For centuries the Valkyries served the god Odin under the command of the goddess Freyja. The mission of these little resident goddesses of Vingólf was to transport the bravest warriors who had fallen in combat at Valhalla. These heroes, after having been converted in Einherjar, would fight alongside Odin in Ragnarök, the battle at the end of the world. But one of them, Brunilda, made the mistake of falling in love with one of the soldiers and Odin punished her by putting her to sleep forever. The rest of the Valkyries then turned against Odin in their fight to rescue Brunilda from the eternal sleep he had cast her under for the simple crime of falling in love with a mortal.
1. SKETCHES
Nordic mythology has had a huge influence on manga and here we wanted to portray a unique version of these dísir, minor female deities in the service of Odin.
2. STRUCTURE
We have three warriors who form a triangle. We simplified the scene by defining each character with ovals and lines that connect their articulations in order to create the postures more easily.
3. VOLUME
We wanted to highlight both their war-like nature and their attractiveness and femininity, which meant both their breasts and hips had to be generous and voluminous.
4. ANATOMY
We drew their hair carefully, forming overlaid waves and finished off the girls’ curves.
5. DETAILS
We dressed the girls in outfits inspired by Nordic mythology, with full pleated skirts and metal armor.
6.1. COLOR
We began by giving the drawing volume in a gray scale, keeping in mind where the main and secondary light sources were coming from. We then defined the textures of the armor, outfits, hair, and other elements.
6.2. COLOR
With the volumes defined, we began to color the drawing in with the brush in an Overlay Mode. In this way the initial gray absorbs the color we add to it, maintaining the light and shadows already indicated.
6.3. COLOR
We adjusted the colors by adding or removing saturation until the gray base had disappeared. To prevent the illustration from becoming too dark, we always kept some pure white as a reference to compare with the colors we had chosen.
6.4. COLOR
We added the facial details, lightened the background of the image, and retouched the general color, leaning toward a beiger tone. We created an outer glow with some brushstrokes, to represent the celestial light in the Valkyries’ clothes and hair. We then lightened the two characters in the background slightly, using a semitransparent whitewash layer to attain a sense of depth.
6.5. COLOR
We colored in the red lassos, applied more highlights and shadows to the secondary Valkyries, and gave more details to their clothes and expressions. The shadows in the clothing of the main Valkyr change toward a more bluish hue.
6.6. COLOR
We added the background sky using a radial blurring effect with greenish blues and yellowish whites in the center. From this color contrast, clouds take form in a centrifugal manner heading toward the interior of the lighter color, which acts like a sun. On one side we added a pinkish-orange hue to the skin tones of the characters, further contrasting the color and light effects. The hair gains brightness, saturation, and golden colors from this.
6.7. COLOR
We painted more pinks and yellows in the background, while making the color more intense. We added details such as highlights to the skin, and we adjusted its colors. Finally, we added colored lines to better define the drawing.
6.8. COLOR
We colored in the armor using dark golden tones for the shadows and light yellows for the highlights, striking a great contrast that mimics the reflection of precious metals. We painted in their garters and its textures. We then added color outlines to the new areas we had drawn.
FINISHING TOUCHES
- We created the wings by using a soft low-transparency brush, brushing in color to represent each plume over a blue shadow, remembering that the top feathers are smaller than those on the bottom.
- We heightened the color of the hair and armor, and added small points of light that looked like sunlight, plus a halo coming from it. We also slightly corrected the general tone of the sky.
- We finished the clothing and expressions of the secondary Valkyries and applied light effects.
Tips & tricks
- In an illustration as elaborate as this, from the very beginning there must be an idea of how we should arrange the various elements and the color range to be used. To do this, we can use a small sketch that also has the basic coloring.
- Additional elements, such as the wings or background, are created in different files to be attached to the final image.
