Title: Merry Christmas
Update: If you want to view the whole image, I suggest you view the atteched images or view them here http://reynantem.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas.html. Somehow, the preview in the posts are cropped horizontally.
Hi, Andrew, and hi too to the amazing Blender community! Here’s my take in this month’s BlenderGuru competition. It was really tough deciding whether to join Andrew’s competition and what piece of art I should deliver. But luckily, after a couple of decision fatigues, I decided to finally join. This is my first time joining a BlenderGuru competition and I feel so humbled by the great artists joining and their jaw-dropping submissions.
I originally opt for a linear merry- and warm-themed concept, but somehow the thought of a Christmas spent in desolation and longing suddenly struck me. I am, for one, not promoting sad emotions, but instead I want to share with everybody the feeling of sadness, longing, apathy, anticipation, joy, hope, and eventually blissful happiness.
On the other hand, this was one of the most technically challenging pieces I have ever worked on, specifically on the modeling and lighting aspects.
Modeling, texturing, rigging, scene composition, and node compositing: Blender
Shading and lighting: Cycles
Post: GIMP
Project duration: approximately 60 hours
Here are some close-up shots:
You can see some ‘behind the scenes’ shots here http://reynantem.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas.html
Merry christmas! 
-Reyn