Dark Digital Art With Irony by David Ho
An Artist Who is a Uniquely Effective Communicator of the Grotesque.
David Ho has chosen to introduce himself as having been "born a Virgo under the Chinese horoscope of the rooster" on page 36 of the book Digital Art for the 21st Century. This unusual introduction shows an unconventional character whose artistic expression stands alone. He has been an artist since the early 1990s, specialising in digital art for about 15 years, according to Grant and Vysniauskas.
Characteristics of David Ho's Digital Art
Ho says that he creates dark imagery to unleash and express his demons
Tortured by my own mental demons, I enter another dimension, a dimension where all my angers, fears, desires and frustrations are expressed freely without inhibition. In the biography and gallery pages in the book released by the Renerosity Online Community, he goes on to explain that even though the world he creates is the world of fantastic art, much of the subject matter comes from his observations of the reality of life.
Ho's Internal Artistic World
He explains further by saying that he creates his own art world, where he is God. He describes passion as his disciple, and repression as the antichrist. This unleashing of the normal restrictions of fantasy means that he becomes the master of his own creations. He has power and he revels in energy. His subjects are the muse that guides his work. They are puppets and he manipulates them
As I exploit them I invite the viewer to empathise, Ho says.
Renderosity Online Community
The authors are members of the Renderosity online community. They say that they created the book as a showcase to display the enormous range of beauty that artists create using digital tools.
The website referred to in the introduction called 21st Century Digital Art no longer functions. However it is possible to access galleries of Ho's work from his personal website. The other handy reference site is the Renderosity site itself. It is known as the leading online art community for 2D and 3D digital artists, animators, photographers and writers.
Something To Believe In
One of the most beautiful examples of Ho's digital work is a piece called Something to Believe In. This work was created in 2000. It is a personal work that measures 3,300 * 3,300 pixels. It is a part of Ho's Contemplation Series and one can see the subtleties he achieves. He has done this by blending processes in Photoshop, Illustrator, Bryce and Poser software platforms. Ho says that he works exclusively on Macintosh computers to achieve this skillful example of visual narration.
An exploration of Ho's galleries will afford viewers of an old worldly feeling. To close his artist's statement featured on page 36 of Digital Art of the 21st Century, Ho says,
I manage to channel my negative energy, creating a world magically dark - yet I hope - delightfully intriguing.
Resources:
- Grant.J & Vysniauskas.A. Digital Art for the 21st Century. .APPPL. Artists and Photographer's Press. Lon. 2004
David Ho Digital Artist
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