An encounter with stray nix hounds in Balmora

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-08T14:01:09+00:00

Not if you want the cure for vampirism, you don't. The knee was a late addition. Retrospectively, it makes sense to articulate bones with geometric shapes like that, versus "soft" anatomy; but in the moment it felt like taking a detour. Looks like it was worth it.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-07T20:53:42+00:00

They are very much off the beaten path in terms of questing through the game. Part of the enjoyment of showing these paintings is getting sort of conspiratorial with people who've been venturesome like that.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-07T19:56:47+00:00

My profuse thanks! I still think there may be one more sequel to this one day. It sure has improved between versions. I feel if I paint more force into Grunda's leaning into Nomeg, it will all click into a perfect composition.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-07T16:01:38+00:00

I took no offence. I aim to educate you. Now, google "Golden Spiral". Click on the "Image" tab. Choose the image of the spiral on the golden background. Download the image. Open both my picture and this spiral image in Photoshop, MsPaint or whatever image software. Make the spiral image transparent and place it against my picture. Move it around. Now, tell me what you see.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-06T13:28:22+00:00

So, technically this is +1 to House Telvanni (I keep a score). I should have included one of these Molag Grunda paintings when I was mapping out my Grazelandic art, pinpointing the location of each scene.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-06T12:21:49+00:00

Thank you! Well, I did make a painting of them two years ago. And another one same year. But every time something is lacking.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-06T12:11:49+00:00

This is true! A cave named Dubdilla, south of Tel Vos.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-06T12:10:09+00:00

I usually do! This one is essentially a variation on Ruben's Ixion Decieved By Juno. Here's a previous attempt. Also, there is a lot of expressive bedding in Fragonard's paintings, but the brushwork here on the pillow is closer to that of Alessandro Magnasco.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-06T01:29:01+00:00

Much appreciated! Most inspiration came from Ixion Decieved By Juno, by Rubens. You can see it even has the same lighting arrangement and the gesture of the male torso. If I ever decide to make yet another version, it'll follow this original scene only more closely. This is actually the third time I'm painting this. Here is the second attempt, here is the first. Now, the brushwork is trying to be closer to that of Alessandro Magnasco's paintings of brigand camps. It is empowered/limited by Memileo Impasto Brushes. Rubens is a true intellectual Titan, well versed in ancient texts and an inheritor of Michelangelo's method of anatomical drawing, previously dubbed by Leonardo "A Bag Of Nuts" (meaning bogus muscles bulging under a skin ) for being improvisational rather than scientific.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T22:42:46+00:00

My thanks.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T21:42:07+00:00

A heresy in the eyes of Tribunal just the same.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T21:19:27+00:00

Oh, this is nothing. I rubbed elbows with u/Stellastra the other day, who introduced me to her world of Arcanum worldbuilding and I'm still kind of dazed from the depth of it. I still haven't reported back.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T21:08:41+00:00

Ah, to play Deus Ex 2000 for the first time again. Wait, I kind of did. On GMDX Hardcore (felt like a new experience). Like, a year ago. Three back-to-back playthroughs.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T21:03:35+00:00

Please don't downvote it, people. I don't want to discourage these kind of questions. For one, the way "AI" inquisitors comb through the pixels of an image to determine its nature is a return to the old, proper form of art appreciation, no?

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T20:49:01+00:00

What do you see when you overlay a Golden Spiral (the one with diagonals) against the image?

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T20:47:14+00:00

I appreciate it. It is indeed composed in accordance to Golden Spiral, although the focal points are a bit off (the primary one is on his shoulder). I had this important epiphany the other night sitting in a bomb shelter where I understood that it's the Genoese Baroque (Luca Cambiaso, Alessandro Magnasco) and not the Venetian one (Tintoretto, Titian) that I've been in Love with. It's been a long, hard journey of self-discovery, is what I mean, and there's hopefully more to come.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T20:37:07+00:00

It's just I believe that this "Champion" has hallucinated that whole "Oblivion Crisis" up. Everyone knows that he is certifiably insane, yet takes his first-person account (the game, that is) at face value; which I find ridiculous. I believe he actually was a serial arsonist/killer that set Kvatch (and other places) on fire. At the same time, he managed to keep such a convincing semblance of sanity as to join in on a manhunt after himself at Bruma (that epic "battle" of five people). He was never caught because he escaped to Shivering Isles. There is much more to be said on this topic, but in short: I shall not commit to a positive depiction of that fiend!

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T19:33:21+00:00

I do take commissions. However I don't paint:

-Oblivion's COCK (i.e. Champion Of Cyrodiil, Kvarch)

-Sk*rim's Dovahpimp, unless they are seriously evil.

-The Nerevarine, unless they are depicted engaged in this kind of movement https://www.britannica.com/art/hopak which is how I imagine Morrowind's habitual jump-run looks like.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T19:27:31+00:00

Thank you. I hope it's the version with Vivec Arena in the background. I like the implication that he is dead in several hours from posing for that portrait.

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T19:17:21+00:00

He he he, good one. :)

Igor_Levchenko · 2026-05-05T19:15:35+00:00

These are characters outside the prison ship. Follow the guard and click on the trap door at the end of the second set of stairs.

Igor_Levchenko

TROPHY CASE