In “Escaping Flatland,” Edward Tufte describes the challenge faced by people who work in the field of visualizing complex information. These designers invent ingenious ways of portraying multi-dimensional data on the “flatlands of paper and video screens.”
My challenge in the first triptych of Playground of the Autocrats was the same, with a twist. I needed to find a way of depicting 3,500 miles of flat land within the dimensions of my 24″ x 48″ triptych.
Painting a single, particular view of the Russian steppes would not have been so problematic. Many artists have done it magnificently. But what I wanted to convey was that there are 3,500 miles of steppes, and that nowhere else on earth does such a vast open landscape exist. It was a lot of information to visualize in one relatively small artwork!
Maps, of course are one excellent way of conveying information about large areas of terrain. As you may have gathered from my last post, I love relief maps! I included a relief “globe” in my character design for Ivan the Terrible (one of Stalin’s fairy godfathers in Playground of the Autocrats). Ivan is on top of the world, dancing on his playground.
Detail of triptych THE MOST EXPOSED TERRAIN ON EARTH: Ivan the Terrible on top of the world
I superimposed the caption “The Nomad Express: 3,500 open miles” across Russia. And I added arrows that marked the Mongol invasions across the vast open land.
Playground of the Autocrat's globe (Detail of THE MOST EXPOSED TERRAIN ON EARTH)
In addition, I wanted to layer in a more evocative portrayal of the vastness of Russia’s territory. Along with the map’s analytic information, I wanted to give the viewer a feeling of what it was to live in that wide-open, vulnerable landscape.
My animation script of Playground of the Autocrats had included a sequence of the Russian land as a reclining Mother Russia. As the lascivious godfather Ivan the Terrible conceived it, she was a peasant woman exposed to “rape by barbarian tribes.” Someday, when an animated version of Playground is realized, I think this will be a terrific sequence, as the terrain morphs into a 3,500-mile-long woman in Ivan’s imagination. But when I tried to create the image in a still form, it became too complex. Maybe I’ll tackle that route in another triptych.
Meanwhile, I had thought of another way of visualizing the endless Russian steppes. I drew on another centuries-old technique: many icons’ main images are surrounded by a frame of smaller images that convey additional information. Icons and religious art in general were the way Bible stories were communicated to illiterate populations. Hence, they are a wonderful model for how we can visualize information today. (The famous art historian Meyer Schapiro wrote a revered book about illustration of religious texts, called Words, Script, and Pictures: Semiotics of Visual Language.)
Icons with borders of additional images
Russian folktale illustration, most notably perhaps the renowned Ivan Bilibin, followed in this tradition. Bilibin loaded up his borders with wonderful supplementary images that enhance the feeling of the central drawing, if not adding to the story. In the example on the right, the main illustration has a full-color border, while the surrounding text has a sepia-toned border with yet more fantastic, complex drawings.
Ivan Bilibin illustrations with borders of additional images
In my next post, I’ll describe how I utilized the borders of “The Most Exposed Terrain on Earth” in this tradition. You can read that post here.
I really enjoy the article.Much thanks again. Want more.
This is one awesome article post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Sweet blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News. Do you haveany suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem toget there! Thanks
Hello, everything is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing facts, that’s actually good,keep up writing.
Perfectly pent articles, thank you for entropy. «Necessity is the mother of taking chances.» by Mark Twain.
I used to be able to find good info from your content.
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; we have developed some nice methods and we are looking to swap techniques with others, please shoot me an e-mail if interested.
So basically, a PSN Code Generator ven more as you reading me right
Hey! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.Please let me know. Many thanks
whoah this blog is wonderful i like studying your articles.Stay up the good work! You know, many persons arelooking round for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Link Coi Trực Tiếp Chelsea Vs Leicester, Bóng Đá Anh Hôm Nay 19 trực tiếp bóng đá hômTrong vượt khứ, Bình Dương đang được giật ưu thế về thống kê cùng với 15 chiến thắng, 8 trận hoà và chỉ thua SLNA 12 lần.
Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you know after that you can write or else it is complex to write.
I want to to thank you for this good read!! I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve got you book marked to check out new stuff you postÖ
I’m not positive the place you are getting your info,however great topic. I needs to spend some time studying more orunderstanding more. Thank you for fantastic info I used tobe searching for this info for my mission.
best sites dating all free dating site
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.I don’t know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already Cheers!Look into my blog post: sylvbuster.free.fr
cytotec for sale – cytotec pharmacy uk cytotec online pharmacy
I will right away grasp your rss feed as I can at in finding your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly permit me recognize in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.
It’s laborious to find educated folks on this matter, however you sound like you recognize what you’re talking about! Thanks
Studies suggest that drinking coffee could make you live longer! Join Sian and Clare to find out more about this story – and to learn some great words and idioms for talking about drinking coffee
over the counter erectile dysfunction pills – erection pills online what is the most effective pill for ed
Hey! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could geta captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the sameblog platform as yours and I’m having problems findingone? Thanks a lot!
Thanks , I have recently been looking for info about this subject for ages and yours is thebest I’ve discovered so far. But, what about the bottomline? Are you positive concerning the source?
ampicillin 500mg over the counter buy generic bactrim erythromycin over the counter
https://pharmacyshippingtousa.icu/# canadian pharmacies that ship to us
A round of applause for your article post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
Hey! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought thispost was great. I don’t know who you are but certainly youare going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉Cheers!
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really thank you!
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will come back in the future. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great job, have a nice evening!
I just like the valuable information you supply to your articles.I will bookmark your blog and take a look at once more right here regularly.I’m somewhat sure I will be informed lots of new stuff proper right here!Best of luck for the next!
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
safe online pharmacies online pharmacy products – med pharmacy
Hey, thanks for the article post. Will read on…Loading…
Howdy! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers andstarting a new project in a community in the same niche.Your blog provided us useful information to work on.You have done a outstanding job!
Console, what has changed in looking for unused PSN Codes, clenbuterol
Wow! Thank you! I permanently needed to write on my blog something like that. Can I take a fragment of your post to my blog?
It’s an remarkable paragraph for all the online users;they will get benefit from it I am sure.
Very good blog post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Thanks so much for the blog.Thanks Again. Great.
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this article! It’s the little changes which will make the biggest changes. Thanks for sharing!
Some really excellent information, Gladiolus I observed this. «What we say is important for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.» by Jim Beggs.
buy fildena online purchase careprost sale purchase robaxin pill
https://tadalafil20mg.fun/# tadalafil 5mg uk
There’s definately a great deal to find out about this subject. I really like all the points you’ve made.
Right now it appears like WordPress is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
I haven’t checked in here for a while since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will always bookmark your blog and will come back at some point.I want to encourage that you continue your greatwriting, have a nice evening!
These are truly impressive ideas in on the topic of blogging.You have touched some nice factors here. Any waykeep up wrinting.
You mentioned that very well! canadian pharmacy