Ragnarok

[oglzogl]

I have decided that I am going to use Ragnarok as the subject for my next piece. I will be adding character sketches and other work as I finish them..

It is probably going to be difficult to see what I have envisioned for this idea.. but I do have it planned out pretty well in my head. My sketches may be hard to read but they are helpful to me in determining lighting, color placement, the shapes I'll be using, etc.

I am really going after a very stylized look. I have always had a strong interest in both modern and classical works. For myself though.. I'd have to say I've always felt more compelled to create abstract shapes however. For many years I tryed to develop a style that was something of a blend of cubism, expressionism and metaphysical painting. I am now finding myself taking steps in another direction.. although I still love to create distorted figures and shapes I also want to add somewhat classical elements to this mix. These are my baby-steps in that direction.

Anyway, enough BS.

This is my first drawing of a character for my Ragnarok piece:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Surt-low.jpg

This is Surt, getting ready to strike the World Tree Yggdrasill...

"Surt sets the world ablaze with his flaming sword. None of the nine worlds escaped from the fire. The earth tried to sink into the sea to avoid the scorching heat. Gods and men, giants and dwarves will all perished in the fire. Fire that reach high as the heaven. The sun will darken and the stars will vanish from heaven."

[Fozzybar]

Hi oglzogl, it's me again :D

Your thoughts and steps into new artistic directions sound interesting and promising...we are on hold...

[ODIN SIX]

I agree with the Professor!!!!!!

Man I am all Excited about this one!!!!!!!

I like the energy coming out of his EYES

[rjm]

kewl contour

[oglzogl]

Thank you.. I am pretty excited about this too.

Here is another drawing. This is Thor:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Thor-low.jpg

Edit: Thor's left arm seemed a little dead to me so I thought I might have it holding back Jörmungand.. Sitting on the snakes stomach (or chest, or whatever it would be called on a serpent). Something like this:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/ThorArm-low.jpg

Thor is kind of an homage to one of my favorite sculptures.. The Laocoon (http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/laocoon/laocoon.html). Seems to fit well with the theme too.

"The thunder-god Thor smashed Midgard Serpent to death with his mighty Mjollnir, but the conflict will exact a heavy toll on the god. Thor will succumbed from the searing venom of Jörmungand (Midgard Serpent)."

[oglzogl]

Jörmungand:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Jormungand-low.jpg

[ODIN SIX]

Damn your really into man !!!!!!!!

How is this all going to come together????

Seprate pics,, or big coladge ???????

WHat ever it you are doing I know it will be Great!!!!:beer:

[oglzogl]

:) thanks, I am really happy with how this is coming together.

I do have the idea overall composition roughed out but that is too big to scan and is really just a rough layout. I am just now drawing each element individually now and will seam them bask togehter for the final version.

Basically, what I envision is Surt striding over the mountains getting ready to strike the World Tree. Both will be in the background. Below the World tree, in the middleground, Thor and Jörmungand will be doing battle. To Thors right I plan on putting a battle scene with somewhat anonimous characters fighting one another. Slightly in front of Thor and to the left of the Serpent, Odin (I've decided he will get his mount ;) ) and Fenrir will be engagged in battle.. Odin will also be accompanied by his two wolves and the two crows. I will also have Odins son (forget his name) ready to pounce on Fenrir off to the side. Closer to the foreground I am going to have Heimdall and Loki fighting one another. And in the very front of the image I will have Tyr being feasted upon by a wolf.. because I think he was the first to fall. I will probably have some warriors rushing up to try and get that damn wolf away from Tyr's body..

Well, it's going to be a big battle.. and quite the project. It'll take me some time but I hope it will be worth it. We shall see :D

[ODIN SIX]

:bow: YOu Are the man!!!!!! Tihs will Take some time ,, no????:D ..... I almost forgot about the wolves and the Crow.

Best of luck

[oglzogl]

Sliepner (Odin's eight-legged mount):

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/mount-low.jpg

[oglzogl]

Odin:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Odin-low.jpg

"Odin fought with his mighty spear Gungnir against the monstrous wolf Fenrir. Eventually, Odin fell, devoured by Fenrir. Silent Vidar, seeing his father fall to the giant wolf, bound upon Fenrir and tore the wolf's jaws apart with his bare hands."

[ODIN SIX]

WOW!!!!

You almost captured my true essance,, and you have never
seen me.....:thumbsup:

[gallon]

just wanted to add some funny mythogy stuff.
Vidar, the God who eventually tear the fenris wolf apart is the God of shoemaking (I think he had other tasks as well :)), and has one shoe that was made from leftover and unused skin, and the sole on that shoe , well, it's very thick. He then plant that shoe on the Fenris lower jaw and the wolf's teeth don't penetrate it. Then he bends the upper jaw until it cracks and the wolf is dead.

Where are you from, oglzogl ?
I think it's great when "non-scandinavian" people interpret the scandinavian and norse myths! You might be from scandinavia, but your text under the pics kinda gives a hint your from a english speaking counrty. HAve u seen the "rebirth of odin" -pic?

[oglzogl]

Heh.. I didn't know that about Vidar. You'd imagine that it would take quite the hero to take out Fenrir and not a cobbler. But, I guess cobblers can be heros too.

I live the the States. In Salt Lake specifically. I really don't know where my interest in mythology came from.. all I know is I've had that interest all my life. When I was younger my family moved around all over the place.. even lived in the Taiwan for a few years.. but that doesn't explain where my love of mythology came from I guess. My ancestry is Danish and Irish... I feel like I grew up on a lot of these stories. My grandma was a teacher and she used to send me a lot of these books and stories when I was a kid.

I think I did see the Rebirth of Odin. It was the bust with the very nice armor. He was missing an eye (of course ;) ). I liked it quite a bit. Very nice stuff :D

And Odin, I think I saw you mug in the Lounge.. Thse pictures of yourself that you scanned in were an inspiration :D

[oglzogl]

Fenrir:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Fenrir-low.jpg

"When Ragnarök arrived, Fenrir broke free from his fetter, and joined the other giants and monsters in a war against the gods. Fenrir fought against Odin, until the wolf killed and devoured Odin."

[oglzogl]

Odin's wolves:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Wolves-low.jpg

[oglzogl]

Heimdall:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/heimdall-low.jpg

"Heimdall will warn the gods of Aesir of Ragnarök by sounding his horn Gjallahorn. It would be the sound of doom. The gods will arm themselves for the war, even though they knew that they couldn't win."

[oglzogl]

Loki:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/loki-low.jpg

"Loki, who was confined in a cavern and punished for his involvement with Balder's death, will escape from his imprisonment, and lead the giants, and his monstrous offspring, to destroy the gods and mankind."

I was trying to portray this god of mischief as somebody enjoying the fruits of his labors. Not as a god of war.. but as someone who has been longing for, and working towards, the destruction of everything with all of his being. And he is finally seeing it played out. I am kind of wondering if this is the right approach to take with this character but it seemed appropriate.

I think that is really it for the main characters. I've still got to draw the World Tree and some support characters and then I'll start coloring. don't know that I'll post any more of these drawings.. just the finished piece :D

[Fozzybar]

Yeah...can't wait...everytime i see this thread on top, because you posted something i got curious while loading, since i was awaiting the finished composition :p

Hurry up ;)

[oglzogl]

Heh.. fooled you one more time ;) This is taking me a bit longer than I'd hoped. Slow and steady wins the race.. I've heard anyway. Just got tied up in some freelance design. And my wife introduced me to a series of books I've really been liking. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Read five in a row so far. :D And.. been playing Warcraft III like mad. Ah well. Enough excuses. I'm going to get working at a more steady pace getting this finished.

Spent some time today doing this:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/loki-color.jpg

Not too sure about it yet.. but, it's a start at least.

[ODIN SIX]

oglzogl,,,

Excellent!!

Vampires Rock,, I tore my self away from School Stuff to
Look around here.. I got some life drawing I 'll post soon...
Rigging Models blows chickens..

Good work ,,, I have all these visions of how this is all going
to come together....:cool:
I can not wait to see it... It will be amazing :thumbsup:


:EDIT:

Have you ever heard of a metal Group called MANOWAR????

They Rock,,, Your work reminds me of some of thier songs!!!

[Fozzybar]

Ok...fooled again...though it's a more finished work...

But i guess you'll work on the last guy, since it isn't at the oglzogl finished-level :D

[cucaracha]

wow! I love that style

Will you draw all the locations? Like Asgard, Bifröst and so on?
I'd like to see Thor on his chariot throwing lightnings and all that :D

[oglzogl]

Thanks..

Odin.. glad you like :D Hey, you sound like your pretty busy. But if you like vampires, and you can find the time, I recommend these Anita Blake (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/118/ref=pd_sr_ec_ser_b/104-2127674-5335903) books. Nothing really to them but pure entertainment. Good stuff though.

Never heard of Manowar. Have to check into that...


Fozzy, Yeah, I am not sure how I feel about that last one. Tried out a new method in Illustrator because I thought it would save time but now I kind of regret it. I wasn't able to approach it the same way because of that. I'll get it worked out though.


And cucaracha, Thanks! I am glad you like. I doubt I will be putting those locations into this piece. I think it will be almost clastrophobic with the characters running around. It will be a battle scene and I don't think I'll put in a whole lot of architecture, etc. I do have Thor in the piece though. He is fighting the Midgard serpent. He is calling down some lightning.. but no chariot.

Well, long as I'm posting, here is what I did today:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/heimdall-color.jpg

The background on these is subject to change. I just wanted to place the figures on some color rather than just white.

Thanks again for the kind words :D

[Fozzybar]

Aaaaaahh.....that's oglzogl!!!

I just love this style :) :love:

Anyway a few crits:

- The left hand is not in the right perspective considering the axes perspective

- The thumb on the right hand looks weird...maybe it should enclose the instrument

- The right leg looks flat...you should bring more volume to it...also the fade should be other way round...from black to blue, since the left leg drops a shadow on it

- There is an outline missing on the right upper arm (beneath the triceps)

[oglzogl]

Thanks for the crits fozzy.. You know, the that right hand, especially, has been bugging me for a while. Not just the thumb... thw whole hand. I'll fix that up.
The leg does need more volume for sure. I just wanted to see how little detail I could get away with on there. I think you are right though.. needs more. Especially sinced those highlights are there. And your right about the light source on the leg too.
The hand holding the axe doesn't particularly bother me... but I can see what you mean. He does seem to be holding it at a funny angle. The pad of his hand does sit too high on the axe.
Your right about the outlines too. They are there.. but I dropped the background in last and that is the same color as a lot of the outlines. Should have chosen a different color.
Well, Thanks again Foz. I am just thinking while typing hope you don't mind.
Much appreciated. :chug:

[ODIN SIX]

I agree with Fozzy...

The ground shadow is bothering me ... it seems like a blob
of black instead of a shadow... Keep Cranking out man

[oglzogl]

... maybe I will keep posting these colored characters. The feedback is helpful.

The backgrounds on these have been left unfinished and are just a way for me to see the character on a color. Helps me to visualize it better. The same holds true with this picture.

Here is Surt once again... colored :D

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Surt-Color.jpg

Kind of went AWOL on the coloring but I am happy with it I think...

[gallon]

Do you colour these in Illustrator?? In that case it's simply amazing :)

Nice colours, but drop the reflection-star on Surt.

[Fozzybar]

Yes, he coloures in Illustrator and yes, it is amazing :)

It's an oglzogl again...

crits:

- This fire/smoke (sorry, if i am totally wrong, i was too lazy to look at the description at page 1 :emb: ) looks nice and is a strong part in this piece, but i would suggest to macke the outline thinner at the rightmost...it will look looser and won't act as a border, which doesn't match to this element...

- The dark fade in the legs look odd to me...i guess, it's because it doesn't look like your overall style, since the outlines are missing and there aren't much details, though it's a good way to get the focus on the upper part.

- Maybe it's just me (or my eyes), but the shaft of the sword is a little bit too high, considering the rest of the blade...

Very warm feeling and good color job as always, oggy...sorry, but i couldn't resist :D

[oglzogl]

Thanks again :D

Yeah.. Illustrator is the shiznit! I realy like that tool and am usually happy with the results. Glad you are too.

About the star.. you are probably right. It is kind of a cheesy effect. after I was finished I just wasnt sure if the gold bracers were coming across as well as I'd hoped and this was a cheap effect. I do think it's good as gone though.

I agree about the black outlines in the firey region. Unnecissary. Ill work on those some more.

About the legs.. I trying to bring the attention up onto his torso. Most of the action will be at Surt's feet and I thought I did'nt want to call too much atttention to his legs and take away from other elements (which they might when the final picture is complete. Although it is probably hard to see how I will put this all together. Hell, I am starting to have questions about that myself... LOL)

I am not sure about the sword.. I tried to get them to line up well but probably should have used some guides. I'll lay some of those down and see what they show.

Thanks for the encouragins words and crits. They are very helpful. I may not make these changes until I have the final layout going but they will be addresssed.

And Fozzy... Oggy?


LOL! :D

[Fozzybar]

Hehe...i don't know, but while writing my last replies, it was on the tip of my tongue everytime when inserting your nick...maybe because most of you call me Fozzy... :huh:

[Soupy]

Hey I just wanted to bump this up to the top, cause i think every1 should see ur work, Ogl!! I have always loved ur work. Great job!!

[ODIN SIX]

I Agree !!!!


Like the New Avatar:beer:

[oglzogl]

Thanks my friends..

I've actually had to walk away from this for a bit. I worked on it some more and have finished Thor and started the world serpent. Maybe I'll post Thor later and show you where I am at.

Like I said, I had to walk away from this. The serpent started to wear me down.. all those scales. So, to try and get myself going again I've been oil painting. Sometimes you just have to take a break from the monitor :) I'll get this going though as soon as I can sit still at a computer again.

Edit: Well, It's later.. and here is Thor:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/Thor-Color.jpg

Thanks again.

[ODIN SIX]

Never sease to amaze !!!!!!

Looking Good,,, Here is a funny one...

Post a tutorial on how you do it;)

[oglzogl]

Ok, I will give you a very simple tutorial on how I make these.. I will just focus on one shape (because really, I am working on getting one shape made at a time and getting that shape to tie into the whole and make the whole piece work together). You can kind of see, in the latest colored version of Thor, the steps I take in my process.

First, I sketch out a shape. Then I scan in the shape and import the scan into Illustrator:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/Sketch.gif

Then I will take the pen tool (http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/PenTool.gif) and go over the scanned sketch with it and basically make a solid vector shape:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/Fill.gif

Then I will use the Mesh Tool (http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/MeshTool.gif) and click on the shape I just made. This will allow you to add nodes to the inside of a vector shape:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/1Nodes.gif

... that you can color and create very customizable gradients:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/2Nodes.gif

... you can add as many of these nodes to the vector shape as you like:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/3Nodes.gif

... and manipulate the way that the gradients work together by playing with the "handles" on each node (this is hard to explain but hopefully you get the idea from the image below):

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/4Nodes.gif

And then, you end up with something like this:

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Tut/5.gif


Hopefully this gives you an idea of what can be done. If I wasn't very clear let me know.. and I will try to explain myself better. Or if you have questions, just ask.

Yeah, I do that for damn near every shape in my drawing.

[oglzogl]

Kind of hesitant to bump the thread because it is taking me so damn long to finish this up. I did just finish Odin though and I felt like showing it.. here it is :)

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/odin-color.jpg

The dark blue shading on his left side is meant to be energy (being generated from the end of his spear) reflecting on the armor. Well, this isn't completely done.. still need to finish his spear.

[Soupy]

That kicks ass man!! Bump it up all you want! Thats why i did a long time ago :D

[oglzogl]

Thank you my man! Finally getting back into the groove and have enough attention span to sit at my computer again ;)

[Fozzybar]

Nice oglzogl!

Looks like there are much more details or should i say little areas on this pic...

The sword kicks ass! :clapping2:

[oglzogl]

Thanks again Fozzy..

Yeah, lots of little details on the armor. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Next I'll do Odins mount...

[oglzogl]

Maybe the last post on this for a week or two (got some freelance design pouring in. Going to take up my nights and weekends. I'm a graphic designer by day, fight crime at night.. I guess freelance is good? right? sometimes I wonder LOL!).. but I wanted to finish the mount tonight.

I am not sure if the horse (yeah, it's supposed to have all those legs) is done but I just need to look at it for a bit. Any feedback/impressions/thoughts are appreciated :D

The background is nowhere near complete either..

Anyway, here it is.

http://www.toddpowelson.com/Ragnarok/mount-color.jpg

[boehmke]

oglzogl,

If you havn't seen the work of Bart Sears you need to check him out ASAP! Your style is very close to his and I love it! Give your self a few more years and your gonna catch up to this guy!

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/features/97384320045357.htm

[oglzogl]

Oh man.. thanks for the compliment!

I've been collecting the First since it started coming out. I love that stuff :D

[Irate Customer]

With each piece I was more intriqued to see what you would come up with next. Odin pose is flawless, and the color scheme is awesome. You are doing an awesome job on these. Please keep us posted.

Irate

[oglzogl]

Another bump..

http://www.toddpowelson.com/ragnarok/Fenrir-color.jpg

Found some time today to get back to work on this. Hopefully I am caught up on my design work for a few weeks and can get back to this and finally finish it.

Thanks for the kind word Irate.. It feels good to hear your going in the right direction.

[siskol p]

this drawing really reminds me of the comic character ICON.. i cant exactly remember what company did him, but there was this big crossover with DC. any who, on the critical side, i'd venture to say that your stuff is a bit too graphic for the subject your doing it for, i'd take a look at some classical, or better yet romantic era art for inspiration if i were you. but you do have good technique

[oglzogl]

Thanks for the feedback siskol :)

I've never heard of the Icon character. I tried to look it up but wasnt able to find anything. Maybe Ill have to ask my comic retailer about him (is it a him?)

You have also got me thinking about Romanticism in particular and why I wouldnt choose to use that style while creating a piece like this. Traditionally, that probably would have been the formula used when creating something like this..

This will be hard to put into words.. but Ill try. Romanticism, I think, tries to portray a figure as heroic (when the figure is used). While I understand that you might think that is what I am trying to do (and Id even agree with that.. up to a point) I really do not have a whole lot of desire to make my characters larger than life. This scene is meant to portray the gods dying (or the moment before their deaths), and I would like to give it a more modern spin. I cannot help but put them into a more modern context. Id like to see Odin getting thrown off his horse, because the horse was startled, rather than having him ride nobly to his death. To me, there is a certain sort of realism in portraying that.

Maybe I misunderstood why you said I should look at Romaticism for a point of reference when I create something like this but that is, perhaps, why I didn't use that kind of style. Now these are my own thoughts about my creation.. doesnt mean I dont appreciate it when someone else might use that style.. or that I dont appreciate a lot of Romaticism or some of the Romantic painters. That style is just not for me..

Classical art.. well, now that is something to inspire. The thing I would like to accomplish with the things I am making now is to try and blend my modern art interest with my love of classical artwork. I probably doesnt show, but I based my image of Thor off the Laocoon. Still, modern art is important to me. And I cannot let it go. Sometimes when I am making these peices, I think they remind me of Miro with the wat Ive been using color.. and that makes me smile.

Ive still got a long way to go before I can say Ive been completely successful blending past and future styles.. but that is what I am trying to do.

And comic books and graphic design are a huge part of me too. I am a graphic designer by trade after all :)

I really do appreciate what you said. It got me thinking about things I hadnt really thought of before. Hope you dont mind that I wrote them down.. and I hope my thoughts make sense :D