TODAY'S FEATURED POST

An Animated Blast at the Theater: Chainsaw Man

Winona Nelson

I'm sure a good portion of you know a lot more about Chainsaw Man: the Movie: Reze Arc than I did tonight going into the theater (my knowledge being: exactly one (1) trailer). It is a continuation of a show I haven't seen, based on a manga I haven't read; but seeing it with no context at all, I didn't feel lost. The animation is incredible. Details like hand anatomy and gestures. Shoulder musculature. Body…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

Scrolls on walnut by SoMK

YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Rückenfigur

Lauren Panepinto

September 4, 2025 - I didn't know there was a word for this until recently, but of course there is, and of course it's German. Rückenfigur (literally "back-figure") is a compositional device in painting, graphic art, photography, and film. A person is seen from behind in the foreground of the image, contemplating the view before them, and is a means by which the viewer can identify with the image's figure and then recreate the space to be conveyed. (from Wikipedia) The textbook example of this is this image is Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog: And in fact, I only heard the term Rückenfigur at all because there was just a Caspar David Friedrich exhibit at The Met. He loved this device and it shows up in his work a number of times:   Obviously Friedrich…

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