Bible MP - how to start?!

[stingray]

Hi! I'm working actually on a short, where jesus and some of his apostles walking toward a lake.

they are walking on a 'desert-like' ground. in the back you can see a typical village of that time, where they are coming from - this village is build on a small hill.

everything should look very 'biblically' - orange/brown setup, bible-clouds - it should look like, 'painted' - you know

ok, so far. everything is in my mind. but where should i search for reference pictures for the mp?

and which keyword should i use for this? I've tried desert, bible, and more - but will get about 1 mio. results.

is there a special site, where i should start searching?

how would you start this matte? thanks for every help!

[nickmarshallvfx]

You are always better having your own references if you can, but of course its not everyday that you get to stand in the middle of the arizona desert and take photos. Try sites like flickr.com and the others under the resources here.
As far as the painting itself goes, sketch it out and see how far you can take it without the photo refs, that will help it keep a painterly feel. Painting is the way forward, the simplest thing to do for a painterly piece is to just paint it :D

Nick

[Ricardo Garces]

Hi Stingray.

I would go for "Michael Angelo" or "DaVinci" you can't get more biblical than that.

Renaissance painters did everything like you describe. Pick up one of their paintings, the one you see it's more close to what you are picturing in your brain.

Open your canvas and this painting in photoshop, then pick up the colors from the painting while creating your piece.

As for photo references, I usually go to www.sxc.hu (http://www.sxc.hu) most pictures are free to use.

Hope I helped.