I read many good things about Affinity, and I liked what you can get with it. A couple of weeks ago, when I realized that Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo have a 50% discount, I bought both.
I started to test Affinity Photo brushes, so I sketched a man with a pencil-like brush. I enjoyed the experience a lot, and then I began to work on the head and the hair and polish lines. And little by little, maybe inspired by the mocking expression, I started to see that I was portraying the Norse god Loki.
I have always been an enthusiast of mythology. I love Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse mythology, maybe because of the paintings, sculptures, and architecture that inspire these myths. And Loki is one of the more intriguing, unusual, and amusing characters. I had seen many interpretations and re-interpretations of Loki, but it was about time I made my own! It was also an opportunity to look for cool Viking references!
I decided to follow the same process if I did it with a traditional drawing technique: pencil, ink, color, and effects. This way, I could also test different brushes. Since he was looking downwards in the sketch, I thought it would be great to put the arrow that he made to kill Baldr in his hands. I drew the weapon and added references to the Norse culture, like the runes, the whetstones, or the brooch. I enjoyed the pencil and ink brushes because they felt and looked very realistic and were easy to work with them. I had more problems with the shading brushes because it was hard to find one with the features I had in mind. But in the end, I am happy with the result of the textures and the brushes. I also like the cartoon style, and I think it suits the character and the pose!
I hope you like it too!
Beaconpancakes 