Between now and the launch of The Last Viking Returns (Sept 1st, 2014), I’m doing a series of posts showing my rough sketches for all the characters in the book.
I’ve covered Josh’s family and some of the Viking characters already.
Today I’ll show you my sketches of Odin.
Odin is the head honcho in Norse mythology. Lots of schoolkids get him confused with Zeus, and understandably – both are old men with white beards who live in the sky. (It’s no wonder that the Christian God is sometimes imagined as an old white-bearded man, considering the centuries of similar depictions that came earlier).
This is my character reference sheet for Odin.

I made a standard colour version of each character too, so that I could keep their colours consistent. Here’s the colour sheet for Odin:

Next week we’ll look at my sketches for the goddess of love and beauty, Freya.
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Author: James Foley
James makes books for courageous kids. He’s the author/illustrator of the S.Tinker Inc graphic novel series for middle primary: Brobot (2016), Dungzilla (2017) and Gastronauts (2018) star Sally Tinker, the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, and Joe Tinker, her stinky baby brother. The fourth in the series, Chickensaurus, is out in late 2020. He is also the illustrator of the Toffle Towers series written by Tim Harris. James’ earlier books My Dead Bunny (2015), In The Lion (2012), The Last Viking (2011) and The Last Viking Returns (2014) have all scored several honours, including children’s choice awards, shortlistings in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards, and selection to the International Youth Library’s White Raven list. The sequel to My dead Bunny - There's Something Weird About Lena - is out in late 2020. James comes from a long line of queuing enthusiasts. Follow him on FB/twitter/insta/youtube @jamesfoleybooks, or at www.jamesfoley.com.au .
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