[i-sousa]

I'm new here in this community, and won't flood you guys with aaaaalll my works. So let's start with my latest painting


Valkyrie - (from Tor og Valkyrie)

This is both a crop of a “larger than life” panel artwork I am doing in collaboration with my amazing artist friend Nathie, and a stand-alone piece.

We are depicting the god Tor and a Valkyrie from the Norse mythology in a very stylized way.

I am painting the Valkyrie and the environment/background while Nathie is painting the mighty Tor.

In a few months we will reveal the complete work to the world!

Painted with Painter 12 an my oooold dear Wacom Intuos 3.

(OBS: This concept has nothing to do with the movie THOR.)

[Zentrope]

Fantastic work...
Love the Dynamic hair flowing with action and charismatic personality of the Valkyrie..
but the mask/Tattoo looks like a triangulated 3D mesh over it

[i-sousa]

Hi Zentrope! Thank you for checking and for your feedback! I haven't thought about you said regarding the mask! LOL

It's some sort of painted/magic mask, and unfortunate, a lot of details are gone or difficult to read as the image is cropped and exported for the web. But I can understand your thought hehe

[i-sousa]

I first painted this character when I was on my early teens, using vivid watercolors in black ink. More than 10 years later, I reloaded this concept: Loki from the Norse mythology. The fascinating thing about him is that he is neither good nor bad. He lies, causes trouble, but always seduces again those he had deceived.

Painter 12 + Wacom Intuos 3, airbrushes

[Zentrope]

Hmmm after 10years...
One thing though...how can a person be neither good nor bad
Either you are good or bad (or Ugly)
For eg:- Just like a cloth, if it's dry...it's dry, you cannot over dry it.
Or if it's wet...it's wet, you cannot over wet it.

Dry/Wet or Good/Bad or Day/Night....
Okay enough of philosophical talk...This loki looks bada** rather then a mischief God...Amazing take..

[i-sousa]

Hi Zentrope! hehe, yapp, when I was on my early teens I painted many nudes and portraits, mostly focused on some mythological figure, such as this one. Back then it was in traditional media, such as oils, charcoal, watercolors and black ink :P

Ok, let me try to explain how he can be neither good nor evil/bad:
He is a god who always acts in behalf of his own interests, and sometimes it puts other gods in danger or harms them. Or the other way around, sometimes his acts can actually help them. It will all depend on what are his interests at the time. So, that’s how he can be both good and bad at the same time. This behavior depicted in my character is based on what’s found about Loki in real mythology, not something I made up. The Loki depicted on the movie THOR, however, is pure evil, and it doesn’t reflect the original one, I think.
I hope have been helpful :P But I can understand you question

And, just to complete, there are similar entities in different cultures; they present the same behavior of ‘duality’ as Loki. Actually the Myth in its essence, all sorts of gods, magic creatures, and so are basically the same, depicted in different cultures under different names. A nice author about such subjects is Joseph Campbell. I’m a fan of his work since a kid!
Cheers!

[Zentrope]

Hmmm i am still not convinced
But that's okay..

The concept of Duality is kind of inevitable...Since ages we are talking about Good/bad (Evil/Angel) influencing our thoughts.
Even when we talk about Sun Sign's like Gemini, it do contains the features of duality (i don't know, how much it influences me as being a gemini )
I love Mythology and History...that's why i keep digging into them and attend webinars, seminars, classes etc whenever possible

[i-sousa]

Hehe, That's ok Zentrope! Thought not convived I guess you get the principle!

Nice to know you are Gemini and fan of history and mythology, I am too!

[i-sousa]

Last days my husband was working on our garage and I went there to talk to him, when I spotted a few wildflowers brought by the spring. I got immediately inspired about how much such a simple thing can bring so much life and happiness to the
environment.

I went on sketching and Solveg was born. I redesigned her outfit about 8 times before I got satisfied!

As for the piece, I set myself a challenge: to make something that would bring my work to a broader public, while, still representing my style and subjects I like to paint. That’s the reason why I chose a warm, saturated palette and a smile on
her expression, to make the visual experience more captivating.

Painted with Painter 12, my old Wacom Intuos 3, airbrushes

Had reference for the perspective/posing.

This piece will also be featured in my art book, coming soon!

[i-sousa]

Oblivion is your words unheard, your dreams fading away, YOU forsaken…

I had reference for the perspective and embroidered details.

Painter 12 + Wacom Intuos 3, airbrushes

You'll see this work + a Making of video in my art book coming soon!

[Zentrope]

Heheh.. it's a funny coincidence..
BTW, belated Happy Birthday..

You have got a very distinctive style but a very unique touch of uniqueness..
Something like Iron Maiden...The music is very identical in each song of their albums but they are still outstanding in every aspect and thus have released tons of studio albums

Yeah i know it's a weird comparison

[i-sousa]

Hi Zentrope! Thanks for the birthday greetings
Wow! Comparing my work to Iron Maiden was the coolest thing I've ever heard! :P That made my day! Love Iron Maiden, and it's really nice what you said. I try to stay out of trends, and try very hard to make smething "diferent" in both style and theme of what we see around
Have a nice summer, Zentrope!

I wil update my latest images, and have a break from the community for a while, as I want to enjoy my summer holidays! Cheers!

[i-sousa]

Here you see a bunch of my latest paintings this summer and I am going to enjoy my holidays!

If you'd like to know more details about them, visit my gallery or site.

Hold me, my dear is a more experimental image, with focus on the composition and lighting and very inspired in Renaissance style.



On distant shores is more like a quick portrait, and s bit more modern than my other paintings.



Dark reveries has a lot of focus on the character's thoughts/feelings and costumes.



The Indigo Lady has focus on the character's expression and costumes.