Vikings on my mind

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Well, yes, I have been kind of getting excited about Norse mythology & Viking stuff lately.  Though this drawing could almost have evolved off of that last Celtic dragon & warrior little piece I posted previously :)

But it does seem that Viking culture is getting some attention these days: the new VIKINGS tv show on the History Channel, the Thor movie sequel coming out...  I've centered some illustrations on Norse mythology in the past, but it's been quite a while and I would like to tackle the genre again.  It will be interesting to contrast what I did back then with what I produce now.

I do plan to paint the above drawing digitally, but I thought I would show the drawing by itself first.  The figure is meant to be the goddess Freya.  She is seen as one of the preeminent goddesses and is associated with many things including love, beauty, gold, & war.  She is linked to the valkyrie warrior maidens, of whom she leads half of their number (Odin gets the other half).  I picture her here in her warrior capacity.

Here's an illustration from that Norse mythology series I did way back when (in graduate school).  I painted in oil over inked lines.

Anybody else appreciating Norse mythology these days?

P.S. I noticed that this makes my 100th blog post!  (congratulates self--feel free to join in :) )

Ahh, Myths... like dragons!

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This week's Illustration Friday challenge (from illustrationfriday.com) was "Myth."  Couldn't let that one pass me by!  Plus, I had extra time this week because my teaching is mostly on break for Finals week.  Yes!

First off, I knew I wanted to do something with dragons.  Then I felt like I wanted to do something Celtic knotwork-ish.  Sketched around and came up with this fun little image.  Thought it would be fun to have a lady warrior challenging the beast.  I did the color and texture in a way that echoes the Book of Kells.  The technique was pencil sketch scanned and then colored in Photoshop.

How do you picture "new"?

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I guess "when it rains, it pours" because here's another new little posting!  This is a digital painting I did this week in response to an illustration prompt from the blog "Illustration Friday".  Illustration Friday is a great blog that provides a prompt every week on Friday (how did you guess?).  This week's prompt was "New", in honor of the New Year beginning.  I sat down with my sketchbook and wasn't sure what I was going to do with that, but found myself doodling this morning/flower image.  I guess "new" makes me think of a new day, and new things growing.

To finish it I scanned my pencil drawing and painted it digitally.  I played with painting it in Corel Painter first, but went with Photoshop in the end, using my Wacom tablet.

portraits

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Thought I'd post a couple of sketches while I was thinking about it.  These are from the last figure drawing class I taught before Xmas break.  I demo'ed that day (let myself draw) and focused on portraits of 2 awesome student models that I borrowed from other conservatories.  This guy above is named Mars.  Appropriate!  The guy below is Dmitri.  I couldn't help feeling like Dmitri came straight from the woodland realm of Mirkwood!  (The Hobbit on my brain)  Thankfully, Dmitri was pleased when I told him he looked like a Tolkien elf extra :)  Both portraits were done with conte' crayon in about an hour (each).

Honoring The Hobbit and the New Year

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Well, it's just about time for New Year's resolutions, and resolving art stuff is always at the top of my list!  To whet the appetite for my planned year of making more good art stuff (I didn't say I was resolving to use better grammar), here's the Hobbit bookplate that I made in response to the release of The Hobbit movie (part one!).  I printed them onto adhesive paper and gave them out with some of my Christmas cards.  Do people actually use bookplates?  Who knows.  (snarky comments received about being a Kindle user: 1)  But bookplates are pretty :)

Lola sketches

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Here's some sketches I did the other week of a very cute bulldog named "Lola" that a friend owns.  She was doing mostly napping as you can see (it was a warm afternoon after all).

On the second page you can see where I did a skeleton analysis of her, trying to figure out how her bones were positioned.

She was super sweet and I just wanted to take her home :)

a published lady :)

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Yesterday I received a copy of the book that I contributed two illustrations for back in September.  Woo Hoo!  I've had a few other small things published, but this is the first time I've been able to see my work printed in a physical book (versus game cards, digital pdf downloads, etc.) so it feels really special :)

The book is an informational reference guide regarding the temple of the Israelites as described in the Old Testament of the Bible.  Rose Publishing releases products for the religious market and was my client for the job.  I posted a shot of the finished pieces back in a September post here.  And here's me holding the book open to my page.

Well, onward and upward.  The weather is sunny and warm here in Cali (I'm so thankful to live here) and next week we'll get our extra hour of daylight back again.  I'm ready to push forward and re-double my efforts with my art.

p.s. You can order your copy of the Rose Guide to the Temple here.

:)