[x]

Browse More Like This

Shop Similar Prints
This Print Not Available more ▶

More from *Himmapaan

View Gallery · View Prints

Featured in Groups:

#ThisOldSketchBook

Details

Submitted: October 24, 2011
Image Size: 2.0 MB
Resolution: 3510×2773

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 44
Favourites: 132 [who?]
Views: 3,567 (0 today)

[x]

Vincent 'van Go'by *Himmapaan

Traditional Art / Drawings / Illustration / Conceptual

This drawing is over a year old, but I've just stumbled upon it and wanted to share.

A gentle parody on the American pronunciation of Vincent van Gogh's name.* Hearing it pronounced as 'van Go' usually produces the same effect in me as it does hearing apes being called 'monkeys'.

The drawing might have worked with greater immediacy if I'd drawn a modern van instead of a nineteenth century one, but it wouldn't have been as visually interesting. Aside from the fact that getting me to draw something like a modern vehicle -- or any piece of modern machinery -- is just as effective as... well, as persuading me to say 'van Go'...

The caricature of van Gogh was inspired by this Self Portrait (with bandaged ear) of 1889.

Though, without a horse, I don't expect this van will be goghing anywhere...

_{*The correct pronunciation is a slightly tricky thing to explain. Briefly, Gogh begins and ends in a guttural 'h'-like sound, much as the Gaelic and German 'ch' does; as in 'loch', or 'Bach' for example.** The 'o' is also closer to 'loch' and not as severe as in 'go'.

**There are further subtleties in the difference between the 'ich-laut' (the palatal fricative), or the 'ach-laut' (velar fricative) of this guttural sound. A detailed explanation. But adopting either will at least come closer to his name.}

love 2 2

joy 4 4

~~wow 0 0~~

~~mad 0 0~~

~~sad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~~neutral 0 0~~

~Liastoria-Alestera Mar 3, 2012 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

How coincidental...I'm taking a break from studying for my linguistic analysis test and here I am stumbling upon "Van Go"!

I get what you mean haha, and I really do love this caricature!

*Himmapaan Mar 3, 2012 Professional Traditional Artist

Thank you!

~Liastoria-Alestera Mar 3, 2012 Hobbyist Artisan Crafter

Welcome! Keep drawing!

~MalkavianDreams Nov 28, 2011 Hobbyist General Artist

Aaahahaha this is perfect! Excellent work

`HaveTales-WillTell Nov 15, 2011 Professional Writer

Sadly, I too was one of those uncouth Americans who simply didn't know any better. Mea maxima culpa, and I shall never make that mistake again.

And in a touch of irony, a reproduction of Starry Night Over the Rhone happens to be my current laptop skin.

=Parabuteo78 Nov 6, 2011 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I love this!
Being Dutch myself, it always annoys me when someone pronounces it wrong. I always correct people by saying it should sound like loch when you say van Gogh.

Great likeness and I love the fact that he would deliver sunflowers!

~HeavenlyHorseStudios Oct 27, 2011

That's brilliant - love it!

~FFA Oct 27, 2011

does modern science yet have the cure for a pun?

*Himmapaan Oct 27, 2011 Professional Traditional Artist

I fear not.

~dana-redde Oct 26, 2011

Not gonna lie, until the Doctor Who episode with Van Gogh, I had no idea my Yankee mouth was mispronouncing it--and in that episode, they pronounce it pretty crudely as "goff!" It's one of those words/names that is mispronounced so often, most people assume you're wrong if you pronounce it correctly. Not that I buy that as an excuse; I figure in such a global world as ours, we ought to at least make an effort to pronounce things properly, even if it offends our pampered English tongues. English of all languages shouldn't be fussy!

On asimilar note, now that I've studied Russian, it makes my teeth grind to hear people pronounce Khrushchev as "kroosh-shev" (or even "koo-shrev"!)

More from *Himmapaan

Featured in Groups:

Details

Statistics

Vincent 'van Go'by *Himmapaan

The Journal Portal

Polls

What is your preferred drawing software?

deviantART [dee·vee·un'nt·ART]

Keep in Touch!

Deviousness

Add Media

Style