Serenade to the Sirens by Rutra
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Description
Please see this full size, as the background details do matter.
According to Greek mythology, the Sirens were sea deities who lived in an island. The sirens played and sang an enchanting music that attracted and mesmerised men (often leading them to death).
In early times, the sirens were represented as human female figures with legs of birds, with or without wings. Later in history, they were represented as normal beautiful women, without any animal mixture. In other times and places, they were represented as mermaids (half-woman-half-fish). An interesting point is that, in some languages (portuguese, spanish, italian, etc), the two terms (siren and mermaid) coexist in one single word. For example, in portuguese (my native language), there is only one word for these two entities ("sereia"). I grew up thinking of the singing deities only as half-woman-half-fish. So, that's what I used here.
In this picture, I reversed the legend. I put the sirens enchanted by the music played by a man. Presumably, this man would have gone to the island where sirens would live and, instead of being enchanted by the sirens, he is enchanting them. I chose a harp as this was the instrument played by the sirens (although they used a smaller version). We see the boat on which he arrived (it wasnt easy to bring that harp on that boat, I can tell you that...). We see the light setup he prepared, as in a stage. We see the audience, listening in awe.
Unlike the legend, there's no death and suffering here. Also that is reversed, and intentional. In this scene, as oposite to the legend, the sirens are mere spectators, not actors. This is the idea I wanted to convey, I hope I was successful.
Regarding man's outfit, i wanted something ceremonial. Initially i chose black but i changed it to white, it has more contrast with the night.
This is the same island as in my previous pic "somewhere, somewhen" (but now seen from the oposite side). Like I explained then, it was in the course of preparing this scene that the previous one was born. I changed the vegetation in the meantime to fit the scale better. Plants are Linda Daireaux's, available in C3D. Lamps are forester's. V4 with LostRealms, retouched by me. Harp is a freebie from SingingBridge (turbosquid).
Thanks for watching!
Comments (25)
Tangaroa
I really like the idea behind this one, well done.
richard57
magnifique work+5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shadow_Fyre
Very interesting story and great image to represent that. I see the mermaids really as listening to the music and enjoying it. The only small quip I have about it is some of the trees are too straight up and down. They could be more "disorganized" like the one that has the curve at the base would most likely be growing out more angular to the land.
ArtPearl
This feels like the birth of a new legend. The light is key to establishing an absolutely magical atmosphere, with a very warm glow linking the musician and the sirens. Much better relationship than in the original legends. Good placement of all elements, serving both compositional and story-telling purpose. It's a bit hard to see some of the details, but this is compensated by the mood the darkness establishes.Great combination of skill and artistic flare.
Arturzinho
uma excelente imagem. Apenas lamento o formato n permitir ver todos os pormenores. Parabs :o)
kalon
I really love this image, the lighting on the beach is fantastic, the posing excellent. I'll even forgive them for usurping the lovely deserted island. The one suggestion I can offer is perhaps a little darkening of the sand around the shoreline to indicate wet sand. I don't know that I agree about the trees being too straight, it seems to me trees veer and become distorted because there's an obstacle in the way of their upward growth. What a wonderful concert!
Sivana
O Artur, this is a real great work again with the story behind the idea!! I very much love the golden-glowing island much, and you image is real full of details!! I dont want to give a critique to your technics, as you are doning other kind of images as I do. But Im happy to see what`s about Andreas Vollenweider nowadays ;-)
kenernest63
Beautiful image. Maybe take the green out of the light and warm it up with orange. Some what of an uncomfortable, sickly color from the lanterns. #5 rating for composition and originality.
garyandcatherine
Very cool work and I love the lighting
Bea
I like it very much :)
Conniekat8
Wow, it's beautiful, I love the detail and quite an original idea! Critique wise, I afree about the palm trees and perhaps warming up the light, other then that I don't see anything that strikes me as open to improvement.
CrownPrince
This is an absolutly beautiful image!!!
Zhack
Wow, great image, i imagine that rendering all those lights took quite a while. Anyways i don't really have any critique, the only thing i noticed is the robe of the musician, it looks slightly odd at the hip joint. Great work as always!
woodant
What a charming scene excellently put together! I love the lighting and the character poses are spot on; especially the harpist. The bird is a nice addition and the ripples around the oar show great attention to detail. The indentations in the sand to the right (which I'm hoping are footprints) look good and it would be nice if perhaps there were more footprints, including some from the bird, although I'm currently assuming it flew in and landed on the spot! ;) Anyway, it really is a fantastic piece of work. Well done!
TheAnimaGemini
Great work. Love the light and the details. Really nice work.
chrispoole
Cool story and superb idea and render, top work.
giorgio_2004
Do you believe this has made me almost crying? It's absolutely beautiful! It goes in my preferite at once!
JPGR
Very nice image, as always...
AnAardvark
Excellent. The only suggestion I would make is that I think that the man's outfit is a little to bland, being all white.
BySilent
Just enjoyed viewing this work.... wonderful lighting and concept... excellent
Thelby
Super Composition!!!!
dphoadley
Very nice! It reminds me a bit of the paintings by Paul Gauguin, not so much for its style, but for its evocative spirit. DPH
pjz99
Very very lovely. Most particularly the light from the lanterns coming out across the water, very beautiful. I'd look for a little bit of glisten on the rocks near the waterline, and the same on the mermaids' scales, but not important. Really very warm and attractive light from those lamps, superb lighting job.
DapperMan
This is a beautifully detailed scene! The hanging lanterns is a wonderful idea for lighting. All of the details are well thought out and excecuted, with an incredible composition. Simply wonderful.
bantha
A great and inspiring idea - it triggered dozens of possible stories behind it. The topping is the watching bird - just great. Wonderfull idea, great realisation.