Painter Of The Night: Landscapes and its signification

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhin.com/en/comic/painter   But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes.

In this short essay, I will examine the signification of the landscapes we had in chapter 64. In this episode, we have two panels, first this one. What caught my attention is that before Byeonduck added the first picture with the moon, the manhwaphiles behold Seungho looking up at the sky. And this is no coincidence, as the first image represents the lord’s state of mind. The dead tree indicates the absence of life. Furthermore, the moon seems so distant, underlining that during that night the main lead is not himself. The absence of light in the buildings exposes his pain and the loss of hope: his heart is no longer beating. This stands in opposition to the picture from the first episode, where there were a full moon, a huge amount of trees with leaves and light in the building. Striking is the difference of the perspective reflecting how the main lead perceived himself: he was a spirit denying the existence of his heart, hence he was free and never considered himself trapped in the domain. However, in chapter 64, the lord is finally recognizing his mortality and his imprisonment. Notice the emptiness of the property exposed by the immense empty courtyard. It was, as though the buildings served as walls and boundaries symbolizing his prison. The lord is now starring at the sky wishing to feel free. And now, you understand why the author always gives us such panels. They help us to comprehend the main lead’s emotions and thoughts. He feels here empty, powerless, lonely and cold. However, this doesn’t mean that he is dead, his heart is just frozen. He is in the same state than Baek Na-Kyum’s after the scholar’s rejection and abandonment. As for the falling snow, they are the noble’s tears. He is not only too sad to cry, he is also incapable to do so. Due to his trauma, he learned to turn his heartache and sadness into rage and violence. And the sound coming from his voice symbolizes his pain. He can’t find any word how to describe his emotions. And now, the manhwalovers can sense why the lord is not so witty and full sarcasm like in the first season. Since he has ignored his heart for so long, he forgot how to grasp his feelings and as such to express them. That’s the other reason why he becomes violent in the end. Many researches proved that there’s a connection between brutality and lack of words. People with less vocabulary will attempt to voice their thoughts and feelings from the body. This explains why small children tend to cry loudly and threw some tantrums, when they are dissatisfied and angry. Therefore I believe that at some point, the painter will help the main lead to display his true talent: poetry. From my point of view, the noble is so educated, smart and sensitive that once he knows how he is loved by the painter and as made so many good experiences in this area, he will be able to show his love for the artist through poems.

And now, it is time to focus on the second panel. Surprising is the change of perspective again. This time, the beholder is gazing at the mansion from the sky. Besides, the moon seems closer too. And just like before, it is important to take the previous panel into consideration. The lord is refusing to kiss the painter and moves away his head from the low-born’s. From my point of view, the landscape represents the lord’s perspective. For him, the painter is just an empty building oozing emptiness and coldness. Furthermore, there’s a huge gap between the beholder and the mansion indicating the deterioration of the relationship between the two protagonists. The home the main character imagined to have found in the artist seems to be an illusion. He is no longer expecting anything from him. The abandonment and betrayal made him think that his dream was just a chimera and nothing more. But what the noble doesn’t realize is that he is actually seeing is actually a reflection of his own thoughts and emotions. Moreover, he is actually the one who is afflicting his loved one due to his insecurities and lack of trust. Notice that during this night, it is snowing the whole time underlining the depth of the noble’s sadness. And there’s no doubt that this drawing illustrates Yoon Seungho’s perspective. Simultaneously, we could also say that the falling snow could be the painter’s tears as well. He can no longer cry, he has been wounded terribly by Yoon Seungho, when the lord stopped himself from kissing him. I have to admit that I couldn’t help myself connecting this image to the one from chapter 21: Observe the contrast. Due to the perspective, the manhwaphiles sense the intimacy and closeness exposing the change of the lord’s feelings for the artist. While I once wrote that the rain symbolized the painter’s tears (tears of happiness), I would like to add that the rain was also a metaphor for the noble’s tears. He was feeling happy, was able to exude warmth and tenderness. And let’s not forget that the artist is the mirror of the master. Baek Na-Kyum’s tears represented the noble’s tears who couldn’t cry. That’s why he was so sensitive to his crying. He felt the same emotions, yet his eyes were unable to show this expression: sadness and wound. And now, the readers understand the signification of the chapter 64. Since it stands in opposition to their Wedding Night, it reflects the low point of the relationship between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum. However, there’s no doubt that they will move on from this. First, we have the painter’s fighting spirit and resistance. He was even willing to risk his life in order to protect Deok-Jae and received a huge slap. So it is definitely possible that the painter won’t be so devastated like in chapter 40. Let’s not forget that this character always forgave the protagonist for his wrongdoings, he never held any deep grudge. Furthermore, he has been able to sense the lord’s affection for him. The latter confessed twice and even expressed that the painter’s happiness meant a lot to him. Moreover, there’s no doubt that the noble will feel huge pangs of conscience, especially if Kim, with the help of the physician, is able to make him recognize the truth: Baek Na-Kyum never abandoned him. Since the heart is frozen, I believe that he will be able to use more his intellect. As a conclusion, the manhalovers shouldn’t lose hope in the main couple. The frozen heart will start beating again, the moment he senses the painter’s warmth and love.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.