Jake Holmes, a young Kansas cowboy, is forced to face down and kill his best friend, Tom Claiborne, in a showdown after a drunken Tom guns down a deputy marshal who is attempting to arrest him. After Tom's funeral, a disillusioned Jake leaves town heading west, with no destination in mind. Several hundred miles later, he comes across a burning ranch house. The entire family, except for an infant girl, has perished in the flames. Jake rescues the baby, and, not knowing what to do with her, heads for the nearest town, intending to turn her over to the local law. He reaches town on a Sunday morning, and happens to be riding by the local church. He decides to stop there, to see if the preacher would know who might take in the orphaned child. The preacher, who is finalizing his sermon, just before services start, has, like Jake, been questioning his faith in God, but has been unable to tell his wife what's bothering him. When Jake comes into the church with the baby, it's the answer to the preacher's prayers. He and his wife have been trying to conceive, unsuccessfully, for years. The infant girl is the answer to their prayers. The preacher and his wife finally convince Jake to attend the service. Jake takes a seat in the back pew, by happenstance right next to a pretty young lady, who smiles up at him. Jake decides maybe God is with us, after all, and decides to settle down right there in Colby, Kansas.
This may sound strange, but I'm strongly drawn to "A". There's something about the simple starkness of the B&W image, with no distracting background, and the posture of the cowboy with his head down, the hat shadowing his face. that is very appealing to me.
ReplyDelete"B" is nice, and portrays the same sense of lonliness, but I guess I'm just weird. I just like "B" better.
For me it is a draw. I like A for the detail it provides, such as the strength in the cowboy's jaw. It also conveys a sense of ruggedness. However, I like the color contrast in B, because it is eye-catching and that is important to catch a potential reader's eye.
ReplyDeleteI like the B&W (A). I don't know why--just that it stands out to me.
ReplyDeleteAnne
I like A - it's striking and different.
ReplyDeleteI like B. I'd tend to overlook the black and white. B catches my eye because of the color, the horse and cowboy silhouette.
ReplyDeleteI like "A" - it immediately makes me think Western. Perhaps it reminds me of Westerns I read when I was younger. The other is more romantic, and I know there's big romantic river running through the heart of just about every cowboy whether or not he wants to admit it :D But even so, "A" is more captivating to me. If this is aimed at men, I especially think "A" is good.
ReplyDeleteB--The cowboy is alone on the range lost in his own thoughts. A great place to have a faith "renewal"
ReplyDeleteB~Shows the sun going down on such a deep thought, provoked cowboy. With God on his side the right decision will be made. Although A expresses a sense of seriousness, I think you need the clouds and sun going down to help portray the spiritualism which surrounds the scenerio.
ReplyDeleteI like the both - A for the starkness and ruggedness of the B&W drawing -- However B - while conveying the same loneliness tha A does also conveys the sense of renewal of the title
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