Monday, February 20, 2012

The Sacrificed and Destructive Goddesses (and Ink WIPs)

Last two of the (first) Goddess Series! Soon I can do the other six goddesses on pastel paper, and each will be twice the size of my Chinese element creatures. Yay? ._.;

First!
Mictecacihuatl (Meek-tay-kah-see-wahtl)
Queen of Mictlan, the underworld. She watched over the bones of the dead and presided over festivals for the dead.
That's pretty much it really. There wasn't much info to be found on her. So why did I pick her for the first half of this series? Well, she was born then sacrificed as an infant. I think that counts as getting screwed over and being forced into a job. She's usually portrayed with a "defleshed" body with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day.
I've seen other artists' interpretations and some show her as a beautiful woman with many flowers decorating her hair and body, and she has face paint. This is fine, but I wanted to stick closer to the myth.
What's interesting about her is that she is considered to be "alive" still in the form of Santa Muerte, and she participates in the modern Mexican Day of the Dead. Hence why I drew the decorated skulls and the saint, and lots of flower offerings. (With burning baby head at the top, hrm). Santa Muerte isn't recognized by the Catholic Church since death is seen as a state of being rather than a "person." She also has the reputation of being the patron of the poor, criminals, prostitutes and other undesirables. But her following seems to be growing in number.
Random note: Turns out I have a small sculpture of the saint. I picked it up during a time I was looking for a statue of Grimmy. But I do believe it to be Santa Muerte; I just didn't realize till recently. Interesting. >.> SHE FOUND MEH!

The image isn't very "Aztec-ish", sorry. ):


Last one:
Kali-Ma
In short, Indian goddess of death, time, change and destruction, wife of Lord Shiva and consumer of all reality. She also has a maternal aspect which westerners tend to ignore, so she is misunderstood and is seen as demonic. (Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom, etc.)
Sadly, her main story is basically about her going crazy and needing to be stopped by a male. Some say this is a symbol of man trying to control woman's autonomy and sexuality. ): So, she's free, yet not. *snug*
I was originally going to make her look "normal," or a form in which I usually visualize her. But I decided to go for the scary/disturbing look to fit with the rest of the series. Her garland looks like the Egg-Pokemon (Eggsecute?). >.> They're traditionally skulls, but I wanted to make them look like screaming heads. Heh.
I like the hands though. :3 (Note: They're the hands which make up Kali's skirt; she has an arm skirt. Yup.)
Screaming little stick-people too. *snerk*


Other inks:
Persephone-
I decided to add the black since these look so flat without it, despite the detail.

Hel-

Least worked on, but I'm getting there. Still need to fix Balder. And I gave Garm cat eyes, which I didn't realize until after inking. AGH!

Izanami-

Can't decide if I should add the black background. Also don't know what to do for the border here.

Sedna-

Must do border. >.> So many bubbles.

I do like how these have turned out overall. I'm getting used to ink pens, so maybe I can play with them (pens) more  in the future with new techniques.

Final inks will go to dA. :3

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Murdered and Abandoned Goddesses...

...and a Figgy painting from yesterday. The professor said it would have gone on the wall if it was finished. >.> But I'm slooooooow. She also said it reminded her of Michelangelo (someone else said so too), so yay!

+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
Sorry, but I dunno how to make these amusing. So they're short.

Sedna:

There are numerous myths of her origins, but most usually end with her clinging to her father's boat, and he chops off her fingers (due to anger or he's trying to save himself). The fingers become the sea animals the Inuit depend on for survival, and Sedna sinks, becoming ruler of the underworld. She's quite grumpy and will hold her sea animals "hostage" when pissed off. The people must appease her by sending a shaman who will clean her hair, since she can't do it herself (having no fingers 'n all).  She will then release the animals.
In 2003, she became the namesake of a minor planet. (I might work that into the image somehow)

I portrayed her after the moment her fingers were severed. Dunno if I like it or not. Hmm. I do know the border will be full of sea animals/skeletons. :3 And live animals will be swimming around her, maybe even feeding off her, since I'm morbid like that. >.>

Izanami:

She and Izanagi were the creator gods and/or parents of the Japanese islands after the churning of the ocean. (The first was made from the falling drops off their spear; I think there's a pervy joke in there but I can't find it)  When Izanami  gave birth to the god/kami of fire, she died and went to Yomi.. Her husband followed, but Izanami could not leave due to eating food of the underworld (Persephone much?) She would not let Izanagi see her, but being a dick, he lit a comb. When looking upon Izanami's decaying body, he screamed like a bitch and ran. Izanami chased him, along with the howling women, the Shikome. When Izanagi reached the surface, he pushed a boulder in front of Yomi's entrance. His wife screamed that she would claim 1,000 lives a day and he retorted that he would create 1,500 daily. 

What a messy divorce, eh? I wish there was more material about these two, but their continuing story has to be created by us/people. Mcmuu had two senshi (Orcus and Viddus) inspired by this myth, but she never wrote it. ): Lovely characters though. I hope she's doing well, wherever she may be. <3

This is probably my favorite piece thus far. Let's see how Kali-Ma and Mictecacihuatl turn out.

+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
 
-I'm aiming to do six of these due to limited time. I've chosen the six who I feel were screwed over and/or forced to become death goddesses since I needed a more-specific theme. :P The others will be done as pastel "abstracts". Sound good? >.>

-Inked pieces will probably be posted on dA rather than here. So Persephone may be popping up soon.

-Someone cried in class yesterday. Again. >.> No, it wasn't me. :P

-The professor doesn't seem to know what to make of this goddess series. It's weird not having her bother me about them constantly when she makes her rounds. 8D

-Being Human S4 continues to break my heart. (I miss Mitchell, Nina, and George lots.)  I'll still watch it though, to see what Whithouse does with it. /random


"Entertaining" stuff:

Calypso by Jean Michel Jarre
Flash Gordon soundtrack(QUEEN!)

Kamelot-Ghost Opera:
  1. "Solitaire"
  2. "Rule the World" (1 & 2)
  3. "Ghost Opera" 
  4. "The Human Stain"
  5. "Blücher"
  6. "Love You to Death"
  7. "Up Through the Ashes"
  8. "Mourning Star"
  9. "Silence of the Darkness"
  10. "Anthem"
  11. "EdenEcho"
  12.  "The Pendulous Fall" 
Subspecies reviews by Obscurus Lupa (cuz they're funny)
1, 2, 3, 4

Diamanda Hagan's Twatty Who Reviews (cuz they're hilarious)

It took me a month to get through the vids (while working on stuff), so good luck watching them all in a couple of sittings. 8D

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Oh Yeeeeeeeah

I want to plug this because Brad Jones/Cinema Snob = <3.

Ninja the Mission Force Trailer

NtMF: First Look

Can't wait!

I have a few things to post later, but I really need a nap. I know it's nighttime already, but I want some Z's. So around midnight, I'll be back. (Maybe. If I wake up. Mwahahaha)

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Rotting Goddess

It took me forever to get something decent, and my one-a-day schedule is already screwed up. ): It's nowhere near finished, but I'm still moving on-

Introducing Hel:
(I will scan these properly. In the meantime, forgive the bad photos with no flash.)

This is long, and there's no TL;DR version. Skip if desired.

Goddess of the Norse underworld (Hel also) in Niflheim. She's the daughter of Loki and the giantess,  Angrboða, and sister to Fenrir the wolf and Jörmungandr the serpent. The three children were originally raised in their mother's home, but since the other gods were assholes, the children couldn't live there forever in happiness. Deciding to say "Fuck it if all goes to shit" and listening to prophecies, the gods forced the three siblings from their home. (Since being nice to these "potentially dangerous beings" was too much work, BAAAW.) After all, children always take after their parents because they will never be able to think for themselves; they have shit for brains. /sarcasm

So, yeah. The gods decided to poke the rabid badger and sent the children away. Hel was given authority over souls of those who died of sickness and old age. She was thrilled with this task. Or not. Visitors to her land claim she looks depressed and isn't the most pleasant person to be around. Well, no shit, Sherlock(s). Excellent deduction. You're lucky that she just didn't crush you under her giant foot when you wanted something.

Ahem.

Now onto the image. Hel plays a major part in the death of Balder, god of light. When he is killed "indirectly" by Loki (with mistletoe), he goes to Hel because he didn't die like a warrior but rather as a pussy who apparently can't digest his greens. So no Valhalla for him! Hermod approaches Hel and asks for his brother's spirit to return to the Aesir ("good" gods). Hel tells him that all things must weep for Balder before he may leave. Everything in creation does so, except for a giantess (who is Loki in disguise). So no more light for the Aesir!

In the image, you see an upside-down person. That's Balder. And their hands are tied together with mistletoe. Yipee.

I see this story as Hel's revenge against the bastards who screwed her over, and she devised a plan with her father to stick it to them. So basically, when the gods forced Hel and her brothers out of their childhood home, they (the gods) may as well have stripped nude, bent over, and asked to be screwed in return. The badger, you poked it! Now Ragnarok is upon you, bahahahahaha! Self-fulfilling prophecy much?

Let's see:
-Those "boxes" at the top left are a quicky of Hel's old home, which she looks at as she falls. (with empty eye sockets, no less)

-She falls into the "Grave." "Hel" was thought to mean the state of being that is Death or "the grave," and the personification/goddess came later. And I shaped it like a vagina because what the hell. Oh, and those bones are lining it because supposedly, her realm is made of human bones.

-Hel is said to be half fleshy/half-rotten or half light/half dark. I went with the rotten, but picked random areas to "skeletize." Oh, and her legs are rotting. I originally just sketched in the "kiddy" version of bones, intending to go back and make them more realistic. But I figured that if I'm lazy in the beginning, I may stay that way. So, the bones are better now. They're a bitch to do, but at least the teacher will see I'm being serious and putting forth effort. EFFORT.

-Those eyes on the lower left are Garm's, the hellhound which guard's Hel's entrance. (Not THAT kind of entrance, pervs! Or maybe he does. I dunno; never met him to ask.) He has four eyes and is bloody.I wonder if he enjoys belly rubs.

-Since Hel was the influence for the name of the Christian Hell (I think), I wanted this to look like a Fall of Lucifer sort of event. Okaaaaaaay.

Any suggestions and/or critiques are welcome. Tomorrow will be a busy day for me, trying to catch up.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

So-So Nekkid and a Dead Goddess

Didn't work fast enough today, but I could probably finish it on my own. 8D Other than her "beard" and the big hand, it looks okay.


Aaaaaaaaaand on to my Death Goddess series:
1. Each of these is going to have something "off" about them. (see #3)
2. I'm combining Death and Sex in this series since death deities have been closely linked with fertility throughout history.
3. I don't want these to be merely "pretty." I hope they're disturbing in some way or just plain creepy. 8D Some of these goddesses have tragic stories or weird characteristics and I want to show that. All will have something odd with their eyes (or they'll be hidden, or gone).
4. I hope to do one of these a day.
5. These will be pen on Bristol.
6. I'll choose six afterwards to make into big pastel abstracts.

 Here's the first pencil sketch: Persephone(not done, of course. Will that ever happen?)


Goddess of the Spring, seeds and fruits of the field, and queen of the underworld.
I usually see Persephone as a benign and beautiful woman, and she is, but her main story tends to be glossed over (at least to me). You probably know about Hades kidnapping her (with the help of Zeus, her father), but does anyone think about what happened after that event? Yeah, she became his queen, but knowing the gods, he most likely forced himself on her. Some say she eventually came to love Hades, but it implies some form of Stockholm Syndrome. The story just never sat right with me.
TL;DR: I'm being sensitive about a damn myth, BAAAAAAAAW

So here's the poor girl being tied down, surrounded by the dead's skeletons (who hold the straps that don't tie into the border). She has a metal collar. Her mouth has hooks on each side, forcing her lips open. The eyes are covered by hanging cloth. Her hair ties/will tie into the border.
Oh. the flowers beside her have vagina dentata. And that bug-looking thing below them is really a plant, inspired by the face-huggers from the Alien movies (which were said to be metaphors for rape; just watch them and see).
And (how many "and"s now?) yeah, she's having fun with herself. She's holding a pomegranate, but still. >.> (Can't have these be too pornographic)

So, yay? ^^; *hides* I don't know if any others will be as suggestive.

List:
Ereshkigal (Sumerian)
Hel(Norse)
Izanami(Japanese)
Kali(Indian)
Libitina(Roman)
Nephthys(Egyptian)
The Morrigan(Celtic)
Oya(Yoruba)
Mictecacihuatl or Itzpopalctl (Aztec)
Meng-Po(Chinese)
Hine-nui-te-po(Maori)
Sedna(Inuit)

Now, I must sleep. Nighty night. I may be able to gab tomorrow! <3

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Good Nekkid

Here's the figgy painting from last Thursday. I must have been scared about covering the figure since it looks as if she's floating above the cloth rather than laying on it.
Funny thing about the cloth (or not): There were two pieces of cloth that day, one white and one green-ish. Everyone was having trouble mixing paint to get that certain green, and I got it purely by accident trying to get grey (since we can't use black, it's a doozy getting the right shade). So the green you see here should be the white cloth, but matches the other. Hardy har har, right? 8D


And here's the one from yesterday. It started out well, then I kind of lost my momentum after the mid-break. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. I'm gessoing over it.

Monday, February 6, 2012

ALL THE CRIES! D:

I don't have a new pic to post, since Metal gave me crap today. Well, it may have been my fault for watching the end of Dead Like Me and Being Human S4E1 in one go (and then attempting to work on assignments). 8D They made me weep tears. Horrible horrible tears. Jeeeeeeeezus. ;_;
But I'm trying to post more often, which probably will bug the shit out of ya.

Sooooooo, here's the album I listened to:
Poe's Haunted
Since it's a long album, I won't put up vids here, since I know it can screw up some people's connections. I don't really want to just use text links, since the songs tend to blend together (and the momentum will be screwed with the pauses between loading vids), but what can one do? >.>

  1. "Exploration B"
  2. "Haunted"
  3. "Control"
  4. "Terrible Thought"
  5. "Walk the Walk"
  6. "Terrified Heart"(N/A)
  7. "Wild"
  8. "5&½ Minute Hallway"
  9. "Not a Virgin"
  10. "Hey Pretty"
  11. "Dear Johnny"
  12. "Could've Gone Mad"
  13. "Lemon Meringue"
  14. "Spanish Doll"
  15. "House of Leaves"
  16. "Amazed"
  17. "If You Were Here"

RAWR

Yeeeeeah. Anyway.

(Two posts within 24 hours? Wow.)

First of all, the Crane which was messed up by the fixatif. D:



And I banged this one out today after Monkey:



It doesn't really fit with the others, since it's more realistic, but you know what? I don't care! :D I might change my tune tomorrow, but I'm just glad to have these done. Let's see if I can get the Metal done.

There should be a skull, seeds and a skeletal hand. Yup yup. Is it Earthy and Deathy enough? >.>

Time to relax!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Monkey/Stone

Messy messy, but I'm trying to complete these quickly. I think Tiger/Earth will be more simplistic (here's to hoping).

Stone/Monkey was influenced by the story of Sun Wu-Kong (Wu-Kung/Wukong/etc.) from The Journey to the West. He was born from a stone egg on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. Wikipedia actually has a good summary.

JttW condensed


And have a puppy dog:

Friday, February 3, 2012

Oops

I just realized that I screwed up the Chinese element list. It doesn't have Stone, but rather Metal. Ack! But I've already started on Monkey/Stone, so I guess I'll replace Crane/Air (since Air isn't part of the system) with Metal. Which animal would be Metal? D:

Oh, and I remember why I chose Tiger for Earth. Tigers are considered guardians of the dead(they're carved on tombs) and the dead are buried underground/in the earth. Another reason is that tigers take care of pesty demons who want to destroy crops.

I finished Crane on Monday, but the fixatif screwed it up so bad. I'll post the travesty later.

Bad Nekkid

Figure from Tuesday. Looking at it now, I can see the problems. Holy crap, the problems! D: The one I did today (technically, yesterday since it's 1AM now) is much better. I'll post it on Tuesday with my three other pieces from the Chinese/element series. Dunno if I'll post anything between then. Sorry, Morgan. :P

Looking at the photo, I see that I still have my Sega Genesis games from way back when. I just can't let go of Ecco! D:


Good news for me though: Epica's new album drops in a month! YAY! Now if only Emilie Autumn would release hers. >.>
Being Human S4 starts Sunday. We shall see how it runs with people dropping off the show.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Anniversary, eh?

I just realized that I've had this thing for a year, since Jan 16th.







 Huh. Seems shorter.

What shall I do to celebrate?

*ponder*

Fuck it. I'm going to bed.

<3