Bjorn Ragnarsson - Vikings

Björn Ragnarsson - Vikings

by Lorena Loguén @lorena_loguen

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(Automatically translated from Spanish)

The idea of creating a (male) character integrated into a setting was a personal mini-challenge I really wanted to take on, a level-up where I could kill two birds with one stone. Trying out a cold environment, adding , ... I really enjoyed creating this illustration. Later, thanks to interesting feedback, I decided to try out some backlighting effects. These are the two versions of the illustration:

For some time now, the technique I've been using the most is based on stains. With a black brush at medium opacity, I " " the canvas determining the pose and framing, and from there, I build the figure with color. I'm trying to make my illustrations more detailed through color and stain work instead of the outlining and realistic virtuosity I always strove for in college. I like that hyperrealistic intention, but in animation I learned that it's not at all practical and that more impressionistic and fresh results can be achieved using stains and textured brushes, even ones I never thought I'd use (pay attention to the snow on the bushes, a flower brush!).

I leave you different stages of the process:

I made this portrait of the warrior Björn Ragnarsson based on the actor Alexander Ludwig from the series "Vikings." Pure fan art and very cartoon .

I really like this series. When it started I read that The History was planning to make a documentary series that would accurately depict the Viking Age. Honestly, my knowledge of the Viking people was a mix of cartoon fantasy, legends, and the little that appeared in my school history textbook. In short, they were the horned helmets of "Vicky the Viking," the magic potion prepared by the druid Getafix in "Asterix the Gaul," and the fact that they were a people with such violent and unpredictable armies that there was no need for tactics. Through plundering and axe-wielding, they reached the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea...

Now that I'm writing this, I'm not liking this realization at all! Luckily, the series sparked my curiosity, and I expanded and updated this information in my head by comparing the series with documentaries and other texts. While it's true that there is real data, there are also many unresolved theories, but it's clear that they didn't have horned helmets; it's possible that the magic potion existed in the form of a hallucinogenic mushroom; and that they were indeed violent but also good strategists, great navigators who took to the open sea, successful merchants, and that women also participated in the warriors.

There's a lot more historical data, but I'm going to focus on my illustration. I don't usually do many male characters or elaborate backgrounds, and one day when I was going to start with that, "If I Had a Heart" by Fever Ray (the Vikings intro song and a singer I also met thanks to the series) came on my player, so I started drawing lines of Björn Ragnarsson's face. I chose this character (this actor) because some faces seem very "cartoonizable" to me, and this is one of those cases. Besides, he's a character who didn't really catch my attention at first, but little by little, he's taken on a very interesting importance that, for me, overshadows the whole "son of" thing. In the series, he is presented as the first Viking to plan to reach and conquer the Mediterranean (I read that he was not the first, but he did achieve much more than the previous ones) and that makes him a possible Viking of those we were told about in school, although they never gave us names.

I thought the first one I would do would be Ragnar Lodbrok but any day now I'll do Lagertha, Flóki or Ivar Ragnarsson, they also have a history to scrutinize and are very "cartoonizable"!

What do you think? :)

Hice este retrato de el guerrero Björn Ragnarsson basado en el actor Alexander Ludwig de la serie "Vikings". Puro fan art y bien cartoon.

Me gusta mucho esta serie, cuando empezó leí que The History Channel pretendía hacer una serie documental que representase con veracidad lo que fue la era vikinga. Sinceramente, mis conocimientos sobre el pueblo vikingo eran un mix entre la fantasía de los dibujos animados, leyendas y lo poco que apareció en mi libro de historia en el colegio. En definitiva, cascos con cuernos de "Vicky el Vikingo", la poción mágica que preparaba el druida Panorámix en "Astérix el Galo" y que fueron un pueblo de ejércitos tan violentos e imprevisibles que no había necesidad alguna de táctica, a base de saqueos y hachazos llegaron hasta la península ibérica y el mar mediterráneo…

Ahora que lo escribo ¡no me está gustando nada darme cuenta de esto! Por suerte, la serie, despertó mi curiosidad y amplié y renové esta información en mi cabeza contrastando serie con documentales y otros textos. Si bien es cierto que existen datos reales también hay muchas teorías sin resolver pero queda claro que no tenían cascos con cuernos, es posible que la poción mágica existiese a modo de hongo alucinógeno y que sí eran violentos pero también buenos estrategas, grandes navegantes que se lanzaron a mar abierto, comerciantes de éxito y que las mujeres también participaban en las guerreras.

Hay muchos datos históricos más pero me voy a centrar en mi ilustración. No suelo hacer muchos personajes masculinos, ni fondos elaborados y un día que pretendía empezar con eso sonó en mi reproductor ”If i had a heart” de Fever Ray (canción de la intro de Vikings y cantante que también conocí gracias a la serie) así que empecé a tirar líneas de la cara de Björn Ragnarsson. Elegí a este personaje (a este actor) porque algunos rostros me resultan muy "cartoonizables" y este es uno de esos casos, además es un personaje que en sus inicios no me llamaba mucho la atención y poco a poco ha tomado una importancia muy interesante que, para mi, hace sombra a aquello de ser "hijo de". En la serie se plantea como el primer vikingo en planear llegar y conquistar el mediterráneo (leí que de primero nada, pero sí que consiguió mucho mas que los anteriores) y eso lo convierte en un posible vikingo de los que nos hablaron en el colegio, aunque nunca nos dieran nombres.

Creía que el primero que haría sería a Ragnar Lodbrok pero cualquier día hago a Ladgerda, Flóki o a Ivar Ragnarsson, también tienen historia que escudriñar y ¡son bien “cartoonizables”!