Chthon and darkness in the paintings of Lovecraftian Douggy Pledger

British artist Douggy Pledger — a real genius. In collaboration with the neural network, he creates creepy and at the same time beautiful pictures that make the viewer believe in dark forces. His work is permeated with Lovecraftian and admirable in its repulsive beauty. A special flavor to the paintings of Pleinjer gives their similarity to old photographs — this technique makes the viewer believe in the reality of what is happening on them.

Many believe that the appeal of the British paintings is that they are natural. People on them are surrounded by unbearable horror, but, at the same time, behave as if nothing had happened. They work, walk, play, perform some rituals surrounded by monster-like buildings, chimeras and monstrous plants. This is their world and they are part of it, whether they like it or not.

The pledge depicts the world of the last days, which humanity shares with apocalyptic monsters. Peasants wander through the arable land next to terrible forest deities, healers help a huge monster in the operating room, parishioners go to a gloomy temple where dark forces are waiting for them, and merchants offer their goods to creatures similar to zombies. Who is this man who created the whole world?

Douggy Pledger is a man of many talents. He is an artist, illustrator, writer, gallery owner and designer. He speaks of himself as an experimenter, balancing on the edge of beauty and madness.

More recently, the artist discovered neural networks and began using their capabilities to create paintings. Many gloomy images were born in collaboration with the artificial intelligence of the DALL-E 2 service.