World of Warcraft Watercolours

   I posted these over on The Wyvern's Tail, but I wanted to share them here, too. My dad has always been amazing with watercolours, he used to do it all the time when I was little, but these days he's too tired with all of his responsibilities, so he usually crashes on the sofa and plays on the Xbox or just watches TV in the evenings.

   I had some pan watercolours a few years ago and I actually got quite good with them, but the problem I've always had with pans is that I can never mix enough paint, and given the nature of most paint palettes and the paint itself, mixing it is also very difficult - on metal or plastic it tends to bead up and doesn't mix all that well, and if you did it on a wooden palette, well, it'll just soak in. It's really impossible for me to figure out, so I ended up giving up on them quite quickly.

   Truth be told, while I always use acrylic, I love the finish of watercolours, and I always have - possibly, in part, because of my dad.

   The other day I decided to have another go, but this time I wanted to try the tubes. Dad has never let me use them before, but he did this time. I got on relatively well - the mistakes made were all entirely my own fault rather than the paint, so I learned from them - and bought my own tubes the next day. I'm still waiting on them to arrive, though (this all took place on Sunday) , so in the mean time I've continued with my dad's.

   I'm sure the whole World of Warcraft theme isn't something any of you are interested in, but I'm sharing anyway. The first painting is of an Unborn Val'kyr - a Val'kyr is an undead Vrykul, a race of Nordic Giants in WoW, and they are all female. They serve the Lich King as judges over combat, and also in death. If a warrior is deemed unworthy during the battles of ascendance they are turned into Vargul - undead, essentially - and if they are worthy, they're turned into Ymirjar, who are elite warriors.

   This Unborn Val'kyr is essentially just a non-combat pet in the game, sort of a baby, if you will. Val'kyr are considered 'unborn' until they vanquish a creature of high nobility.

   The second painting is of a fully realised Val'kyr.

   They are a pretty direct reference to the Valkyries - minor female dieties of Norse myth who choose the most heroic spirits of slain warriors and take them to Valhalla.

These paintings may not be reproduced or copied. Click the images to see larger views

on The Wyvern's Tail.