Artwork & Words © Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Artwork & Words © Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Sunday, March 18, 2012

IF ...shades

'Marley was dead: to begin with'... however, the three Christmas shades that followed him were as alive as anyone Mr. Scrooge had met in his life! The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come turned poor Ebenezer an ashen shade of cream.
...but changed his heart to a pinker tint of rose.
© Richard Ewing. All rights reserved.
© Richard Ewing. All rights reserved.
© Richard Ewing. All rights reserved.

© Richard Ewing. All rights reserved.
Thank you and enjoy.

13 comments:

  1. nice, I love the Reaper-ish ghost figure at the right, Christmas Past? ...very cool

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    1. Actually, the "Reaper-ish" figure is Chirstmas Yet to Come. I assume Dickens was trying to convey the inscrutability of the future, and since no one knows what it will look like, he kept this ghost obscured by darkness save for the one hand pointing to the beyond.

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  2. This is very strange! The face is amazing, kind of hilarious and kind of disturbing! The reaper (I didn't see at first) is really cool.

    But then I just couldn't figure out the red between the chin and fingers. Is it cloth? Skin? Or the bloody wake trailing death? You know how sometimes you just can't see something? I think if you tell me it will be quite obvious. :)

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    1. It IS cloth.
      It's just a 'body' and backdrop or support for the head, ~and a way to visually separate the flamelike ghost of Christmas Past in the back from the 'reaper' in the front. Because they are ghosts/shades I kept some parts well defined, and let other areas just float undefined; the three spirits are color coordinated... Past is white/green, Present is red, and Yet to Come is black

      Martha Stewart would be proud.


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  3. An exciting work as one never tires of looking and re finding the characters and layers. I must admit...I didn't see Christmas future until I read the comments.

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  4. This is a very effective illustration of being in between a rock and a hard place. Poor Ebenezer needed the shock treatment to get him out of his self-centered negative self, but I wonder how much therapy he needed after his transformation. I love the hand of Christmas present that is keeping Ebenezer from escaping his current reality.

    nice color coordination as well

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  5. What a Wonderful Life! Well at least to view. Scary teeth, Beautiful face in green and a very effective composition.

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    1. Funny you should mention a "Wonderful Life"... As I was doing this piece I started to notice a lot of parallels to the Jimmy Stewart film and the Dickens novella... such as through a spiritual intervention both fellas have a shift in life attitude for the better, and around Christmas time as well! A bit of a crisscross with Potter being the early Scrooge and George Bailey being the latter day Scrooge... and maybe Cratchit and Uncle Billy... (?) ~~maybe I'm pushing too far. HeeHawHumbug!


      ..now where did I put Zuzu's petals?

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  6. Kind of like the Wizard of Oz too when you start looking at movies that way. Where's the scarecrow/farmer? Definitely an expressive expression, but those teeth give me orthodontist terrors. I love all the bits and pieces that you let the viewer find the more we look at it.

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  7. Them's SOME teeth! I like the bony hand the best
    :)

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  8. Had Charles Dickens employed you to illustrate his book, I'm certain your imagery would've scared the bejesus out of the readers – ALL would've changed their selfish ways. The center image is VERY compelling and gives me nightmares! Well done, once again.

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  9. Wow! Your intensity is pure genius! Nice work Richard! Love that “Reaper”!

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