Week 1 & 2 Research
Finding good, accurate sources online is not proving to to be the easiest task, one thing that I have found is that Viking and Celtic patterns are incredibly similar.
I have found a video tutorial on drawing Celtic patterns which should help me in drawing my own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKe9RvfwI7A
SymbolDictionary.net is a website that shows symbols from many cultures like the Vikings, Greeks, African, Jewish and many more. This website will help me better understand the symbols I use and weather or not I am using them in the right context. http://symboldictionary.net/?page_id=703
Valknut
Also known as: Hrungnir’s heart, heart of the slain, heart of vala, borromean triangles. The Valknut’s three interlocking shapes are suggestive of related Celtic symbols of motherhood and rebirth, it may have been a goddess symbol at some point in history. The nine points suggest rebirth, pregnancy, and cycles of reincarnation. The number nine also suggestive of the Nine Worlds (and the nine fates) of Norse mythology. Their interwoven shape suggests the belief of the inter-relatedness of the three realms of earth, hel, and the heavens, and the nine domains they encompass. Valknut is also known for representing the nine noble attributes: perseverance, industriousness, self-reliance, hospitality, discipline, fidelity, honour, truth and courage. This is a symbol I will be using in my designs.
Mjolnir
Thors hammer (Mjolnir) is an ancient Norse symbol, a stylised representation of the legendary magical weapon of the Norse God Thor. “Mjolnir” means “lightning” and symbolised the God’s power over thunder and lightning. The hammer was said to always return after it had been thrown.
The Thor’s Hammer amulet was worn frequently by believers as a symbol of protection, a practice so popular it continued even after most of the Norse population had converted to christianity. In modern times it is used as an emblem of recognition for members of the Asatru faith and as a symbol of Norse heritage. I will be using this symbol in my designs.
Yggdrasil
Known as the world tree, the giant mythological tree holds together the nine worlds or realms of existence. Yggdrasil is home to many creatures, most notably the serpent or dragon Nidhogg, who lurks at the trees base. The Rooster Gullinkambi (Golden Comb) who lives at the trees peak. And the squirrel Ratatosk who carries messages between them. According to Norse legend, Yggdrasil is where Odin hung upside-down for nine nights in order to obtain the rune alphabet. Beneath the roots of the World Ash lies the spring Mimir, to which Odin sacrificed an eye to gain wisdom. I may incorporate this in one of my designs.
Shield-Maiden
A Shield-Maiden was a female worrier in Viking culture and where often known to be more ferocious than a lot of men on the battlefield. In Viking culture it was usually the men who went off pillaging and raiding and were generally the better known fighters whilst the women stayed at home and did the house work and raised the kids. The more well known Shield-Maidens were known to be brutal in battle and showed no fear to their foes, they were also commonly known to be braver than the men in the face of any danger.
Week 2
I have fallen behind on my research due to the fact that online research material is not easy to find and there isn’t much of it, there also aren’t any museums nearby which have much in the way of Nordic and Viking exhibitions which I can use for my project. In light of this I have decided to move onto the sample and initial design stage, I feel like I have enough research for now but if need be I can do more.
Week 3
I have been trying to draw up some initial sketches for my first design which is the “Shield-Maiden” design but I am finding it difficult because I’m not very good at drawing which I feel is slowing me down, I know that they are just meant to be rough sketches but I want them to look good and if they don’t then I have to do them again which is a problem I’m trying to work on. I will say that I didn’t get as much as I wanted to get done this week which is a bit disappointing.
Week 4
I have been continuing with my Shield-Maiden design sketches but I keep restarting them which is annoying, unfortunately I wasn’t able to work on my days off because I was busy with other things and there was an “internal verification” day at college so I was not able to come in that day. However I have nearly finished my Shield-Maiden design on Photoshop so I will have that finished next week.
Week 5
I have nearly finished my Shield-Maiden design, I just need to add some font to it (if I feel it is necessary). I have added the symbol and text with the help of Jay showing me how to curve text, I will now experiment with some other effects. I have experimented with adding blood splatter effects to my shield and I think it looks good.
For my next design I will be doing something a little different to my first design, text will be the focus of this design, a prayer to be exact with a Nordic style boarder. I have started the design and have had to re-size and re-position the text a few times to fit the page and boarder, I have added an orange(ish) background so the text will stand out more as I intend to put this design on a black t-shirt, the boarder is a grey and black colour but it looks too bright in my opinion so I will change it next week.
Week 6
I have finished making the boarder a black and dark grey to match with Viking patterns of the time. I originally made the boarder a lighter grey but that made the design too colourful in my opinion so I made it a darker shade. The second design is now finished as I can’t see any ways I can change it or improve it.
I am now going to start my third design and it will either be a prayer or a saying. My third design did not take as long as I was expecting and is now complete, I did not encounter any issues or technical problems with any of my designs, the only thing that I found troubling was filling in the boarders with colour which was just tedious.
I thought I would go back to my shield-maiden design and add a little bit more to it so I added a Nordic style boarder around the shield, I have also removed the blood stain from the shield and moved the text to fit better around the shield. My designs are complete and are ready to print.
I would have liked to to a wolf design but I didn’t have enough time and I wasn’t confident enough to try something that complex.
jpinnington 