Mythological Beasts and Spirits: Valkyries (cont.)

Oops! I lied. I was originally going to do something different. It’s been an uncommonly busy summer for my wife and for me, and school is about to start again for both of us (the school nurse and the college professor). What I’m trying to say is that I’m feeling lazy, so I’m going to try to get by with some additional pictures I drew of a Valkyrie for my story poem, The Fear of a Farmer. I’ve been writing ad nauseum that it’s copyrighted but not yet published. Due to the many illustrations, it is taking me a long time to get it formatted.

I wrote last week, that portraying Valkyries requires some tricks with picture composition in order to make them more evocative. I obviously chose adding wings, but most artists don’t do this. In addition, I wanted to develop the visual character of Anni, the Valkyrie, by doing a portrait and playing with her facial expressions. In this picture, she is giving the farmer the instructions he must follow to save his village from an oncoming invasion.

The following illustration shows her pondering the fate of the farmer. I added an inquisitive sea gull to accentuate the mood.

Finally, I tried a different action pose because, well, it just sort of blew into my mind and wouldn’t leave. In this rendering, she is reaching into the ocean to save the farmer from drowning.

Well, that’s it. I told you I was feeling lazy. Next week, I’ll take on another entity.