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TigRaidoXXX — Lemminkainen and the shepherd of Pohyola
#lemminkainen #folklore #folktale #illustrationfantasy #kalevala #markerdrawing #mythology #traditionalart #traditionaldrawing #moleskinedrawing
Published: 2019-06-22 16:29:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 12983; Favourites: 50; Downloads: 8
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Description
The story from Kalevala, one about a young hero Lemminkainen, who tried to fulfill the trials and win a bride from Pohyola, but it didn't go well
(Don't worry, his super mom came and saved him 
Kalevala:
Then the reckless Lemminkainen,
Handsome hero, Kaukomieli,
Braved the third test of the hero,
Started out to hunt the wild-swan,
Hunt the long-necked, graceful swimmer,
In Tuoni's coal-black river,
In Manala's lower regions.
Quick the daring hunter journeyed,
Hastened off with fearless footsteps,
To the river of Tuoni,
To the sacred stream and whirlpool,
With his bow upon his shoulder,
With his quiver and one arrow.
Nasshut, blind and crippled shepherd,
Wretched shepherd of Pohyola,
Stood beside the death-land river,
Near the sacred stream and whirlpool,
Guarding Tuonela's waters,
Waiting there for Lemminkainen,
Listening there for Kaukomieli,
Waiting long the hero's coming.
Finally he hears the footsteps
Of the hero on his journey,
Hears the tread of Lemminkainen,
As he journeys nearer, nearer,
To the river of Tuoni,
To the cataract of death-land,
To the sacred stream and whirlpool.
Quick the wretched shepherd, Nasshut,
From the death-stream sends a serpent,
Like an arrow from a cross-bow,
To the heart of Lemminkainen,
Through the vitals of the hero.
Done with markers on a very real moleskin sketchbook that I was waiting to try out =^_^= That paper is quite gorgeous indeed (and lucky for me I didn't have to dwell on how much those bitches cost, cause it was a present xD) The size is quite tiny, something palm-sized, like A6.
I used markers, liners and a bit of metallic markers (the texture on the moon, swan and eyes of the shepherd and his snake)
I also used photoshop, but only to add background and frames.
P.S.
I've only managed to read short edition of Kalevala =__= Sorry, you awesome finnish guys, I'm too dumb for the real thing yet x'D
But I freaking loved the stories! Should draw some more
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Comments: 12
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Hello, I found this on ProjectComment
I really like the coloring and style in these. They're about as detailed as they need to be, especially given how small size the images are supposed to be. Everything blends together really well into a cohesive image, and it certainly evokes an appropriate mood. These are also pretty neat scenes and settings. Overall they remind me of the illustrations you might see in a fantasy book you might see from the late 1960s to early 80s, like Tales of Earthsea or the Last Unicorn. That's a pretty good place to be.
As for constructive criticism, you've placed the focal points down in the center of the bottom third of the page. That's ideal for the picture on the right, especially since it's leading the eye to the swan in the dead center of the page, but I'm less sure about the monster on the left. I feel like if the monster was placed somewhere else, maybe placed a bit further back and less central it might blend into the scenery a little better. And I do have to comment on the snake, which looks a little unnatural. It looks a bit unnatural, like it's a statue in the monster's grip. Try giving it a little more slack/weight. Or, alternately, make it look MORE tense and dynamic, with its body coiling up and whipping around wildly.
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Hi, and thanks for the feedback!
I love the comparison with oldschool fantasy books, that's an honor 
Anyway thanks, I'm glad the mood and style of these work well.
Hm, interesting suggestion about the composition of subjects. Since this is traditional it's always close to impossible to fix such things once you've started, but observations are useful nonetheless. Good for future works.
I meant the snake to be moving in his hand, so maybe what you said about it acting more alive and coiling could improve this. Hard to say. I aimed for the old style and made the pieces look kinda... symbolical, at least that was the intention. A little like such stuff: www.flickr.com/photos/griffinl… or www.thetapestryhouse.com/media…
Still I can see why you suggest that making it more material and snake-like might be good. After all this is only lightly stylized picture so making it more reasonable in sense of anatomy and action might be good for it.
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Hi, I'm here from
Oh! heavy-hearted am I. Tuoni has taken my son!
You mention Amorphis, but I got to know the story of Lemminkäinen's travel to the river of death through Amberian Dawn instead
The first thing to mention is that the picture on the right is more of an eye-catcher. It has higher contrast and is more clearly centered on one single, clearly human, person. Also, the viewer's eye is guided quite clearly - the important parts of the picture are bright silver/white and Lemminkäinen's arrow, along with his imagined glance, leads us to the swan. This makes the picture attractive to the eye. The arrow in Lemminkäinen's hand seems to aim pretty high - maybe he aims to shoot in a semi-circle? - but the eye is still clearly led. Lemminkäinen's body is arched to the right, which makes the picture look more dynamic. The body of water he's looking at is HUGE for a river and the waves on it remind me more of the ocean. But then, the river of death might be very wide, considering how much death there is in the world.
The image on the left is by no means worse, but it takes a bit longer to orient yourself since the background is more complex and the focus is more on the place than on Nasshut (whose name means Wet-Hat in German, which I find oddly fitting
The shades of blue-green you use are gorgeous. The bright pools in the marshland on the left look beautiful and the turquoise sundown on the right makes the picture look both dramatic and other-worldly.
All in all, you do a great job translating scenes from the story into images. I like these pictures very much, indeed they were already in my favourites before I spotted them in the PC gallery.
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Greetings and thanks for feedback! I'm happy to know you recognize the story, it's an awesome book (sidenote, that band looks promising, I should check them out
I didn't realize the geometry of that aim well, so let's assume he wants to shoot in an arch, that would make sense for aiming to a faraway mark. But actually I'm just not terribly good at drawing perspective and only rely on my intuition
As for the river - yes, that was supposed to be a kind of a metaphorical landscape, the other side being the underworld and not visible from this shore, also the river itself looking alien to mortal eye and impossible to cross. So that's why I chose to draw it as an endless spread of water.
I'm glad the dynamic of the pose works well, I did try to make it look like a moment before the shot.
I took the arrow and raised my bow
I aimed below the graceful neck
Under the white of its breast
Inside the red of its heart
The surface of the river calm and black
Reflects the sky, the pale moon
And there a glimpse caught of myself
I'm shattered, the vision is ruined~ (Amorphis, "The White Swan")
I'm glad you love the marshland colors! Happy to hear.
I'm not sure what I would change here to make Nasshut (interesting notice about his name btw
I'm happy to know you noticed those not just as part of PC project (however much I love these guys and the group concept, heh
Thanks again for your comment! And sorry it took me a while to respond, with serious discussions it takes a bit more effort than with simpler replies...
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You're welcome. Yes, Amberian Dawn are cool, their first albums have many songs about the Kalevala. The song i referred to is titled "River of Tuoni" if you want to listen to it.
I hope you will finish the sketch, this picture looks very good and I'd like the see the other one too
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Oh I see.
And thanks again! And yeah, Myths and Legends is a great place
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Oh, thanks for the feedback!
According to the story the creature on the left was an ugly and seemingly powerless old man, who plotted evil and used poison to kill the hero who offended him. So he was described as non-threatening, thus it wouldn't work to make him large and intimidating. But I can get why you would suggest this, considering the visuals
And yeah, clouds could possibly work for the second one. A good suggestion. Can't alter things, but it's good to have a fresh view nevertheless
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I feel I must read Kalevala someday, because I keep on stumbling upon art inspired by it
Both pictures are gorgeous and it's very impressive you managed to draw them so detailed on such small paper 
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You totally should! (But I recommend simplified edition x'D My brain went numb when dealing with poetic lines, and kept losing the line of thought all the time...)
And yay! Thank you so much
I was surprised I didn't screw up, cause I'm not used to traditional materials, where every mistake remains. But I've mostly managed, it seems xD
Sidenote: if you listen to metal music, there is that Finnish band Amorphis, who did a masterful job on Kalevala stories, this one included, that inspired me greatly. This would be "The White swan" song from "Silent Waters" album. You can check it out if you are ready for some heavy stuff with growling vocals. But they have lots on Kalevala altogether ^_^
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