Hold My Vigil by Nicolas Delort

Nicolas explains the origin of this drawing in his blog inkling that this illustration is inspired by Neil Gaiman's American Gods:

"Also, here's an illo I never got around to posting, because I consider it somewhat of a failure. I set it aside and reworked it into "Vigil" (I don't know which one worked better in the end, I think the former had drama that the latter doesn't have and the latter has atmosphere that the former doesn't have).
I just finished trying to clean it up a little in photoshop (on the original the sky is a complete mess). I still like the angle and the two characters in the foreground (Ibis and Jacquel) but I feel like the World Tree and Shadow are a little wonky.
Oh well.
(just for fun, the guy in the front is Mr. Jacquel, holding the cig with his pointy nose is Mr. Ibis, the three cloaked figures are the Nornes and in the background with the hat is Mr. Nancy and the tiny one all the way back would be Czernobog) "

http://blog.nicolasdelort.com/2013/01/happy-new-year.html
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I myself have never read the book so delving into the details of the narrative will not be my purpose here, instead I would like to focus on analyzing the composition elements. Thumbnail composition study

Above is my thumbnail recreation of the composition. The goal here is to take a composition from a piece you like and zoom out on photoshop until only the broad shapes are apparent and to try to copy these broad shapes down as close as possible in values. We break these illustrations down into thumbnails so we can then take the information we gather from them and apply it to our own work. I love this illustration because the angle feels so dramatic and cinematic. Delort's pen and ink style with bold giant black shapes that contrast with the the negative spaces they create make the illustration feel very diagonal with the individual in the foreground wrapping around the top side of the drawing.

Focus
Defining a focus when looking at something is best done when you look away from the illustration, then back at it again and see exactly where your eyes fall. My eye falls directly onto the man in the middle. The shadow in his glasses create a interesting bold black and white shape that sits and contrasts with the textured grey tone of his face and hair.

My attention then goes to the 3 hands in the foreground, to the face at the top as it points directly down to the tree. We then see the figure crucified on the tree, then back down to the figure resting on the ground and the 6 figures blocking this area of the drawing in.

NarrativeI'm currently listening to the audio book of American Gods, the book this illustration is inspired from but I am unfamiliar with this scene.


"Vigil
1. a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.

"my birdwatching vigils lasted for hours"

2. (in the Christian Church) the eve of a festival or holy day as an occasion of religious observance."

From the little bit that I have gathered from the synoposis of the book and what I have heard so far I would assume that this illustration is about a ceremony or ritual of sacrifice to appease the Gods.

Composition
His composition is bold black and white shapes that make the illustration feel very heavy on the right which is contrast to the abstract shape of the tree. It creates a negative space that feels like it "cuts" down to the feet.

Value
Acouple of things stand out for me in the values I see here. For one the catch light on the foot helps differentiate the foot in the foreground from the midtoned individual to the right of the tree.

Dark shapes on both sides of the tree block the tree into frame. He leaves the white of the paper to create the awesome looking negative spaces but also the catch light on the foot, to add detail to the glasses and the foreground figures' hands.

The catch shadow on the left of the body hanging makes it pop out from the dark shadow he casts on the tree. The shadows the tree casts on itself creates an awesome since of depth.

Mass
The whole piece feels like one large shape that moves around in a oblong or elliptical route.

Texture
I really dig the foreground texture of the grass. It feels like it continues the push back up to the very bold shape on the top right.

Micro/Macro
The texture present in the grass helps your mind also define and create the texture along the tree which he pushes further back with the tree limb all the way in the back. There is a catch shadow here in this long black shape that is only 4 simple shapes, but it adds so much depth thanks to the texture in the foreground.

Link: http://www.nicolasdelort.com/