Why is Viking Art Tome is the ultimate bridge you need to understand and learn Viking-Age Art?
Because it is a comprehensive collection of designs, from simple to maddeningly complex, as well as a full index of the Nordic styles, including the styles pre-dating the Viking age!
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How does The Viking Art Tome bridge the gap between Viking Age art and modern interpretations of it?
By containing hundreds of designs formed by the modern mind, by someone immersed in the styles, the trade and the artistry!
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What would be the best way to get your next viking age inspired tattoo?
Buy this book, pair it with our book “The Nordic Tattoo”, which holds a comprehensive index of skilled historical artists from all around the world and then simply start pursuing your options!
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Why is The Viking Tome the most comprehensive guide for Historically Accurate Viking Inspired tattoos?
Because it was made by an artist who has created well past 200 Viking styles sleeves, hundreds more chestpieces, fullbacks and the like, as well as created more than 3000 designs within the genre, working full time for 14 years on tattooing these historical art forms on clients from all over the world!
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Do you have a need to know about the artwork of the Viking age? About how to draw historical styles? About the origins of Viking art? How can we translate it to modern age tattoos? And do you have an urge to own hundreds of designs, free to use for your own tattoos and artwork?
If the answer is yes to any of the above, well read on, and perhaps visit our webshop ;)
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Onwards, to knotwork and the madness it inspires!
You might’ve seen us talk about the Viking Art Tome in passing, or in a video but today we are going to be looking at it from a bit of a different perspective.
It started as an idea for a Fundraiser during Covid, then became a very successful Kickstarter, which in turn spawned a series of smaller books in its wake, before finally becoming this, a mighty 300 page hardback tome of Viking age artwork, an amalgamation of ancient art and modern creativity. It has been a journey, and that journey is far from done, and we would like to invite you along for the ride.
Let's talk about what's inside our big tome of Viking art!
At the start of the book, after all introductions, we have a story to set the mood of what you are getting yourself into, and to illuminate the idea of how the wealth of the Viking age brought about an artistic revolution in Scandinavia. The story conveys ideas and the concept that we would like you to keep in mind throughout the whole book and it is fully written by the author of the book - Isar Oakmund.
What follows after this is a full index of the styles that have been the main inspiration and the artistic source to what Viking Art evolves from. These styles (and the rest of the Viking Era Art Styles) are explained in detail and rendered to high quality within the book, making it easily understandable and comprehensible for an enthusiast or artist of any level. The style chapters also include renderings from artefacts from which Isar takes inspiration from. We follow Isar as he explains each style and have step by step deconstruction of the designs to make them more digestible as some of them are so stylistic that it works to their disadvantage while trying to ascertain the subject.
Each of these styles that Isar talks about in the book have many quirks, details and rules and to truly master Viking Art it is crucial to read even the end notes on chapters to fully be able to study and replicate similar art. Form Language plays a massive part in differentiating these styles and there is a comprehensible guide to understanding them. How do the animal heads look? Do the horns have tendrils extending from them or not? Do these animals have ears depicted? Is there a godmask hidden among the knotwork or is it included within the knotwork in this style?
The tome with our other Nordic-inspired book of artists, The Nordic Tattoo
The book illuminates the styles of the Viking age, which includes the following:
- Broa style
- Oseberg style
- Borre style
- Jelling style
- Mammen style
- Ringerike style
- And the Urnes style
- It also covers the build-up to these styles, including the three Salin styles, as well as touching on the sub-styles within, and briefly connects the dots, all the way back to the Roman empire.
Ringerike Style Rune Stone from St. Paul Cathedral
Following these chapters of styles, we have some 220 pages of designs, both historical renderings, as well as modern interpretations and designs by Isars hands.
These chapters include:
- Godmasks
- Characters (full body figures)
- Wyrms
- Wolves
- Ravens
- Beasts
- Symbols
- Brooches
- Knots and Weaves
- And finally - Viking age patterns, perfect to fill any space on artwork and tattoos.
Gateway to the Urnes Stave Church, Norway.
Source: Norweigan SciTech News
Example from the book:
A common design is the Godmasks, or God Masks. They are a massive and prominent feature of the art styles from the early Iron age until the very end of the Viking Age, and they occur even earlier in the Bronze age. Unfortunately, their meaning, application and purpose is not known to us and it is properly lost in time. We can hypothesise about this and enthusiasts like you and me can make our own symbolism in them. In the Viking Tome, Isar says that he sees them as representations of gods, trolls and similar beasts meant to scare, intimidate or devote those who encounter them. Sadly, our historical reference to these designs are nearly none, but in turn, this leaves us with amazing creative freedom, to imagine and to play with these designs.
In the book, you will find a massive presentation and emulation of how all these godmasks look like in the previous styles that were mentioned, with additions of modernised godmasks inspired by those styles, both reimagined from artefacts as well as freeform designs from Isar Oakmunds mind.
Why all of this, why 300 pages of dedicated madness, hyperfocus on Viking art?
All of this is so we can bring the Viking age artwork closer to you, the reader. We wish to drag you into the beautiful artform, the flow, the knotwork and the grandeur available. And we want to offer it all up, available for your use for tattoos, for inspiration, for designs to apply in craftsmanship!
This book is not only an art book, it is a guidebook, and it should also make learning about the Vikings, their style of expression and ultimately how these styles evolved, stylistically and geographically, into an adventurous journey, even though your journey might start thousands of miles from Scandinavia.
The Viking Art Tome with it's Flash Drive digital version you can have on the go.
You can track and learn how these styles evolved and what influenced people before inventing new styles back in those times and use it as a skill today to teach yourself the styles of old in order to either replicate or use it as a base to invent a new style and movement maybe on your own.
It’s your choice, it is your creative freedom, we simply wish to bring you fuel for that fire!
Get the book in our shop or CLICK THIS LINK.
