The Wicker Man by yogdog

Bryce • (none) • posted on Dec 02, 2002

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Description

The Story/History: Exact details are scarce, with the only period reports coming from the Romans that were attempting to conquer the Celts and Gauls at the time. That recounting says that animals and criminals were burned in willow cages stacked to form the shape of a man by the Druids as part of some of their festivals. In that telling, it seems likely to have been a Mid-summer festival, though Wicker Men are burned by modern pagans (differing with the individual groups) at many of the festivals they celerate, including Lughnassadh (Lamass, Summer's End), Mabon (Autumn Equinox, Harvest Home) and Samhain (Harvest's End). In all these cases the Wicker Man Represents the Spirit of Nature, or Green Man. I chose to set the picture during Mabon or Samhain (a pic doesn't really give an exact date) as I think the burning of nature seems somehow more appropriate during the Autumn. Anyway, let me move on before I sound like a pagan version of a Sunday School Teacher. ;) Techie Details: The pic consists of several renders combined to create the finished product. Bryce renders of the landscape(two renders, 1 for the ground behind the Wicker Man, 1 for the forground), wicker man, closest two figures and the carved rock were merged with quick and nasty Poser renders of the distance figures around the fire. The pic is shown here at approximately 25% size. Consisted of 45 photoshop layers at it's worst point, and took approximately 25 hrs to complete. Feel free to ask questions or correct me on my Pagan history. It's not my primary area of knowledge. ;)

Comments (22)

spratman

3:07PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

Artistically I it's an amazing image, great light and layout altho I find the blank expression on the guys face a little disconcerting. Historically... well You have to take into account that all references to this were from Romans trying to portray their enemies as evil. Propaganda to garner support for the war effort at home. Gosh, good thing that could never happen in the US.; IMHO Jon

linkinpark

3:21PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

I didnt see such a wonderful bryce image for long time!REALLY EXCELLENT WORK,briliant lighting,texturing and composition! 10+

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zorares

3:41PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

Most impressive! Your attention to detail really makes this picture a wonder to view and that fire is amazing! Excellent!

imanwillie

5:44PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

This is an excellent wicker man; this pic is towering!!

Sking

5:52PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

Wonderful image. Awesome job infact!

pmoores

6:40PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

Excellent image. Great storyline to boot.

Kimper

8:15PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

This is an outstanding image! Great fantasy art my friend!

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RodolfoCiminelli

8:18PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

It is absolutely an excellent job!!!...the effect of the fire is incredible!!!...Very good composition..!!!

schlafhasi

9:50PM | Mon, 02 December 2002

fantastic work! how big is the original? oh i read it now.

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Doublecrash

5:47AM | Tue, 03 December 2002

Maybe the best fire I saw here recently. The wicker man is great. Incredible work!

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cambert

6:14AM | Tue, 03 December 2002

Outstanding, an incredibly dramatic image made with professional skill.

TheVelvetFoxx

10:24AM | Tue, 03 December 2002

Beautiful. Looks just like a fire in a night sky should.

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lemonjim

1:50PM | Tue, 03 December 2002

nothing like the smell of burning wicker in the morning. love the fire + brimstone effects.

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Eugenius

9:28AM | Wed, 04 December 2002

Very powerful image. Awesome job on the wicker man and the fire texture just rules!

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Chris.C

10:46AM | Thu, 05 December 2002

Wow! Splendid work! I love the composition and the wonderful lighting... Perfect for a cover book...Congrats : )

atlpup

12:30PM | Thu, 05 December 2002

well love the picture... it's very stunning... but as far as the history goes... my best who is a historian gave me a book that talked about the Druids and where they came from.... and they are not Romans LOL nor Celts.... they were the priests of the Tautha De Dahnin... which no one knows who or where they came from.

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Rayraz

4:56AM | Fri, 06 December 2002

This reminds me of another artwork I saw once on TV. The artist had build a real wooden ship and after months of work the art was to let it burn down. I think you found a better solution. Now we can all enjoy it as often as we want. Nice image.

johnbottom

8:43PM | Fri, 06 December 2002

The wicker man is the roman equivalent of americas War on terror - one more powerful side trying to demonise their enemy

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Sans2012

11:54PM | Sun, 22 May 2005

Awsome render, I can feel the heat from that fire. Cheers from Australia.

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Nuria

11:34AM | Sun, 12 June 2005

Incredibly dramatic image.

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Turin_Returns

12:07AM | Fri, 17 June 2005

Again a wonderful image but a terrible Roman propaganda slur against my ancestors! @ atlpup - The Tuatha De Danaan are "The people of the Goddess Danu" (or Don in Welsh mythology). Danu was a sun goddess and her people are the mythical 'fair folk' or British legend (the equivalent of the Germanic 'Elves'). The historic Druids have nothing to do with the mythical race of gods but were rather the intelligencia of the Celtic peoples acting as seer, teacher, law maker and record keeper. unfortunately since the Celts up until their absorption into the Roman Empire were a oral culture all we have from the period is Roman and Greek sources. The Roman sources are similar to modern day news broadcasts on Iraq by the U.S...so I'll leave you to decide upon their accuracy....

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