Ragnarok: Fenrir Swallows Odin Whole

Yay! I FINALLY FINISHED! Sorry folks, that took way too long.  If memory serves we started this project back in november? Awful, simply terrible.  But I have been doing a couple commissions and arranging my wedding preparations, which include a bit of design work.  But I have finished.  This is my depiction of a small event that happens during Ragnarok, the Norse Armageddon, where Fenrir, a giant wolf, swallows Odin, the Norse Zeus, whole.  Don't worry, because later one of Odin's sons, Víðarr, cuts Fenrir's belly open, freeing Odin.  I love Odin, he's got one eye, carries a spear, has wolves and ravens at his bidding, and has a great big bushy beard!  I painted a portrait of my professor, Dennis Nolan, as Odin back in college.  I am Danish, so I have Viking blood in me, or at least I tell myself that every night before  I sleep, so I loved doing this piece.  I had been a little while since I had done something so big, 18" x 24", which I thought this painting deserved.  Hope you all like it!

Lis's Viking Final - "Rán's Embrace"

Here is my final piece! Watercolor/acryla gouache/digital - I want to make the corrections in the painting that I made digitally. I just did them digitally first because it's easier to see what I'm right and wrong. Submitting it to Spectrum tomorrow along with two others!



I found some more great information about Rán here - http://reclaimingthedarkgoddess.blogspot.com/2010/03/ran-norse-goddess-of-sea.html

From the link:

"She has been called cruel, greedy and insatiable. She reigns over the the Underworld found at the bottom of the sea. Ran mated with Her brother, Aegir, the sea god, and they had nine beautiful daughters, the Waves... Her name means "robbery", and She could often be found lurking on the dangerous cliffs and, with the help of Her daughters, enticing mariners to approach; once within Her reach, She spread Her fishing net over them and calmly draws them down into Her realm.

"The Norse people believed that drowning victims were not admitted into Valhalla; instead, they went to Ran's realm of the dark. She was, therefore, also considered to be a Goddess of the Dead. If the dead had gold, they were treated well within Her deep sea abode, and the mead would flow freely... Ran represents water; and, as such, She controls the life force of all the creatures on Earth."

Lis's Viking Sketch

So here's the final sketch... I will be printing it out lightly and then drawing it nicely with pencil. As you can see it has really changed! It was super horizontal and kind of boring before. Brought it into my mentorship with Rebecca Guay for critique. Super excited to paint this... hopefully painting it won't be a nightmare--in particular the water and froth. But if all else fails... photoshop! :P I need to edit the hand with the hair entwined around it... fingers are a lil weird.



And here's a color comp... but it's not really complete... it'll probably end up a lot different with more contrast and color, etc.

Becca's Viking Sketch(es)

Full size image

Cropped in close

Cropped a bit less, and flipped horizontally

Same as above, but not flipped.

Okie dokie, here's what I've got going so far! An intimate moment between father and daughter, before the father goes off to... somewhere in one of those sweet ships. The focus is really going to be on the girl, and I'm curious what you guys think about which direction they should be facing. I'm playing with cropping too. I'll be working up some tonal and color comps as well, and really trying to pay attention to maintaining my focal point - Jesper Ejsing recently did a nice post about this on the Muddy Colors blog. I'm avoiding going into a ton of detail until I've got the basics really hammered out - let me know what you all think, the more input the better!

Lis's Viking Thumbs

So I think I have a pretty clear idea of where I'm going with this, I just need help deciding on the composition that works best... It's kind of a wrap-around book cover size (but it doesn't necessarily have to be composed like a book cover)... but I don't know if I want the goddess turning her face toward the ship, or away from them with her eyes turned toward the ship, or if I want her flipped in the other direction! :P

Anyway, Rán is a Norse sea goddess and she likes to drown sailors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rán), so I have a viking ship in stormy seas struggling to stay upright and get to shore (or just away!), and Rán is rising from the sea. I'm pretty exciting about painting this!!!!

I envision Rán to have multiple 'tiers' - her bottom half is foamy with waves and water splashing (water spout-like), and she still has some hair dragging in the sea, but in the middle her body becomes less water and more of just a transparent-ish being, and at top i want the rest of her hair to be flying around and kind of blending in with the clouds. In the foreground the ship/sea will be the darkest with bolder outlines, and there should be a nice atmospheric gradient to the distance. I also want there to be lights visible on the shore from torches/huts. Oh... and she'll be wearing some clothes... though one boob might be hanging out.... goddess style.

New RWP Project: Vikings!

 Vikings from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.

The RWPers have been busy little bees recently, but at long last we will be doing a project that all five of us will participate in. With the Spectrum 19 deadline coming up in January, the time is ripe for some kick-ass new paintings.  The theme is, you guessed it, Vikings!

Viking: The term Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is customarily used to refer to the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.

Thanks Wikipedia! 

This theme can be twisted and turned any old way you please. Just have some Viking in there.

Deadlines:
Thumbnails - December 2nd
Sketches - December 16th
Final Painting - January 16th (extra time allotted because we expect these to be extra awesome)

Have at it!