It's been a while since I did one of these, but my art survey classes have got me in the mood to examine some art!
First off, I'd like to mention just how creative an idea this is, like hello?!?!?! It makes me want to see more modern media and fandom be mixed with the classics!
Let me just say, as someone who has tried to imitate van Gough's style, I can confirm it's difficult. You need to have a good understanding of color, space, line, value, and much more. Of course, there are also those who just wing it and are great, but that doesn't make them any less talented or impressive.
Idia's face and the front of his hair are outlined, but as you move right on the canvas to the rest of his hair the line art fades away and bleeds into the flowy strokes associated with Starry Night. I also like that the artist included the trees from the painting on the left of the piece as well as it really brings it all together.
Despite the imitation of van Gough's style in order to blend the pieces, the original artist's style shines through and makes the whole composition feel so unique. I'm telling you, personal touches really make a piece!
This next part is pretty fueled by my Survey class and the types of things we have to consider when examining historical pieces, so I'm in no way trying to assume the artist's intentions, but I think they're observations worth mentioning.
Starry Night was painted around a year before van Gough's death in a time when he was believed to be in need of realism. If I remember correctly and the source I heard it from is accurate, van Gough was in an asylum at the time he painted this. He was no doubt dealing with emotional turmoil and a sense of loneliness. However, the glow of the stars in the sky above the calm little village evoke a feeling of hope and peace.
Some interpret the piece as depicting the insignificance of humanity under the vast and ever-expanding night sky. Alternatively, some believe the painting has a theme of spiritual longing. Van Gogh was supposedly interested in religion and philosophy so there are those who believe that, perhaps, the piece expresses his spiritual longing with the sky being a gateway to something divine and eternal.
I can't help but notice how all of these themes associate with Idia Shroud. Idia, as we all know, deals heavily with emotional turmoil and loneliness. The hope and calm depicted in Starry Night are things he no doubt needs. Much of the turmoil Idia faces comes from the fate he knows he cannot escape. He must basically take over the role Hades once held and watch over the underworld for the rest of his existence. Yet, even though he plays the role a god once did, he is insignificant compared to the original holder of the role. He is no god. The gods who were tied to the very heavens and even had planets named after their glory. And beside those planets lay the constellations which were named after great heroes of myth. In his position, I too would feel insignificant under the stars. Taking on the job of someone who's peers had their places engraved in history by having their names etched into the cosmos would certainly make one compare themselves to those figures. Idia no doubt has some resentment to the gods, as did Hades, but you can look up at the stars in search of the hope of something eternal and divine without searching for the spiritual.
Stars burn until they collapse into clouds of gas and dust, but after that they are born anew to shine brightly once more. Perhaps that's what Idia yearns for.
Anyway, all of that's to say that I think starry night was not only a great choice visually to intertwine with Idia, but thematically as well.
Lastly, because I don't think I expressed it enough yet, THIS ARTIST MADE SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL!! They are so talented and I am glad to exist on this site alongside them so that I may see their art!
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