Redux: Nothing Hurts Now
What you see above is the original version of my artwork concept “Nothing Hurts Now” from early 2010. It was an idea that came to me shortly before Valentine’s Day, a day of which I’m not much of a fan to put it mildly. The title of the artwork comes from a beautiful song by the Norwegian artist known as Magnet. The core concept is of a crying angel holding a broken heart that is on the mend.
Read on to see exactly how this artwork has evolved over the years as I tried to perfect it. To see the most recent and/or final redux of this artwork, see here: Nothing Hurts Now
Here is what I wrote about the original “Nothing Hurts Now” back on February 02, 2010:
Inspired by the upcoming Valentine’s Day, past feelings, and a beautiful song by Magnet (Even Johansen). It’s beautiful in its own way… unlike Valentine’s Day which is nothing but pathetic.
Below you can see my first try at this concept and the second redux from 2013. The first redux I created in 2011 or 2012 was, in my honest opinion, quite horrible. I really liked the 2013 redux and kept it as-is until 2019.
As you can see, I changed quite a bit of the elements while still keeping everything vaguely similar to the original. I used a better light setup, improved materials, and did a much better job at postwork in 2013. I also finally remembered to actually put tears on her face that can be easily seen and gave her a pouting expression.
As I said, I really liked my 2013 redux and figured this was the best that I could do for several years. It wasn’t until late 2019 that I decided to revisit this artwork concept and give it at least one more try to see if I could finally do better than I did in 2013.
Below you can see a comparison of the 2013 redux and the final redux from 2019. I found and used the 2013 scene file as my base and reworked each element after element to improve everything I could. This time I used a prop heart that is modeled to be broken rather than “breaking” it in postwork with brushes and overlays of cracks. I made her expression even sadder with more of a pout and updated all the materials of every element. It looked to me that she could use a bit of jewelry so I gave her some edgy themed jewelry. I then created another brand new light setup and went a completely different direction when it came to postworking the render. In postwork, I added the detail of a glittery halo above her head to add to her “innocence”.
An innocent angel has had her heart broken. The pain is so deep that nothing hurts now as her heart begins to mend.
I worked all day and night long without any sleep until it was ready to render so by the time I finished this artwork, I was exhausted. I wasn’t sure if it was actually good or if it was the exhaustion of the time talking. I have decided now that it is good. This is now the final redux of “Nothing Hurts Now” and I’m quite proud of how well it turned out.
To see the artwork page for “Nothing Hurts Now”, click here. You can also inquire about Prints of my final redux.
