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Published: 2008-04-22 18:08:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 4173; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 126
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Description
I was recently traveling in Armenia, a former soviet republic. Armenia is the oldest christian nation, and because of this is home to a number of very ancient churches and monasteries. Though I consider myself an aethiest, I found both the architecture and history of these places inspiring. The interior space is the 13th century Haghartsin Monastery. I shot the model against a green screen and composited, modified and color corrected in PS CS3. Angel wings built from stock photos of Snowy Egrets! Fullsize download is 1920x1080 and makes a nice wallpaper -- Enjoy!Related content
Comments: 10
I have to say the technique here is the most impressive part of the shot, the blending of the model, the wings and the backdrop are seamless and gorgeously done. This feels like there is a real person in real space, a real angel in point of fact. The craftsmanship here is beautiful.
However there are two areas where the image could be improved. Composition and Narrative.
Compositionally we have the angelic figure in the center which is generally a good idea but the fact that she blends so heavily into the scene denotes she's not a the focal point. The focal points in the piece seem to be the window, the halo and the pillars and candles. Interestingly the alcove on the left seems to be at about the 2/3 mark for the golden ratio and the wing of the angel seems to help draw a line leading up to the back column to distinguish this space as our focal area. We also largely lose anything on the right of the window due to the lack of visual interest over there.
In narrative terms what we have is a seemingly ruined church or temple denoting religion as somehow ruined or dying. We do however still have candles which seem to bring a reverence to the place. There is also a beam of light coming in from heaven perhaps? But he darkness inside seems to denote that the interior space is no longer illuminated with god's light. Then we have an angel walking in. The question is "Is the angel here to mourn a dead faith or is this place still somehow holy?"
I'm not at all sure what I houdl take away from the piece and while it's very pretty the composition and narrative elements seem confused. Why is this angel here? Is this still a holy place? This confusion makes the punch and emotional impact of the piece falter. Gorgeous work, it might very well be a beautiful desktop.
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Personally, I do think that this subject is too overdone to surprise a viewer. When you start an artwork that you know will include some clichΓ©s, I think you need to ask yourself 'What will this add to those other variations?'. This, to me, adds very little. As I understand it, you took the background photo yourself in an old Armenian monastery. I seem to remember Armenian Christianity being rather strict, so I worry that they may look onto this as disrespectful. Which would really be a pity, because it would have been extremely nice and interesting if you were to create something that would actually respect the tradition from which the original image stems. In this case, the Armenian monastery. What I'm trying to say is that your wonderful photo of the monastery has become a mere backdrop for an image that we have seen many times before.
Although both the background photo and the model are both wonderful pieces by themselves, I have the idea there is something in the blend that still makes the manipulation look like a model pasted on a background. Perhaps it is also because of what I wrote above, that the model and background clash psychologically or spiritually.
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Many people would say that the winged semi-clad female manipulation is somewhat overdone. I prefer to think that it's something which when done properly is always a beautiful thing -- and you've achieved that here.
The blending is seamless and I am particularly impressed by the wings, which look like they were photographed already on the model.
My eyes of course are drawn to the light coming in from the window, which I think could benefit from some addition of dust or other particle movement in there, but otherwise the perspective and angle are excellent.
On the whole, it's executed beautifully, and it does indeed make an excellent wallpaper!
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Fantastic composition! I don't normally critique, but I feel I might like the piece more were the main (brightest) window in front removed and solidified into wall, leaving only the left window.
Regardless of this small preference -- superb!
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looks superb, nice lighting and mood, love the interior
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Wow, that's really great! I love atmosphere and arrangement, and that blue basic colour against the warm candlelight.
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a butt! a halo! hehe its really nice! well done man!
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