Fall Down, Part six

The end is upon us. No longer do the Manz rule the world—nature has taken over. As the final piece in this series, I wanted the subject matter to be as dark and impactful as possible. A major influence throughout this entire series has been Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, and that influence is especially evident in this painting. In the final panel of Bosch’s triptych, titled Hell, the humans face the consequences of their lust and sin. I aimed to capture a similar idea, but with a more “horror” approach. I wanted monsters to emerge from the onslaught of what had transpired.

In a way, my religious upbringing plays a role here, with the ominous reminder that, without morality, humanity is destined for pain and suffering. As a child, being exposed to such inevitable darkness deeply influenced me. A religion that instills fear at such a young age feels almost fantastical, but it shaped how I viewed the world. So, I drew what I imagined hell would look like for the Manz.

As the final piece in the series, this painting required a powerful, resonant conclusion. Darkness, pain, suffering, hopelessness—these are all things promised by the goddess Prosper if the Manz continued on their path. The sun has set, symbolizing the end of their time, with no promise of a new day. Smoky clouds hover in the sky, casting the shadow of a monster. This suggests that, even amid the horrors the Manz are already experiencing, there is more to come.

The first monster is a terrifying figure: the god of Destruction, annihilating everything in his path. His body is riddled with holes, through which large black orbs emerge. These orbs strike several key areas in the painting: one hits the Manz statue, another hits the god of Judgment, which lands in the foreground. With spider-like legs, Destruction moves swiftly across the landscape, crushing everything in his wake. The structures that the remaining Manz have sought refuge in won’t survive long, as they sit directly in Destruction’s path. His scissor-like arms slice through obstacles as he continues his relentless journey.

To the left, a burning structure represents something very personal. When I was conceptualizing this piece, I was deeply affected by the news that Notre Dame had caught fire, suffering irreversible damage. I found this heartbreaking and included it in the painting as a tribute to the tragedy.

The next figure is the god of Judgment, who is, without a doubt, my favorite creature I’ve created in this series. Judgment holds a similar rank to Prosper; while Prosper represents new beginnings, Judgment represents the end. Solemnly, he looks down on the Manz, who are now paying for their sins. He has dealt the final verdict, and they will face the consequences of their actions.

The creatures that follow are the Pains, minions of Judgment. Their duty is to carry out the judgment decreed by their master. With pointed skewers for hands, they stab at the Manz, consuming them as they respawn to endure endless fear and torture. The environment they inhabit is a maze, where the Manz are chased by the Pains, trapped in a constant state of animalistic terror for the rest of eternity.

The last remnants of the Manz’ existence are symbolized by a single statue made from the surrounding environment. Judgment allows this idol to stand out of pity, recognizing that the Manz’ narcissism was their only form of grace.

This was the easiest painting I’ve created in the entire series. I admit, my comfort zone lies in darker subjects, so I felt quite at home creating this piece. Being at the final stage also provided a new burst of inspiration. One of the key differences in this painting is that, instead of priming my wood panel with white gesso as I did for the others, I used black. I wanted the entire painting to have a dark undertone, making it the darkest work in the series. Using black gesso allowed me to handle light more sparingly.

For the grisaille process, rather than painting shadows, I focused solely on the highlights. This technique gave the painting an unearthly, almost glowing quality that I think was very effective. The texture I aimed for was reminiscent of candle wax—red, melting wax crumbling in on itself—representing the world disintegrating before the viewer’s eyes. The wax-like forms were incredibly enjoyable to paint, and the monsters were even more exciting to bring to life. The disturbing glow of the setting sun and the blinding light from the Notre Dame structure burning added an unsettling atmosphere to the piece.

This is one of my favorite paintings I’ve ever made. Finishing it gave me a surreal feeling, for lack of a better term. Since completing the series, I’ve never felt it was fully finished; I wanted to accomplish so much more, but there simply wasn’t time. That’s the problem with deadlines: you have to prioritize certain ideas over others. I hope to return to this series in the future, and I would love to display the entire collection in my home. I’m incredibly grateful to finally have a platform to share the full story with the world. This series stands as one of my favorite creative achievements to date, and I look forward to making something similar in the future.

I hope you stick around to see what comes next. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more to come!

Thank you for reading the sixth piece of my six-part series, Fall Down! I’m thrilled to share this journey with you, and I hope you’re as excited as I am to see what happens next. Don’t miss out—sign up for my newsletter to stay updated on new content and be the first to know when new posts are released!