[Thor]

This is a box front on a 12" wide X 36" long piece of pine. The commission is for a box that size with a "Finnish" Viking ship (which this is) and dolphins. The guy didn't have any more to say than that, but I'm not really happy with it.
I'm open to suggestions including reshaping the carved out background or framing it with a border, or anything else.
Not going for fluff here.....
Thanks in advance for suggestions or opinions.
Thor

[AlArchie]

Not much I would change on this one, due to the placement of the elements. But if I were to draw this one up, I'd make the longboat LONG, using almost the entire width of the board. I'd also place the boat into the water....I like your wave patern, so would keep that, only have it lapping up the sides of the ship. With the boat being a lot longer, the sail would look more balanced.

That leaves the question of what to do with the dolphins. As they are stylized anyway, I'd put them above the ship, just ahead and behind the sail. But, that would be my design, not yours.

Al

[Joy]

I love the stylized waves and dolphins and the design on the sail is great. My feeling when I look at the design is that the dragon and front dolphin are "hemmed in" by the background edge. They have no place to "move forward". But what do I know...I'm not an artist.
Joy

[Tom H]

Thor, I kinda agree with what has been said. I think the boat kinda floats above the waves. But that in itself may not be a bad concept. Perhaps you could "free" up the boat and dolphins by removing more of the carved areas around the boat. Your could taper the background all the way to the board edge. This will also let the wood grain work to add to the scene. All this said, I like it. Maybe I should not have made this suggestion, since I have never attempted anything like this. Tom H

[Nancy-ID]

Thor I too think the dolphins and the head and tail of the boat need "more room". Other than that I think it looks cool. How about a carved rope border, or did vikings have rope? duh.

[Thor]

I appreciate the comments so far. I do understand the weird concept of the ship up on top of the waves seeming very foreign, but that is how the long ships (very short ones usually with huge square sails) are depicted on rune stones and in 1000 year old carvings. The 12th and 13th centuries are when they started being seen actually "in" the water...so, that doesn't worry me...
Al, your comments are all very good, but I can't change any of that. Making the ship longer in the first place probably would have evened out the design well. Too late.
The dolphins are something I have never seen in any Viking artwork, but the guy believes that the dolphin is his totem, so I made them look Vikingish with the same decorations found on the jelling stone. So, that leaves me with a poor overall design to me.
Joy, I think you said it right. The ship and the dolpin seem crowded. Maybe that's what I need to consider and open up that background wider. Tom, it sounds like you agree. It is helpful to hear this kind of open opinion when I'm really tired of staring at it.
Thanks, for the help. I'll keep studying it.
Thor

[Kenny_S]

I like everything but I would make the boat longer and in the water. Dophins are neat and I would place them a little more out. However, I would make them the same. Maybe a little deeper but I don't know how thick that board is.

[squbrigg]

Thor,

How much room do you have to each side? You can adjust the sense of proportion of the ship by leaving more sea ahead and astern of the ship, the dolphins don't add or destract from it, but do crowd it. I would suggest the ship be more to the left of the scene and the dolphins both ahead of the vessel, Dolphins don't follow ships usually, but play in the bow wave. Leaving some open sea ahead of the ship gives the illusion of the ship heading in the direction it's pointed in, rather than a static scene.

I might suggest a border of Norse knot work, to accent the final piece.

Bob

[Mark N. Akers]

Thor:
Very nice job on the relief thor,looks like you did a very good job of carving.

[mark yundt]

I understand the "stylized" design,,I think it's appropriate to what you are doing..this isn't about realism I don't think,,just as the old tryptich's were,,there was a certain "funky" look to them,,an almost simplistic feel to the design and layout,,along with a certain sense of symmetry.If you do feel a need to add anything,,to complete the picture,,keep it just as it is,,to add the reamaining balance,,just add a few stylized clouds to the two upper corners to in a sense frame the whole composition,,thereby completing the symmetry..man,in the boat and air,,riding on the sea,,and the dolphins,,of the sea,,cresting above it,,yet not apart from it. It's where the two meet.If that makes any sense. There doesn't have to be much to the clouds,,relieve them on the sides facing the boat,, and have them just blend into the corners and dissappear.The remaining background will fade off to each side of the box creating a frame effect adding to the depth of the piece. Not much more carving is required here,,move out some background,,a couple of soft billowy clouds,,done in a simple swirl type design,,,that's my take on it,I feel any more that you do to a piece like this will only make it more modern,,or more accurately,,western in appeal, and that's what I think these are not about trying to create the typical "nautical " theme.