
moonling
graphics
•mythology Illustrations•

Year:
2019
Medium:
Digital – Adobe Photoshop
This is as series of illustrations based on different tales from Nordic mythology. In total I created 3 different styles of digital paintings in a humble attempt to explore how an epic tale can be depicted in different visual languages.
The first illustration, ‘Loki’s Children’, depicts Loki’s three children: the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jörmungandr, and goddess of the underworld, Hel. This was done using a semi-realistic concept art style, and I used many textured brushes in Photoshop to create this effect.
The second illustration, ‘Mistletoe’, is based off the tale of Baldr’s murder, instigated by Loki. Son of Odin and Friggs, Baldr was a generous, joyful and courageous God amongst the rest, otherwise invincible, his only weakness, the mistletoe was being exposed. Loki the mischief Loki then takes the opportunity to guide blind Hodr to shoot a mistletoe at his brother Baldr, killing him.
‘Mistletoe’ was a major departure away from the semi-realistic concept that I was used to relying on when doing digital painting. It prioritises concept over realism; the dark hand represents Loki’s and his instigation while the hand holding the mistletoe represents Hodr.
The third illustration, ‘Sif’s Hair’ is a parody piece, adopting the style of popular cartoon series ‘The Simpsons’ to make this legendary tale more relatable to a younger audience. Sif is the wife of the storm god Thor, it is said that she had magnificent golden hair, which the trickster Loki cut off one day in her sleep. Livid, Thor demanded that Loki replaced the hair or he would break every bone in Loki’s body.


