James Strehle created this eerie fantasy illustration entitled “Hounds of Tindalos.” The scene is a cell with a square of light coming in illuminating a man with a troubled expression on his face. However, he should be troubled, not because of the position that he is in (as suggested by this clothing and the way his arms are tied), but by what is lurking in the dark corners of this cell.
The different shades of blue added to the eerie, haunted feeling of the piece. The eye starts by following the light coming into the window. Stopping at the hound that’s terrifying face is visible. Flowing then in a circle of the hounds up the corner and about the picture until you come to the man. The focal point being the hound’s snarling face in the light. The bricks and the square of light gives the idea of a cell for the setting.
Strehle, I believe, was trying to capture the idea of questionable fantasy. There are two characters in the image: the hounds and the insane man. The eyes see the dogs first and label the picture as fantasy, but only then do you look at the man do they question it. The man who is wearing a straightjacket, who is insane... So are the dogs fantasy or are they just part of the insane man’s disturbed mind? I believe the artist was trying to create an image that would cause the viewer to question whether fantasy is truly for the insane minded.
I very much like this illustration; the haunting, eerie mood captured me. I love anything that makes someone’s skin crawl or the hair on the back of their neck rise, and this image certainly does just that. Also, the subject matter interest me greatly; insanity and fantasy together. One thing I don’t like is that the man’s face is hard to see, hard to tell if he is truly frightened or distressed. However, that is the only thing that I disliked about this piece.
Here is James Strehle’s website: http://www.jamiestrehle.com/Home_Page.php
Here is the site I got this image from: http://cghub.com/images/view/91459/
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