Mystical Forest of the North

I have always loved Fairy Tales, and Northern Folklore. I grew up with tales illustrated by John Bauer, and his art have always fascinated me. I am currently working on a portfolio based on the environments around me; Swedish Pine Forests and all the lore that comes with it. 

I did these as I was practising watercolor techniques. It was hard to squeeze in any real detail as the paper size was no larger than 5"x7" (about 12.5x18 cm). Color enhancements was made in Photoshop.

Above: Gnomes have always played a big part in the fairy-tales I've been reading. Below: thumbs from my sketchbook of what's to come.

Desert Troops Concept work

As I continue to write on the story itself, I am still exploring the visual style of it. There is a lot of sand in this story, and thus I needed a battle-suit for the Desert Troops. I started out with Millie as she is one of the main characters of the story. Here is version 2 in progress.

  

 The drafts for this started in my sketchbook a few years back

The idea here was to give her a small cloak to make her stand out as an officer in command, however, I later rejected the idea as too many loose parts only tend to be in the way on the battle-field.

Éowyn and the Nazgûl (Final)

Finally it is finished and submitted. Thank you all that have been surportive during its creation. These are the words of J.R.R. Tolkien that inspired this piece:

"Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow past away. A light fell about her and her hair shone in the sunrise.

        Out of the wreck rose the black rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill. "

I had great fun during this challenge and I learned a lot! Furthermore, here is a picture of the final pencil work for you:

Previous posts on this piece: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Éowyn and the Nazgûl (part 4)

I'm almost done with the lower half. I am not very happy with the sky however, so might do a repaint of it seperately. I have added Snowmane and a hint of King Théoden in the forground.

 I made a speedpaint of the changes before I painted them. I believe the sky will look something closer to this. It feels less busy but still frames the image. Final remains to be seen though.

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhand is a movie of which tale I never get tired of. Thanks to Tim Burton's excellent directing combined with his unique visual style, perfect casting and a fantastic soundtrack by Danny Elfman, it got me hooked from the first time I saw it.

  

Not too long ago I discovered a blog called Scissorhands 20th. It is a wonderful tribute to Edward Scissorhands 20th anniversary where invited artists have contributed with artworks of their own visions of the movie. It brought back a lot of good memories, and this inspired me to make my own piece. So I picked up the ol' DVD and watched it again, put on some Danny Elfman music to get in the mood and got down to work. This is the result.

Indiana Jones and Marion

I have always enjoyed the Indiana Jones movies, the adventures, the action, the romance, the mysticism. I did my first fanart when I was 8 years old, and I had not even seen a whole movie yet. A few weeks ago I picked up my Indiana DVD-box and felt it was time to watch it again, and after that came the idea to make this:

Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood escaping the explosions at the digsite of Tanis. The idea was to frame them with the black smoke in the background. I came up with this angle as thumb no 3. After that I started to roughly sketch it up... A selection of the progress below:

 

 From left to right: 1.Rough sketch (PS), 2. Pencils with first color wash, 3. Watercolor Progress, 4. Finished Piece (PS). 

White Lady

 

I really like this concept, all white. The White Lady was initially inspired from the character Gem in Tron: Legacy. I was working on this piece just a small bit at the time every now and then. It went through several stages from initial rough to finished piece. I had no intention on any background when I started.

The Commander

I wanted him to be the overseer of everything from secret documents to the personal lives of his staff. A mentor as well as a hardened soldier. This was the final concept.

Bad Guys

As I was working on the concept of Bad Guys, I came up with the Top Player. Bad guy as he is, his custom made yo-yo is the only thing that can keep him calm :-)

This is his partner in crime, Savant De Mal.

Anna

 

As a part of a Sci-Fi story I'm writing on, this was of my first concept drawings of "Anna". She lives her life to the extent she can due to a heart condition. She has alot of compassion and always want to do something good, helping people with the little things.

But for the goodhearted there are times of loneliness too. This was my second drawing of Anna. I was still unsure about what her apartment should look like, so I decided to make it night time.