My Favourite Illustration

Neonstalgia

I still come back and watch this video all the time. To me it represents everything I like about Harris as a content creator, and the genuine love and appreciation he has for things shines through a bunch. This little nugget of an emotion about something so small and seemingly insignificant, but so undeniably personal...honestly, it makes me really emotional watching it. And maybe conveying how this made you feel was the goal, if so well you did a great job and thank you.

A_Blinkin'

Wow, this video is wonderful. Thank you.

this small video is the only time i've ever seen something that adequately describes the feeling of awe and beauty that a person can see in something that any other person who hasn't seen it in a certain angle with a certain mindset and a certain history (-5 for phrase repetition) would never find anything more than a base level value in. it feels good. thanks.

Loved this video, what a great illustration.

Samael

I discovered Lovecraft during highschool as many did. I had a lot of the paperbacks whose covers you showed in the main video because, well, thats the way you got those books back then. I think the first one I had was the silvery penguin collection though and, like, the Colour out of Space was the first actual words of Lovecraft I ever read. That was what pulled me in. Its such a sad story for me, as a family deteriorates, wasting away to a monster that maybe does not even perceive them as a form of life any more than a whale knows much about krill. Lovecraft... may have been autistic. As someone on the spectrum, I think its possible. He couldn't 'do' characters and that leaves this... gulf between the reader and the countryfolk. Here, I think, it works. Here, it highlights the empty desolate quality of the environment, as we watch the decay happen almost in the distance. A child is lost in the well as sure as a farmstead could be lost in the world as sure as our world could be lost in the universe. There is something profoundly and achingly sad about it and the colour doesn't even threaten the world. It threatens a single family. It didn't need a big god ready to usher in a new age when the time is right. It just needed... despair that could not be walked away from. 10 years before he discovered his own condition, he already wrote about cancer, in a way. Also, like, it loses most of the wretched chaff that comes attached to Lovecraft most of the time, if I recall correctly.

Josh

Really enjoyed this video! I was hoping you would say you had gotten the original when you started talking about it - so glad this had a happy ending.

TheRoguez

there was something special about seeing that piece framed after describing it as showing existentialism and the void; I think your appreciation for it gave those feelings a lot of beauty and meaning. thank you for sharing with us!

Gem Newman

Thanks for sharing this with us, Hbomb. Your videos are always a joy.

This was a touching reflection. I picked up The Necronomicon about ten years ago and I still appreciate how considered, horrible and beautiful its illustrations are. Your Lovecraft video might have been a touch more serious than a lot of your other work, but it's also one of your strongest analyses. Looking forward to more! Hope you enjoy your time away. Don't work too hard.

Hbomb

Thanks! I think I might.

Matthew Abbott

You should do more of these little outtake/quick topic videos

That's beautiful. I'm totally not crying (except that I really am)... Thank you, sir.

Heather Johnston

Are you doing any meetups in Australia?

thanks for making ME all teary eyed (honestly though, I do understand what you mean.) why are you in australia?! why would you come here?!

Michael Furey

thanks for making this, Harris. good art can stop you in your tracks and give you this really visceral feeling (in a good way). opening up and talking about art in that visceral way is one of the bravest things one can do. once again, thanks.

I got a bit teary watching that! You're welcome. Hope you enjoy coming here to Australia, it's been a bit chilly, so don't forget a decent jacket.

Aki Axel

You truly earned it. Makes me really happy to see you acquiring a piece of art that means so much to you. I had a similar experience with M. C. Escher's work when I was a teenager. I'll definitely buy a print when I'm less broke. :)

Peter Coffin

Well that was lovely.

Sierra

Australia??? What are you doing here, where are you going!?!

Stormbourne

Strangely, I think there are some really interesting ways you can tie this into your NITW video if you so choose -- I feel at some points it touches on a similar sense of alienation and smallness and "something is wrong with us, we have been corrupted, we are tiny and helpless and the universe is influencing us out of our own control." I'm glad you could have something that was so profound to you! Hope you enjoy your time in Australia and I'll be eagerly awaiting your next video.

Andrew H

Thanks for the early birthday present, HBomb! <3