Yggdrasil or the Cosmic Ash

Small everyday life occurrences have delayed my posting of this picture. I am very happy on how this turned out. There are many colors but they are softened by the underlying grays.

I assume the most of you are familiar with the mythology of the Yggdrasil, but I am going to summarize it here just to explain what you see in the drawing. Yggdrasil is the great cosmic ash, three roots support it. Near one of these roots, the residence of the Norns can be found. They are in charge of mankind's destiny and they tend to the giant tree. You can see them here, kind of oversized, as spiritual superhuman entities should be, pouring water from a sacred spring.

Raskator, the squirrel runs up and down the trunk of the tree reporting the angry exchanges of the eagle that leaves on the top branches and the demonic snake that coils at the roots. Four stags also live in the branches and eat the leaves of the Yggdrasil. In the drawing the stags have become part of the tree...you can see just three of them because the fourth is roaming on the other side! ;)

Yggdrasil is the source of cosmic wisdom and that's to acquire such wisdom that. Odin chose to spend nine nights without food or water hanging from its branches. Here he has joined the stags and surveys the universe from the foliage....

Finally, Yggdrasil is considered the only tree capable of surviving the Twilight of the Gods. After the apocalypse, when a new hearth, sky and sun will be generated and life will start over fresh and renovated, from the wooden depths of the tree, two new human beings, Lif and Lifthrasir, will rise. They will eat exclusively morning dew and will be the progenitors of the new human kind.

I guess that covers it all! Enjoy!

Almost ready...

Here is the latest stage in the Yggdrasil drawing I photographed...in reality the picture is now finished, but I am waiting for a nice day and a little free time to give it proper justice.

Hope you like it and thank you very much for your support!

Coloring the Yggdrasil

Where has March gone? Away with the freezing temperature and with my ridiculously persistent colds, I hope. I've been so exhausted and under the weather these past two weeks that I could not bring myself to do art. All my strengths were devoted to the bare necessities (= work, eat, take care of a very sweet but energetic 2 years old), as I was also alone home, since my husband went abroad for business.

 Not much to show, therefore, in term of progress for my Yggdrasil. After my husband returned and the pressure from my daily duties returned to normal, I finished the grey tones and started very slowly to lay down the colors (I switched to Copics for this second part).

To tell you the truth, I am not sure I am improving on it. It was kind of neat in its neutral palette, but I can't live without colors, so I was compelled to proceed. Right now, I am somewhat stuck at the three Norns, as I cannot decide on a proper color for their dresses...a super pale blu would work but I am afraid I don't have it in my otherwise rather extensive collection of markers....watercolors here would be marvelously useful, I think....

Probably tonight I will make a decision. :)

Yggdrasil Inked

At last...I am ready to color this. I don't know why it took me so long to finish inking this time. Maybe it's the fact that I added details and modified a bit the original design. Maybe it's that in the evening I am exhausted and I just want to curl up and sleep instead of straining my eyes on small details. No matter, I am done and happy with the lines. Now, as usual the hard and interesting part begins.

You know I draw mostly while watching TV. I wonder if my choice of shows influences my drawings and possibly vice versa, or if it just by chance that I was watching Once Upon a Time, while drawing Sweet Home (my version of Hansel and Gretel), Fringe, while drawing Lotus of Creation, and the first season of Vikings while working on this latest picture. :)

PS: DO you guys think I should add a couple more branches in the top corners? Thanks for your suggestions! :)