This image has made people cringe even before they realize just how much it resembles me. No, I'll allay any fears (or crush any hopes) you may have about any desires I may have to peel off my face -- I don't have them.

The inspiration for this piece was a rather disturbing dream, in which a certain makeup -- given as a gift, but in fact as an act of revenge -- caused the flesh of my face to blister and ultimately peel away. After putting on the tainted mess but before knowing what it would do, the events inspired a single tear; the tear drew a perfect line through the makeup, ultimately leaving that one small stripe of skin completely intact.

As distressing as the dream was, this (and many other) visuals from it were exceptionally powerful.

This qualifies as `almost finished', but it's missing something. I haven't yet decided what, though, so it will remain unfinished until that what presents itself. It may be a massive something, it may be a tiny change, but it isn't finished just yet.

details at full screen resolution

The untainted eye -- I can't help it -- reminds me somewhat of those roadside velvet paintings. I don't know why, precisely, other than the combination of textures selected for the brushes used. It also reminds me of pastel -- one of my least favorite mediums to work in, though I appreciate the look of the end product. The Photoshop version is passable for the look, and saves me from choking half to death on the dust or smearing the piece to death while working on various areas.

I decided to use a vastly different brush type for the streaks and scarred lines. It has a much smoother appearance, and looks very "off" at screen resolution to me. I had to check the effect a number of times on the printouts to be certain the effect was what I was aiming to accomplish.

Hairline and scar detail.