RARRGG! VIKINGS! So at last I can manage to get back in here with another RWP project! It's been way too long!
This one's been both fun and tough so far for me because vikings are just so cool...and I've had waaay too many directions pulling at my brain. So it's been a little tricky to get my mind to slow down for a minute so that I can settle on some solid ideas. One could literally spend a lifetime trying to illustrate all of the tales and images that vikings conjure up!
Anyway, here's a few of my favorite thumbs. Please be as critical as possible because I really want this piece to be sweet. If you think they all suck...tell me! and I'll start over. There's plenty more images in my head to contend with.
If I had to pick favorites I'd have to say I like 1,2, and 5 best. But I would have fun will all of them! What does everyone think?
This one's been both fun and tough so far for me because vikings are just so cool...and I've had waaay too many directions pulling at my brain. So it's been a little tricky to get my mind to slow down for a minute so that I can settle on some solid ideas. One could literally spend a lifetime trying to illustrate all of the tales and images that vikings conjure up!
Anyway, here's a few of my favorite thumbs. Please be as critical as possible because I really want this piece to be sweet. If you think they all suck...tell me! and I'll start over. There's plenty more images in my head to contend with.
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| Ok, this one is kind of a wraparound cover sort of thing. Pretty straight forward. The leader or hero or whatever of the viking army stands facing us while the others are pointing to a distant village which has beams of light cast on it. |
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| Next, we have a brave viking chick who is valiantly sailing across the seas to conquest or something. She has her pet falcon with her also. But she has a grim side because there's a head and skull hanging from the side of the boat in the Foreground cast in shadow. |
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| This one is not looking nearly as badass and I have in my head...yet. But its a really gnarly looking viking dude walking towards us with an evil smile and a raven on his shoulder. he is lit by moonlight on top and fire from below as if from a torch. The background is fire and silhouetted figures. |
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| This one is from the story of Sigurd and Fafnir the dragon. Sigurd has killed the dragon and removed the dragons heart to consume. (Though I suppose that the heart would be a lot bigger?) Anyway, pretty explanatory. |
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| And this one is of a viking ship just about to be attacked by a dragon. The leader is yelling a warning to the others. |
If I had to pick favorites I'd have to say I like 1,2, and 5 best. But I would have fun will all of them! What does everyone think?
Nice stuff Scott! I think I like the opposite ones from what you like - 2 and 3 just seem to have that potentially iconic look that I could see the Spectrum judges going for. You've got five radically different ideas, and I'm sure you'd do a kick-ass job on any one of them, I'm just trying to think about which one might have that extra something special - I think I chose the ones that seem to have the most moodiness and emotion. Your first one has good potential for hitting that emotional key as well, so out of the ones that you like, I'd pick that one. The second one seems a bit done before, and the last one has a nice composition, but I don't think it's as strong as some of the others. At this point I don't have much in the way of criticism I guess - just pick one!
ReplyDeleteI personally love the 4th one, composition-wise, it's just really cool, and I love that he's holding a huge heart. The 3rd one would be my second favorite, it's a little more evil than I picture most vikings, but it's still a really awesome image. Sorry I disagree with your favorites, but I thing these two are much stronger than the others. They both have a true mood to them, some real pathos to both main characters. Especially the 4th one, I was almost named Sigurd, so I guess I'm a little partial to it.
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ReplyDeleteHa, just realized I meant to say that I like 3 and 4 best, not 2 and 3. Whoops!
ReplyDeleteNumber one really has potential to be very iconic but I think I'm with Owen. Sigurd is the mood packed image.
ReplyDeleteBut Scott, where's the metal!? Number 1 is kind of a stroll in the park and number 5 looks like a stubby dwarf. Number 2 is actually full of cool ideas, I think, but why isn't she casting the hawk off on some mission with a glint in his eye and his wings and talons spread while rain whips down from a lightning filled sky aND THOR RIDES BY IN A CELESTIAL CHARIOT WITH A HOST OF VALKYRIES!!!
... it just seems like they could be a little more intense.
By the way number 3 looks like a lighting nightmare but if you pulled it off, yeah!
HAhahaha Craig!!! I think 'where's the metal' has been something Scott is struggling with. He wants to be more metal, but he doesn't want to punch people in the face with screaming crazy dudes. Especially since he has like... 10 paintings of dudes screaming, so he doesn't want people to think that's all he does. Hahahaha
ReplyDeleteAnyway I like your suggestion about her sending the hawk off on a mission, I think that would add a lot of action to the image if this bird is beginning to fly and maybe it's wing is being cropped off the page, kinda filling that white sky space.
Maybe to metal up the 5th one... instead of the guy warning about this dragon coming, he's going "YEAH BOYS LETS GET HIM WOOO!!!" and he has this maniacal bloodlust grin on his face... hahaha
Ok thanks guys! Well, I think then I will go with Sigurd as my choice since everyone seems to like him most. I may do the painting for #2 also (but later) because I still think it would be a fun painting...but with the added metal that Craig mentioned!
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