Odin— E Burne-Jones C. (1870)
Illustration Final- Mythology
Connection- Odin is a figure from Norse Mythology that will be in one of the 5 piece Illustrations in the apocalyptic myth Ragnarok.
Last of the three tumblr posts with this being another illustration from Norse Mythology. Out of all the interpretations I’ve seen of the god Odin, this illustration is actually one of my favorite versions thus far. Sitting on his throne with his airborne messengers Huginn and Muninn on his shoulder and Geri and Freki (omens of good luck) at his feet, Jones manages to capture an Odin who, unlike most of his interpretations, is giving off his worldly wisdom rather than a battle aura preparing to enter the battlefield.
In fact from the way Jones uses the monochromatic color scheme, the illustration has you visualizing a version of Odin that’s burdened with the very knowledge which he loves and the events (like Ragnarok) he foresees but can’t prevent from happening.
It gives off a more human feel, in my opinion, to the god Odin and I like that particular sense of vulnerability you can see within the piece that doesn’t make the god as an invincible or perfect figure.
Thor vs. Jormungandr —James Alexander (1995)
Illustration Final- Mythology
Connection- Jormungandr is a figure from Norse Mythology that will be in one of the 5 piece Illustrations in the apocalyptic myth Ragnarok.
I’m kind of annoyed at how hard it was to find James Alexander’s mythology illustrations and I’ll be honest and say that this isn’t one of my favorite pieces done by him either. But since I can’t find any other decent ones or get a link to any of his other artworks (that were in my Myth book), this one will just have to do for this week’s post.
Based on the Norse Mythology of Raganrok, this illustration depicts the moment where Thor is engaging Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent, and is preparing to slay it within battle during the final moments. Now parts of the reasons why I’m not a fan of this piece is mainly because I feel that Alexander just didn’t hit the mark when it came to Migard’s Serpent. I mean, it could just be me personally, but a mythological creature that is large enough to encircle the entire planet Earth should seem so much larger within the illustration than just feeling like some overgrown snake. =/
Aside from that though, I really like the amount of tension he has showing within the piece between Thor and Jormundandr and the way he highlights his figures with that yellow tint from the burning flames behind them.
Vortigern- Alan Lee (1984)
http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/merlin.html
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/lee.htm
Illustration Final- Mythology
Connection- The Red and White Dragons are figures in Celtic Mythology that will be used in one of the 5 piece Illustrations connecting on the path towards the ‘end’.
I’m not entirely sure if the faded colors were done on purpose or not but this is unfortunately the best quality image I could find of this piece. Done by the artist Alan Lee in 1984, this illustration is based upon the Celtic myth where Vortigern (a 5th century ruler of Britain) tried to build a grand castle and eventually discovered the red and white dragons battling beneath the site. It’s actually one of two myths that I read about the red and white dragon, as the other one involved Lludd and Llevelys, but this is going to be the one that I’ll be using in my final.
As for the colors I can’t really talk too much about it, as I’m not sure of whether it’s done intentionally or not, but I love how Lee manages to capture that precise moment when the dragons start to surface up from beneath the castle. And in a way the subtle use of color really works nicely in this illustration too as he uses it to bring attention to the important key elements (like the dragons, young Merlin, and Vortigern) without making them too overpowering in the overall piece.
4/8/11
Meh. Just a random character sketch done today in Video.
I can’t WAIT till that class is done. 4 more classes remaining! =)
Julianna Kolakis- Vardogl
http://www.kolakis-studio.com/
Like Artemis Kolakis, Julianna Kolakis manages to make her mythological creatures look absolutely stunning in both form and color. I’m actually really annoyed that my scanner crapped out on this piece and couldn’t upload it to it’s highest quality, but even through the decent scan, you can’t just help but admire the way Kolakis manipulates the moonlight behind her fairy to really bring out the highlights in her silken transparent dress and wings. I mean you can just feel the graceful decent of her figure as she flies down from from the night sky and the way she manipulates the purple highlights in the Vardogl skin against the blue is just a nice color balance which really adds to this illustration very nicely.
And as for who/what this faerie is:
“These tiny nocturnal fairies appear in icelandic folklore, and also in Norwegian legends where they are known as thussers. They are painfully shy and avoid humans but are not at all malicious. At night the whole population of Vardogls awakens to honor the moon goddess with song and dance. They adore traditional scandinavian folk music, and play the fiddle exceptionally well. They are very community oriented, as shown by their celebrations, but will flee if any humans try to join in.”
— Fantasy Artist’s Pocket Reference: Phantastic Faeries.
Bob Hobbs- Mantis
http://www.moordragonarts.com/frontpage.html#panelthree-tab
Bob Hobbs work is really something that, unless you find some of his better pieces like above, you won’t really like too much. It’s a bit of a shame that his nicer illustrations aren’t in his portfolio (and I have no idea why they’re not) BUT, when you do manage to see his nicer art pieces, you’ll start to see a nice playful undertone within his mythological creatures that make it artwork nice to look at. For the mantis one in particular I really like how he managed to capture the essence of a pray mantis in the anthropomorphism and create an illustration of the mantis that wasn’t entirely vicious or menacing. The way he does his textures is also a nice touch and, if his digital art were more like this, then I’d really enjoy his work much more without thinking that it was on the amateurish part of the spectrum.
And as for the myth it’s based on:
“The Bushmen of the Kalahari in Africa believe in a spirit creature called of food and protects the belongings of humans. He has a man’s body with the head of a praying mantis. It was Mantis who gave the bushmen fire to cook and keep warm with, stealing it from the ostrich, who kept it hidden under its wing. He tricked the ostrich into reaching into a tree to get food- as the bird stretched its wings he darted underneath and stole the fire.”
—Fantasy Artist’s pocket reference: Dragons & Fantasy Beasts
Gary A. Lippincott- Faith and Fairies/ Earth Mother
http://www.garylippincott.com/portfolio.html
ARG! Late. I Know these are being posted late, and I apologize for this, but I suppose, as of now, being late is better then not posting at all so…..
Here are the 3 illustrations for my mythology final and one of the things I love most about mythology (aside from the stories, gods, myths, and worlds) are the mythological creatures and the important part they play within the legends. Gary A Lippincott has an eye for detail when creating these mythic places for his fairies and that detail shows from the little windows he has in the small buildings down to the stairway and miniature gardens scattered about. The way the browns play off the greens in this watercolor piece are also real nice touch and I absolutely love how the scenery really has a nice earthy feel to it that can easily be seen as part of the forest fairy realm.
If it had a myth to go with it I’d type that up but this is a piece that just stands alone and I think any earthen fairy myth can go nicely with it so…this one is for your imaginations to decide what the myth is folks. :)
Leonard Nimoy (Spock)- Noma Bar
http://www.puppiesandflowers.com/?p=2302
Noma Bar is the last of the caricature artists for this week and one who manages to pull off the ‘simple yet effective’ real nicely. Without adding too much detail to her portraits, and only including facial features that are perhaps absolutely necessary, Bar manages to successfully capture her subject’s psyche in a way that you think shouldn’t work but actually does. It’s overall simplicity along with her ability to create recognizable portraits from minimum detail is what makes her art so tasteful and her unique talent in doing so is truly something to admire and respect.
Oprah Winfrey- Philip Burke
http://shop.lbmadison.com/home.php
One of the things I particularly like about Burke’s artwork is how he manages to successfully use color to help draw out his subject’s ”psyche” or”aura” within his portrait pieces. By manipulating the bright and contrasting colors (such as the orange, used for Oprah’s skin and the blue in her hair) the portrait itself manages to give off the ‘feel’ of being Oprah Winfrey while allowing everything within the caricature to work together harmoniously. It’s a technique that I find works well for Burke’s work and one that will always make his portraits interesting to look at.
Hugh Laurie (House)- Nelson Santos
http://karikamania.no.sapo.pt/
http://www.caricature.org/artists/nelsonsantos/
Despite how I personally feel about caricature portraits, I have to say that Santos really did a good job with his caricature of House. From the first moment I saw this amongst his pieces, I couldn’t help but laugh at just how much the entire portrait literally screams both House and Hugh Laurie. I mean yes a majority of caricatures can capture a person’s physical features and abstract them to the point where they’re still recognizable but, in my opinion, there are only some artists who can manage to do that while retaining the character/person’s essence for who they really are.
So the fact that Santos manages to do both is a real nice treat and a good reminder as to why I don’t completely hate caricature/portrait art.
