Lonely at the Bottom

this is an amazing piece of drawing. i love the symbolism of the stairs, the child on the landing with his back in the corner speaks volumes. there should be more like this.

wonderful art

This is STUNNING work!

There better be a commercial market for B&W, it’s such a fabulous medium. And this deserves the exclamation points, lol, i adore this.

omg, such a powerful work. Been there and helping others find there way up those stairs and out of abuse and into unconditional love. powerful and beautifully emotional work

Great composition/lighting. Nice work!

This is great. I love the atmosphere and the feeling that’s been created. Before reading the description and knowing anything about it, I was able to pick up the feeling of abuse, lonliness and fear. So, the message comes through perfectly in the image.

It was my only thing to hold on to…..
It was my only way through it …......
Now I live thru my art at every opportunity & reclaim my soul…......

Hi Steven, the perspective alone would have been very difficult to get just right, let alone the shadows and light :) i needed to dwell on the picture for a while to let it seep in and appreciate it as a whole and then look at the detail, and read other comments too….it affected me in an unusual way…. I noticed that if you gaze at the picture long enough, the child points to your own soul in a personal way, and reminds you of those times in your own childhood that may have created feelings of isolation and an emotional spacial awareness that although we are all connected, each one of us must also stand alone

Excellent! Brilliant illustration!

Karin is spot on here… This is a very powerful piece, evoking feelings deep and personal within us. It reminds me of a lot of my feelings as a child, sometimes even now… There really isn’t much i can say that already hasnt been said… but i think this picture is felt, any words of mine would do it no justice. Beautifully drawn and wonderfully captured… Well done.

Oh! And i checked out your website, its a lovely little website and I adore your characters that accompany each page! :-)

Wow powerful B & W illustration and it needs these tones to convey all the feeling. We can all identify with a time when as a kid we felt so alone. You have captured this raw emotion brilliantly!

Thank you Joanne. As much as I love getting painting it’s great to get back to dragging out the pencils and wearing them down to nubs every now and then. I love black and white. ;)

This is a fantastic illustration – the composition is wonderful, the perspective very evocative, such smooth pencil work too. Well done!

Thanks! It’s very rare that I can honestly say that I think I actually did something worthwhile, but in this case I think I might have. Maybe. A little. Well, some of it anyway. Sort of. Kind of. A bit. ;)

No one had a clue,
Of the fear he knew,
That constantly grew,
Not knowing what to do.

He saw it in their faces,
As they ran like rats in mazes,
The scared ways they pace,
As if in some kind of a race.

He couldn’t talk,
When he tried, they just balked,
Not having any answers at all,
To this corner he hunched against the wall.

I love the many possibilities of stories that this invokes. It would look great in a children’s book. the depth of feeling that it projects is outstanding and the choice of using black and white tends to make the feeling of loneliness all that more powerful. Great picture.

Wow, truly stunning. Must have taken you ages to complete.

Everything’s already been said: awesome

Very emotional, touching and outstanding work!

This evokes all sorts of emotions. WOW!!

Very cool. Love it.

Very Impressive work!

Hey Steven, Congrats on this being featured on the art page, :O)))))

omg this is so well done! great work :D

I am so envious, i wish i could draw as good as this, it’s awesome.

excellent and very symbolic of so many childrens fears & loniless

Superb inner landscape – this is fantastic work

fantastic, your work is really good!! :D

i just love how the shadowing works for this piece. if make you feel sad and sorry at the same time. i feel i should get in that picture to help out that boy

Wow what a picture! Sensational.

I have a project too on the same subject ,not easy to do ,that picture is life a knife in the heart ,intense and so sad ,beautiful work.

nice work

Intense….emotive….beautiful!:).....and sad:(

Just beautiful! (Thanks for your comment)

Everything has been sid about what wonderful work this is. I especially love the way your tones add pathos and drama. That is a master pencilman at work. By the way, just because there isn’t much market for b/w work doesn’t mean it isn’t a brilliant, worthy art form. It will come into its own eventually…and discerning people appreciate it already.

This took me back to an aspect of my otherwise very happy childhood. Although I knew I was loved, parental conflict was always painful for me. Probably that isn’t what the illustration is about but that is where it took me. – an indication of the power of the piece.

Stunning! methinks all has been said allready but great piece!

This evokes sad memories for many of us … a very effective drawing and expertly done.

Wow this is really good Steven!
so glad I dropped by. I will check out your other work.

Stunning illustration Steven!! love your work!

This is a wonderful piece of art, so deep and with so much to say.

very cool

What an amazing style you have!

awesome illustration!!

wow…powerful and sad

definately a WOW….have you seen the book ‘Hugo Cabret’ ?? you would LOVE it!!

great pov perspective.

Oh :( how sweet and sad…
Ive been that little person up until i was in my late 20’s
Beautiful sad image…
Love good pencil art ;)
xXx

this image caught my eye staright away- terrific work, really creates a mood and impact!

Wonderful but sad. Such a great drawing.

I think this work is pretty cool dude. Made me extremely sad to view it but it is still an amazing piece, the shading, and the powerful emotion it invokes. Hah I feel this way alot as an adult. I love the perspective.

Fantastic image with a great dark and brooding atmosphere.. skillfully done. Great work,

Cool! Brings back memeories.

Fantastic work! Great scale and tone…..message also.

Great job on perspective and atmosphere!

Great work, love the mood and framing in this image, awesome perspective! Great work!

Beautiful.

Great dramatic piece here. Love the perspective and the dark shadows
Fantastic!

fantastic art work my congrats to you, well done

Brilliant !

This is, of course, absolutely brilliant. Love that perspective and the atmosphere ….

amazing piece!!

Very dramatic. Fantastic!

Awesome work! It does have a lonely feel.

This artwork is amazing, brilliant atmosphere.

Certainly makes a statement.. A credit to you.

Wow what an emotional charge!!! Excellent work..your amazing!

LOL..sorry but when I look at your work..I see amazing..I only call it as I see it.. ; )

This is a stunningly executed illustration Very well rendered. It carries a powerful message. This is an instant favorite for me. Wonderful work!

Unimaginable sadness & loneliness conveyed here! You are a master at emotional artworks Steve! Well done sir!

This is fantastic. I love your stairs (I’ve been battling with some recently – they won) fabulous work

absolutely wonderful piece of work, very poignant illustration

this is a stunning piece of work depicting a terrible situation, well done!!!!

Love your stuff remind me of day dreaming in class on a rainy day!

wonderful work on this!!!!

I love this thought provocing work that you have created! Life is so cruel, children live in a world of preditors who don’t see children as a gift of life, but for their own self gratification. This is a beautiful way of making the world around us aware of this horrible problem, well done!

AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to have this in my favs and somehow it got dropped off! To my favs again! It is exceptional. Your treatment of such an intense subject is powerful!

steven im a huge fan of picture books. have you read the australian illustrator/author named Sean Tan. he is an amazing artist/writer like yourself. his book “the red Tree” has won awards. his work is my absolute love.

the art in this is outstanding!! but the words & vision behind it is truly phenonmenal! dont know about the spelling but I hope you know what I mean. With this image you place us exactly into the emotional turmoil of what the child sees & thinks! Such a discovery of what it would be like to be in this childs’s shoes! So sad & so real!! Keep up the great work Stephen!

Well, some things aren’t commercial because thinking about them is uncomfortable. For pain to sell, it has to be bloody.

i’ve seen this before… don’t remember where but i have…
i liked it then and i like it now… nice~

excellent work!!!

I think this is so good, I want to walk down those stairs, and sit next to him….

I certainly have enjoyed looking at the details in this drawing.

A very powerful composition. All the lines pointing to the child, as if accusing or revealing his vulnerability and the darkness threatening to engulf him.

beautiful

Wow Steven this is awesome your so very talented!!!

haunting and lonely and beautifully executed…amazing that this is just pencil…it emotes off the page.

very nice!

fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Joanne :)

Wow !!! Superb photo !

Lovely work!

=)

lol, lets create group steve! and discriminate against all non-steves! ...unless theyre chicks, in which case discrimination would also be useful in only allowing the hot ones to join!
haah! im not funny!

=D

Amazing work. =)

I love the viewpoint and perspective – makes the image even more poignant

strong emotive work. well done

Steven this is a very powerful image you’ve created here…it accentuates the feeling of vulnerability and the loneliness he feels so very well…a life of dark shadows. ~ Anni

Awesome Work!

I just want to rush down those stairs and give that child a hug…

effective.

Fabulous!

Excellent work, very atmospheric, Margaret

This is awsome!
Very well done.
Kaiden

Lovely work! Great framing and processing! lovely shadows!

=)

excellent !

I like all your work, especially the snow man ones. well done.

STUNNING

ok..just..wow

Great B&W artwork.

Stunning!

very powerful!

very very strong work and leaves you thinking…....

your artistic soul is just amazing !!!!!!!
i remember i saw this art work before i got in redbubble, you really interested me with this piece!

SAD…He is so sad…but the reality is still real no matter how sad he gets. I hope he feels better soon!

I really like this! sublime in every aspect!

=)

l am back to experience you once again & l am glad l did because what l said above is so much more prevelent now that l am fighting cancer
SO much feeling XXXX

Hello Steven Novak, Really a great piece of work. The compression of space with foreshorting of lines and placement of darks and lights diagonal emphasis makes this a truly powerful piece. I feel sorry for the little guy in the drawing. Great job.

Baird Risdon

love dis 1

Unbelievable!!!