"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. " (Luke 2:8-16)Below is the step by step from the rough stage.
I want to come up with a composition not commonly seen. We always see the wise men especially on Christmas cards but what about the shepherds? They were the first ones on the manger. Baby Jesus has to be in the center but above the shepherds so it has to be a downshot. Mary and Joseph will frame the baby. Lastly, I want to imagine the feeling the moment the shepherds open the door having a glimpse of the Savior for the very first time. As soon as I applied "ink", I realised that the arm of the shepherd on the door became too strong and interesting taking away my eye from the main subject. So I deleted it and instantly, the scene felt calmer.I'll be on vacation for two weeks so I bid you all fellow bloggers Merry Christmas and a joyful new year! May you all have a wonderful holiday season. Be back next year.
26 comments:
Beautiful my friend. Very impressive and great use of the spottin' the blacks.
MAC
Great choice with the arm. Removing it slows down the moment, and creates a sense of reverence.
Also, great choice of color for the head gear on the shepherds, the two similar colors of green are distinct enough to separate visually, but similar enough that they group together and move our eye left, back up the shepherd's staff, and into the composition again.
Fantastic! Great composition. You've really captured the sense of expectation that the shepherds must have experineced. Well done!
-Yarrow
And a Happy Holidays to you too. See you in 2007.
And a well deserved vacation too! Merry Christmas and a wonderful, joyful everything-and-even-more new year to you and your family.
I needed the calm in that picture today; it's not only beautiful it helped me slow my mind down so I could cope with this afternoon. Definitely right about the arm, I think. I'll think about the image all day as busy as we are.
--Shuku
WOW!!
Armand.. Merry Christmas!!!
Paco K.
Very Good Armand!
You really are something and every day more so!
All the best to you, family and friends (I'm in there) and have a well deserved Holiday.
See ya soon.
So beautifully planned and staged.Truly masterfull graphic control. Every inch of this has impact. Merry Christmas!!
beautiful composition, very stiking....thanks for posting the story boards, I've found them to be very inspiring!!!
merry merry,
Chris
Very beautiful. Your illustrations are very powerful to me.
really strong piece. great comosition too,
VERY COOL! Your site is always a pleasure to view.
Very powerful image Armand! Keep up the bold faith brother.
Impressive work my friend!! I really dig the storyboards below for lilo&stitch! Keep the good work coming =)
Superb work ! Hope you had a great Christmas and all the Best for the New Year !!
That's a really cool composition - and sweet colours, too!
Bravo, Armand. ;)
Love the one in the middle, it is very clear and the kind of black and white used gives the composition a strong impact.
Very effective storytelling, too, as usual.
Hope you enjoyed your holidays and wish you a fantastic new year, Take care.
ale
Great compo... it may be used as x-mas card!!!! Have a Nice year, Armand!
beautiful!! Great to see your work in progress too!!
Awesome, Armand! Great picture and great subject. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
You have some pretty amazing stuff here and the variety is great. i'll be back for sure.
Holy smokes!!! I need to go back to school.
Awesome Blog!
I love this point of view,and your personal strokes,contrast and colour,and i wish you a happy new year 2007!
Gorgeous! What a terrific layout and composition! Wow!
SO damn good!--and thank you for posting the process!!--I am learning from the master!:)))
INCREDIBLE !!! Just wonderfull. Thanks for showing the steps.
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