Oh, man I'm neglecting this blog so badly. 

I've accumulated so much paintings since the last post. Lets start with a work for Falchion Games for  their game Go to Hell Dave and some step by step progress 

You can find them here - https://www.facebook.com/GoToHellDave?fref=ts 

 Sketches

 and some concepts

 Ah, this is art for Legacy tcg

  So, Recently I've started experimenting with ink. 

This is a first sketch of Kim Coates and Ryan Hurst from Sons of Anarchy. 

Tig looks crosseyed and Opie looks plain weird. I hope my newer paintings will look slightly better.

Recently a friend asked me to paint something for an information book for a fantasy convention.
I felt awesome seeing everyone there carrying a copy around.
http://sarmati.deviantart.com/#/d5g4tqw here's the painting itself.

Fantasy illustration

Ok so this is another part of my progress on the illustration I started in the last post I believe. 

I progressed from the idea of a victorious siege of a town to an army  of  evil elves that turn into stone upon the light hitting their skin. Also, I sunk the city.

Ok, recently I had some busy times moving out from the house I've been renting and since I've finished university I wanted to celebrate and spend my last few weeks with friends. 

It's been a wonderful three years guys and gals. 

I still don't know what I'll be doing with my life yet. I know I'm  starting a deathline challenge when I come back to Poland

I'll certainly try to get some art job going on and carry on with freelance. 

 A quick colour gesture study. Remember do quick ones whenever you can.

I've started a new "generic" fantasy scene I've been working on the composition lately. Usually I don't think about it so much and finally screw over the painting so this time I made sure I've done some sketches and tweaking around.

In the final composition I chose I carried on with making lots and lots of changes This is what I came up with.
Yeah I know it's not so great. I'll keep on working on it tomorrow.

Tracists : P

This morning I found on facebook this post about a school in Singapore that teaches students how to paint through... tracing. When it comes to me I think it's already harmful, but they also use the traced images to market their school which is not fair at all for the actual artists.
Please read this article and repost it wherever you can
http://adcomarttheft.tumblr.com/post/22716406838/adcom-art-theft-tracing-copying

Also if you want to know why tracing is so bad go to Dan Warrens blog. He explains quite clearly why it's bad for you:
http://danwarrenart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/im-huge-tracist.html

Naruto fanart

It's time for an update, since I wouldn't dare peak my head out without any art on my hands. This time I've got something new and different.

I was invited to a contest to design a naruto OC of one girl from DeviantART. I'm usually not fond of these type of things (and not a big Naruto fan), but this time I decided I can paint something for the sake of a practice. In the end it's painting a portrait. I had a lot of fun with it and it came along really nicely.

Since I've graduated I'll be getting some skills and a portfolio I'm happy with. Recently I saw this post on the Muddy Colors.
http://muddycolors.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/10-things-i-rememberabout-portfolios.html

Also a reason I've not been on for so long, apart from procrastination and being lazy, is that I've been having some commissions I can't show.
One's the biggest one I've had so far, I'm making about 20 odd paintings for a game called Ancient Apocalypse. I got pretty cool topic of barbaric wolf man tribes.
I've got to finish only about 7 more paintings only, and two more of a different race, but for now I can't talk about it too much.
btw soon I'll be moving back to Poland, so stay tuned.

University is over

I guess I've got some time to catch my breath because I submitted my university work. I will get the feedback and mark at the end of June and I really hope I pass. In the end instead of resting I've been going crazy at a big commission working hard in a pretty bad position what had an effect of my wrist protesting with a dull pain. I will take a few days of break and if it keeps on I'll contact the doctors.
My biggest worry is now that I might have damaged properly my wrist and it's just going to get worse.

If any of you have the same problem  visit Daarkens website http://enliighten.com/blog/tag/carpal-tunnel/
He's already suffering a lot from the carpal tunnel and he's been really nice and shared with us some of his methods of treatment and general principles of prevention.

Recently Dan Dos Santos posted on Muddy Colors (a collective blog of some awesome artists.) a very useful post on how to create a new website out of a blog.
http://muddycolors.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/how-to-make-free-website-in-less-than.html#comment-form
So if you're in a need of a free website visit above link.

Since I finished university and I don't know what to do next, MA or looking for a job or an internship I'll try to start a new Deathline challenge for me.
http://danwarrenart.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/crimson-daggers-deathline-challenge.html
I've also been thinking about getting a CGMA course over this summer.
http://www.cgmwmasterclasses.com/

You're welcome to post your comments and thoughts on any topics I brushed in this post.

Sterling Hundley's Approach

Yesterday awesome horse studios decided to stream Marc Scheff testing an innovative way of brainstorming ideas, by Sterling Hundley. He is a The Art Department teacher and a renown illustrator.

The approach to the topic is based on word combinations that are not obvious at the first glance. 

Firstly, the most important key words are chosen, and written down. Underneath them in columns all the possible association's are listen, everything you can think of connected to the key words. Afterwords little thumbnail images are drawn out. This creates a base of thoughts ideas and snippets of new combinations. These have to be linked into new ideas and from these new thumbnails are produced. 

Application - I have tried to apply the idea to my project. I wrote down some words and bridged them, then from the phrases I came up with I drew down some thumbnails. I have made at least a one big mistake, which is choosing a very broad aspect. This method is good for making book covers and film posters, not really concept art. It helps to create an innovative image that doesn't let a lot out to the viewer but makes them interested in the franchise so they want to research it more. It possibly could have quite a lot advantages in the process of working on concept arts, however the list would have to be excessively massive, or a new document should be created for each few concepts. Since in the games industry the speed is what counts and concept art usually are sets of simple images showcasing the world and its elements this method has little to offer for now. I think I will just stick with my casual way of sketching down thumbnail images, and use this technique while working on more elaborate illustrations.

 I took an attempt at acrylics and painted this sketch of a viking from a photo by CrestfallenWitch http://crestfallenwitch.deviantart.com/gallery/36259294#/d4u3iql

 Morning studies.

 Another wip of Conans father. The point of this exrcise is getting the hang of painting different types of hair, and fur. Also I practiced painting faces by the way. I'm quite bad at that too.

Studies today didn't really come along so well, so there are only four line sketches. 

 Right now I'm in the process of painting the skull in.

 I haven't posted my a progress of a study yet. I thought this would be interesting.

W

Ulfhednar process

This morning to warm up I did some gesture studies from http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php

Then I tried to ground the skill and did several designs of vikings.

 Afterwards I started working on the Ulfhednar image, I worked on the waves, which almost right away livened the composition. The colour scheme seemed to be slightly too unbalanced so I overlaid the whole image with a subtle layer of blue. This trick makes the image more life like.

 I didn't like the idea of a slightly dorky and cartoony dragonhead at the front, so I immediately started doing quick designs for a new one. Firstly I wanted only a different type, so I did a bit of a google search on drakkars. However quickly I came up with an idea of attaching a real skull. The backstory could be that the carved head was broken off, so the crew replaced it with a horned skull.
When I established the idea, I went off to look for different skulls, sheeps skull looked quite promising, but it's been done to death. Same thing with very dixie bulls skull. In the end I decided for the reindeer skull, which would make sense since they live in parts of Scandinavia.

DeviantART Group

Yesterday I registered a DeviantART group that collects viking and slaving related art. I've been adding peoples photographs, graphics, painting and drawings. My main reason for creating the group is to congregate people that enjoy the subject. Secondly, I want to bring history re-enactment artists together. It would be quite likely that they would be able to meet during history reconstruction camps.
Project benefits, the group works as a motivator and inspiration.
The address of the group is - http://viking-slav-art.deviantart.com/

I have been rendering this image for a while now and I will need to take a rest from it for a while. I've applied some changes to the looks of the Norns and generally pushed the image's rendition.

female Thor pin up

I feel extremely cheeky now. I just couldn't let an opportunity to draw a female Thor pass. I've added an Angry Mamma to Serge Birault's awesome pinup and Daemion Elias George-Cox's follow up with a little Sister.
From the left, Serge Birault,  Daemion Elias George-Cox and my work. 
http://papaninja.deviantart.com/ -  Serge's site
http://toonsketchbook.tumblr.com/ - Deamion's site

What happens at the roots of Yggdrasil

I came back to the Yggdrasil roots painting. I decided on the colour scheme. I want to create an organic feel and give the image a refreshing crisp atmosphere. The focal points are meant to represent through colour something eerie. I want the viewer to feel that there's going on something significant and occult, rather than three girls weaving in the roots of an old tree.
A note to myself - blackout the sides of the image and put some stars to symbolise that it's a universe tree. Norns' design - I might add some leathers and hides, or make them have lots of tattoos.

Sigurd bathing in dragons blood.
Snow witch.

Another set of initial sketches.
This time I have focused on supernatural creatures.
The first from the left is a draugr, it's simply a living dead that guards his tomb, or has some unfinished business.
The second one is a berserker fighting a group of vikings.
Third is less supernatural, it's only a ship burial.
The last one is a viking wizard; seidr.

Ygdrassil's ash is of all trees the most excellent,

And of most ships Skidbladnir,

Of the Aesir, Odin,

And of horses Sleipnir,

Bifrost of Bridges, and of skalds Bragi,

Habrok of hawkes, and of dogs, Garm

[Brimir of Swords.]

I got it of Kamil Rabiega. It seems to be a nordic poem [drapa] or a part of a saga.

Point of Agression

I'll deem this image to be done until I'll sort out all the others. The atmosphere was influenced by the images from covers of Skyrim and Call of Duty: Black Ops. There probably is plenty more similar images, it seems that this type of lighting works well. It certainly gives this ominous and mysterious vibe. 

While painting it I started thinking about the story behind the image. Who is the viking? Why is he holding the helmet. Why is the helmet rusty. Is it an angry father that's about to punish his son for neglecting his chores and not cleaning it. Maybe, it's a darker story and the helmet belonged to someone who has been slain and was a kinman of the hero. Maybe he's a scavenger raiding a tomb. 

All these variables were passing through my head while contemplating the image. It seems the image is eerie enough to keep a viewer fixed to it for a while.

On the technical side of things I have been noted by Garret Arney-Johnson that beards usually are not pure blond, and tend to have this caramel colour with the brightest parts around mouth and chin and at the surface. In the end I pushed the colour of his beard. 

I would like to thank Garret Arney-Johnson for help with that. I got this crit because I posted my work on the Awesome Horse Studio facebook group called Team Awesome. 

Link - http://www.facebook.com/groups/awesomehorse/

Also, recently I have been reminding myself the basic rules of colour theory from this website: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

Morning Sketches

I am collecting the Northlanders comicbooks and I was looking through one subtitled Blood in the Snow. The book collects stories about Scandinavian warfare. Since most of my paintings are of manly men fighting to death with nasty objects. I probably have missed a certain fact that when vikings run out of good men, they would leave quite a few husbandless women. This state of matter would force them to go for the vikingr and pillage a bit. Scandinavian women were almost as bold hearted as their men.

Starting from left.
-The first image shows the Odins court with the chief god brooding on his throne. The chamber stands tall, at the back wall there is a valknut banner (valknut - three interlocking triangles, symbol of slain warriors.)
-I guess this is one of vikings charging a line of a shieldwall with an axe. I guess it might be a feud of two families or tribes.
-Valkyrie. The image shows halls of Valhalla the court of slain where dead feast and cheer. The Valkyries are Odins beautiful maidens that serve during evenings of celebration and bring dead to the after-world.
-Shieldmaiden. Her village is on fire a housewife picks up a sword of possibly her butchered husband and presses on. Her enemies are stunned by the fact that a woman put on a fight. Guessing Normans brought up in the Christian faith were accustomed to women being inferior than men. Norse women are equal to their men. However, she doesn't have much time, it's time to run or die of retaliation.

Scarface

 Today I have been working mainly on this portrait of an angry viking holding a helmet. To create it I've put a lot of research visual as well as cultural. As you can observe ornaments on his cloak are historical as well as the brooch. The tape is made on special tablets and then sawn to rims of items of clothing or used to tie up things.
Examples of tablet weavings http://www.strojesigrid.zafriko.pl/pics/ozdobnik.jpg

 I have contacted some more proficient artists since I got stuck while painting the shadow underneath the beard. I thought it should have some colour reflecting from the blond facial hair but usually shadows are cool in colour temperature to pull them back into the image. In the end John Silva noted me that I should imply both have some of the beard colour impacting the cloth and then tint the shadow with blue. The results can be seen above.

John Silva' blog http://www.johnsilvaart.tk/

I used this website http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_helmets.htm to source some knowledge about the viking helmets. The read is very interested and right away busts myths such as horned headwear. 

 I keep including knifes similar to this one on most of my paintings because in medieval Scandinavia every free man owned a knife, for protection, and for daily tasks. Slaves didn't have one, and often didn't have a belt or leather boots. The size of the Seax's depended on the wealth of the owner.

I've been practising my textures and different materials. 

 This one is a tricky. I got stuck at this point. I want to include his arms and hands in the painting but I don't really know what to do with them. I guess the easiest way would be him holding some weapons or just showing blood on the hands. However I don't want more blood since the image with Loki has quite a lot of it.  I'll ask some other artists and friends for feedback on this piece.

WIP