in the comic book, Alex Ross made sure to contrast these individuals with the use of positive and negative colors. Furthermore, to take in mind is the placement on the picture plain, with the focal point being the faces of the heroes/villains; you follow the faces down the triangle like line till you get to the foreground. After examining all the hero/villain alike, you see the contrast in not only color but lighting. The way Ross used lighting was truly fascinating in the piece of art work, he placed the light source high in the sky for both hero/villain. For the heroes, a light white was used to light the heroes, and for villains, a sort of neon light blue haze, almost a moon-like atmosphere, was used.
Alex contrasts good and evil in many ways in this piece of art work; he uses it with color, lighting, picture placement, personification, and shape. With use of color and shadow contrasts the use of light and picture placement which envelops the idea of good and evil. There is [in a way] good and evil in all of us, in Chinese terms, Yin and Yang represent the forces of good and evil in the world and within, and these can be seen in every aspect of life. Which are both in opposition and complementary to each other. Did Alex mean to lecture when he made this painting? Did he mean to question and judge peoples lives when they looked at this? No, he wanted to show a contrast in good and evil through superheroes and villains, and tried to show us that in our differences, we’re all alike.
