Vikings and Dragons

As of Friday I have seen How to Train Your Dragon twice, I was lucky enough to score a free screening through the animation department through my school. I gotta say, Dreamworks is really stepping up their game. This was as good as any Pixar movie out there and probably one of the few films where the 3D really enhanced the film instead of hindered or was simply an added bonus. The plot was solid and didn't seem forced at all, the lack of pop culture references was a breath of fresh air and they successfully created a believable world with beautifully designed characters, creatures and environments. Even the flight sequences with Hiccup and Astrid were surprisingly original and not too "A Whole New World"sy.
After flipping through the art book, Nico Marlet, the character designer for the film quickly became one of my favorite artists. I don't know how he's slipped under my radar all these years, after doing my research I've discovered he's been responsible for the designs of a lot of my favorite Dreamworks characters. The man really knows what he's doing and major props for creating such a wide range of characters for the film.

So this is a viking-self portrait inspired by all of Marlet's concept sketches. I really can't wait to get my own copy of the art book.
I really want to do some fun fan art of Toothless with some of the viking kids, so here's some practice sketches.