Now when one thinks of Giants; one thinks of the big, dumb type similar found in "Jack & the Beanstalk" but never would I have thought that a giant could be something like this

Norse Giants are NOTHING like the giants one reads in fairy tales, the Jotunn are literally beings of promordial chaos & Surtr; leader of the Muspellheim Jotunn show here gives testament of being an ABSOLUTE destroyer in the battle of Ragnarok!!

This image gives a sensation of both terror, awe & pure awesomness one gets when faced with a fire giant on unbelievable, gargantuan & colossal size!!!

The sight of mountains being carved as if they're cake is an immense & fearsome sight & this piece once again shows us the awesome appearance...

In the middle of the pitch black veil of the night you hear a monstrous crash in the distance. Normally, you would try to ignore something like this and return to your rest. However, this particular disturbance seems much more destructive and powerful than anything you have ever experienced before. A straining feeling in your chest begins; as if your body is telling you that there is something out there that you cannot face...something that is an incalculable level of destruction and evil. Leaving your shelter you immediately trek outside and are greeted by a truly horrifying and foreboding sight. Standing in the distance is gargantuan ogre, one who is none other than Surtr the demonic god himself. His sword, ablaze with the flames of the netherworld cleaves through the mountainous hills near him as if they were not even there. The once tall and mighty earthen peaks crumbled under the sheer weight of the blade and fell to the ground in heaps of rock and dust. The beast then looks onto the distance for any more viable targets that he should make into rather quick work of his blade. His body courses with the very flames of the netherworld itself as he continues his incalculable swath of destruction across the countryside. As you look on at this horrific scene, you soon realize something; there is nothing that can stop him. He will continue in the current pattern until your are within his path. Unless he were to be stopped, unless something were to intervene...it appears as though Surtr's reign may just be a bit more permanent than any of us could have ever thought it would be. Surtr, Fire of Ragnarok, created by *samburley, presents us with his own personalized depiction of the destruction and dark presence that the mythological being Surtr can create under his blazing gait.

I have to say that the artist has done quite a good job capturing the presence of scale in this piece. The beast really feels like a massive being that simply moves through the mountain range as if they were simply foothills in its path. The detailing on the mountains and other elements in the piece look really good and capturing the overall mood in the piece and draw the attention of the viewer directly in as if you're watching the destruction unfold firsthand. The detailing is done quite well and gives a very nice textural appearance to all of the compositional elements further developing throughout the creator's artistic personality in the image. The atmosphere is also spot-on with the rest of the image as it carries a heavy tenseness within it as well as managing to build upon the image itself and billows throughout the image. One can easily see that with the many design choices and style implemented, the artist really try to pull out all of the stops in order to build up on a dynamic and rather nicely detailed piece.

However, with the many things in this piece that works in the piece, there are still somethings that could be improved in this composition. For instance, while the detailing is nice, I have to say that it is a bit lacking when one takes a closer look to the mountains and even the trees in the foreground. A bit more fine-tuning to the primary compositional details can get that much more out of the piece in the quality department. Another thing you could have done was a better pronouncement of the lighting and shading effect. As Surtr was an a being of darkness and destruction, it just seems as though better adding to the shadows of the objects as well as the cast shadow on himself. Then you could add more contrast to the flames and molten cracks in the beast's skin as they appear a bit dim in the lighting in the piece. At the most, keep experimenting with the compositional elements of the piece and be sure to try some newer techniques that you haven't already. Doing so will help you find something new about your art that you may have never knew about yourself before.

Mythology has and always be a source of entertainment and inspiration for artwork and more stories. Each one depicting an epic struggle of good versus evil in battle after cataclysmic battle over the control of the land. Its with stories such as the ones in Norse mythology that we artists can immortalize them in a more modern view with a more traditional medium. Surtr, Fire of Ragnorok is a shining example of bringing a classic story into the view of the present so that many others can experience it in its immortalized form, for all to see. Good work *samburley, keep up with the experimentation and newer art design styles.