Illustration Friday :: Rambunctious

It is a little known fact that the addition of the ninth reindeer to Santa's Sleigh was a result of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). By 1938, tens of reindeer were out of work. It was the time of the Great Depression and Santa Claus was asked to do what he could for down-trodden and out-of-luck deer. The most famous and, arguably, best loved reindeer employed at this time was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Few are aware that there was another Reindeer on the sleigh-team prior to Rudolph's arrival in 1939. That reindeer's name was Rambunctious the Rambunctious Reindeer. It was intended that Rambunctious live up to his name and add an extra 'zip' to the team, allowing it to finish its Christmas Eve visit to all the children of the world in a speedier fashion, leaving more time for recuperation for Santa and the rest of the team. Unfortunately, Rambunctious lived up to and exceeded his name. Once harnessed to the sleigh-team, his rambunctious energy caused an unfortunate series of mishaps eventually leading to an unplanned and rather hard landing in a wooded area of western Indiana. Several calls were received by the local sheriff and a couple of deputies were dispatched to the scene. Santa and his team was found shaken but none the worse for wear. They quickly gathered the sleigh and repacked the gifts and were sent on their way. Santa finished his rounds that night, but regrettably, Rambunctious was let go.
The 'photograph' above is the only evidence of that fateful night. The 'photo' was taken just after the sheriff's deputies arrived and shows the overturned sleigh and presents strewn about. Deputies were sworn to secrecy because Santa feared that children would stay awake worrying whether he would have time to visit them.
Not long after the incident, Rudolph was brought on board and the rest, as they, 'Went Down In History!'

Illustration originally rendered in MegaPOV Ray Tracer.
Scene was rendered at 800 x 600 resolution. The scene took 40 minutes and 12 seconds to render. Many hours were used to the model and position the scene. I modeled the sleigh using standard CSG solids. The trees were rendered using the Arbaro tree generation for povray program. The resulting image was processed in JASC (now Corel) Paint Shop Pro 7. The image was converted to Grey Scale and Noise was added to give it a grainy look. It was cropped to add the photo edge. The result was tinted yellowish to give it that old look. A coffee stain and some writing were added. The 'photo' was turned slightly and a Drop Shadow added.

Digital Image :: MegaPOV raytracer , Paint Phop Pro

Click here or on the image for larger size.
Click here for the original color render.

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