Yes! More Fan Art!!

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2099281

Today, I present you some works from the portfolio of forum member, "ashleytsejam". Who, besides having an impossible to pronounce or spell username, has a passion for depicting Dream Theater members in 2B pencil.

After viewing these, I find the key to enjoying ashleytsejam's work, is to go deep within yourself, and really question the limits of human facial and forehead proportions. Also, hair is easier to draw if it's represented as a sharp, singular being.



























Hmmm...is this a picture of Mike Portnoy? or John Myung? Maybe she's confused. I also was not aware that Portnoy was a Shriner, but what do I know, these prog fans are WAY more informed.

As if this wasn't enough to satisfy our cultural desires, ashleytsejam (you don't know how hard it is to type that name) has included a BONUS PIC! of John Petrucci!!! Hell Yeah!!


























Well, I think it's John Petrucci, but it might actually be James Franco from Pineapple Express.
The eyes are the window to the soul, and I think his soul here is either baked, or just really tired.

To no surprise, the Portnoy faithful are quick to give praise...

Superted_your pictures are unbeleivably (sic) good! keep it up-cant wait to see the others!

Gee, thanks Superted!! Your inability to judge art or spell let's me know that you are superretarded!!!

NO7LUF_wow. i did a picture of mike back in art class about 2 years ago but i wasnt this good. great job!!! you are a very talented artist.

wow, this must be some fucking shitbomb of a drawing, I must see it!

Luckily, ashleystejam has 3 more members of Dream Theater to draw, so it'll only be a matter of weeks before we see James Labrie's watermelon-sized head, John Myung's unicorn horn, and Jordan Rudess's tentacles!

Dream Theater Fan Art FTW!!!

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1374942

Yes! there's nothing that screams desperation and isolation more than fan art! Like a hyena coming across a fresh, elephant carcass, it's pretty much my wet dream. Why?, well as anyone can tell you, fan art is NEVER good...not even remotely. But hey, maybe we're being too harsh, let's give "Michal" a chance, it is his first post and he's been working on these projects for a long time.















Jordan Rudess was trained at Juliard, and Michal was obviously also trained at a high level academy of the arts. Notice the subtle shadow of his beard making it look like he just swallowed a donut with gray frosting (YUM!). And man, Jordan must really be SHREDDING through this piano solo, look at his shirt folds! They're all over the place to try and keep his Crayola-colored arms in check. Luckily during this piece, Jordan was able to bring his full-size, baby-grand piano on stage...oh wait, he doesn't do that in real life?, oh well, I'm sure it's just artistic license. Oh and by the way, if you're thinking about ripping off Michal, just stop right there buddy, he copyrighted that shit..just try getting around THAT!!

OK, let's move on to some of Michal's interpretations of Dream Theater songs...

















Wow, I'm sure when John Petrucci looks at this painting, he thinks to himself, "This is EXACTLY what I wanted to inspire by writing this song!". Now, to truly understand the genius behind this piece, we need to examine the lyrics to the song "In the Name of God". First off, the religious imagery he's added to the tempera paint background is obvious. (I mean, the word "God" is in the title). Then there's this line...

Lies
Tools of the devil inside
Written in Holy disguise
Meant to deceive and divide
Us all

well, this must be a reference to the Hannibal from the A-Team photo...makes perfect sense, because he was always in a disguise.

Forty sons and daughters
Un-consenting plural wives
Perversions
In the name of God

This explains the picture of the crowd of people to the right of the canvas...looks like that might be around 40.

And, I think that's about it. I think Michal just decided that to truly finish his vision he needed to add a picture from this Victoria Secret catalog ('cause tits make everything more kick ass), and since he see's a lot of "Scarface" stuff at Spencers in the mall...and everyone who wears it is cool, he added this Godfather picture from a Best Buy ad...close enough!






























It's interesting to interpret the song "Disappear" since it is probably one of the worst Dream Theater songs. I honestly couldn't tell you how it goes, or what it's about, so I'm going to rely on Michal's interpretation. So it looks like the song is about a man, who struggles with a mysterious woman, who obviously makes up for her lack of legs with the ability to fly. They battle over the power a flaming apple that is home to a giant spider. The spider's name? ....unknown. The man can only fight his battle using the giant penis he has sculpted out of mud beside him and the power of his (almost) matching blue outfit.

Since I'm obviously no art critic, I wonder what the other fans think of Michal's creations?

Ink_That's amazing dude! Awesome project!! Well done

"amazing"? Probably more amazing that Michal is not actually 5 years old, as these pictures would suggest.
"Awesome project"? Actually, no...it's pretty bad actually
"Well Done"? Fail.

nant_While I am no artist, I can still relate to the general idea behind the art and concept.

wow, well, luckily for nant, Michal is also no artist. The fact that he can relate is troubling though.

govt_property_One comment though.... In the text of the PDF file, Dream Theater is written wrong. I've seen people nitpick about it in Photoshop competitions and I never noticed before then. If you look at any of your DT albums, you'll notice that the "a" is written differently both times it's used. I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of capitalizing one or the other. Photochop gurus would be able to help if you can't figure it out.

HA-HA! PWNED!!! Leave it a prog snob to totally shit on somene for not using the correct font for the band logo! Govt_Property, have you LOOKED at any of these paintings???? Dont' you think Michal should work more on his perspective, brush strokes, line weight, or his apparent lack of ANY artisitic ability?? Do you honestly think that the 2 "different 'a's" in the DT logo are the first thing he should address?

Well, I guess it's good to start small and work you're way up.