(Camera distorts stuff, remember. Ack)
So, I was able to meet John Cameron Mitchell on Saturday night (for a couple of minutes since it was a hectic time). He looks so tall as Hedwig, but he seemed to be the same height as me. XD That was strange, but he was such a sweetie. <3 Too bad I didn't have a camera to take a pic but he did sign my pass. Maybe next time?
Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah
Art stuff:
Figgy from yesterday. I'm gessoing over this. 8D I am SO not going to have many "finished" pieces at the end of the semester.
Here are the goddess (second set) WIPs-
Libitina: Roman goddess of funerary rites and burials. She's usually hidden (and relatively unknown to many), staying to the shadows with a veil and black wings. She hovers over the dying and guards offerings to the dead. Her temples contained registers of the dead. There's not much info about her, but I like that mystery.
I'm not finished with this, but I like it thus far. She's supposed to be forming from the shadows. >.> Yeah...I might edit out those daggers.
Oya: Yoruban goddess of sudden change, fire, magic, tornadoes, wind (storms, tempests, etc.), and guardian of cemeteries .She once was a water goddess, but was tricked by Yemaya into leaving her realm for the cemetery. She's usually seen with a machete and horsetail to clear the way for new beginnings (yes, I know that's not a machete. I screwed up while inking). She sometimes takes the form of a water buffalo.
Meng-Po: She creates the liquid of forgetfulness from earthly plants. She serves in hell where souls are forced to drink the brew before reincarnation (karma stays with them). If a soul refuses, hooks come from the ground and dig into it, keeping it in place while a bronze tube is thrust into the throat so that Meng-Po can pour the liquid.
Ereshkigal: Sister of Ishtar; they're opposites and don't like each other very much. When Ishtar descended to the underworld, her sister put her on a hook. o.O
I'm redrawing this. It didn't follow my original plan at all.
Nephthys: Wet nurse to the pharaoh and was a symbol of the wailing women who mourned the dead. She, with her sister Isis, guarded the mummies and could breathe fire at enemies. She seduced Osiris and gave birth to Anubis (who sometimes has different parentage).
She looks huge compared to the mummy, eh? 8D
Wing detail
The Morrigan: Complicated goddess. o.O Associated with war and she constantly chose favorites. She could foresee who would die and would sometimes allow warriors to see her as she cleaned bloody clothes (those of the one who would die). Her symbol is the raven, so she wears a raven mask. >.>
Also considered part of a triad, protective and motherly. Ruled over horses sometimes as the Mare Queen/Woman.
Hine-nui-te-po: Maori death goddess who had children with her father. When she learned this, she retreated to the underworld to wait for those who would die.
The hero Maui wanted to conquer death and believed that in order to reverse the process, he had to enter through the goddess's vagina and exit through her mouth. A bird laughed at him as he was doing so and woke up the goddess, and she ended up crushing Maui.
She's said to have a barracuda mouth, jewel eyes, hair like kelp, and obsidian teeth in between her thighs or in her vagina. I thought the latter was creepier. 8D It reminded me of the movie Teeth. Crunch crunch munch munch.
Music:
Within Temptation- The Howling (partially inspired my DW story. In series 2, the Tenth Doc said that the Eternals referred to the Void as the Howling. So, I'm using it. >.>)
Fun.-We Are Young
Panic! At the Disco-Ballad of Mona Lisa
Kimbra- Settle Down
The Joy Formidable- A Heavy Abacus and Whirring
The Decemberists- The Hazards of Love album
Gotye- Somebody That I Used To Know (Peter Gabriel-sounding)
Yay, I'm glad you got to meet him (and get an autograph!!)! :D And he probably seems so tall because he's so thin. XD
ReplyDeleteIs that figure painting the camera distortion you were speaking of? D: I hope the professor doesn't mind the paint-overs at the end. It was pretty annoying how even art students are supposed to be filthy rich/not mind loans or credit card debt/can get their family to buy them anything. And then have half the stuff they bought either junk/not necessary (cheaper alternatives would have worked, too)/never used. >_>
The wings..... THE WINGS. How long did it take you to finish the wings on these goddesses?? They turned out beautiful~ I especially like Nephthys (the size ratio is okay since she's a goddess. They can shapeshift and grow larger or smaller than humans.) But Libitina reminds me of one of those old engraving prints from centuries ago. I really like it. <3
And The Morrigan's wings also! She seems proud and sneaky with that raven mask on. XD
I still like Oya's details, and knowing Meng-Po's background story makes the drawing even more interesting (the souls are like creepy dolls!)
Ereshkigal doesn't look bad, but if your original plan illustrates her story better, I look forward to seeing it! The figure at the bottom right is pretty and Ereshkigal has feathers on her head (more lovely detail) as well as a bird-headed creature in the background... I take it birds are common omens of death or at least associated with it? ;_; (All of the sudden, all the plush bird eyes in my room staring at me seem more tangible.)
I think the hero deserved getting eaten by Hine-nui-te-po's guardian cat. Should have thought twice before sexually harassing a goddess like that. XD More birds and lovely detailed wings~ <3
I'll listen to the music when I work on a commission today! :D
*snerk* He is indeed tiny, especially compared to us large southerners. >.> *still wants pic with him, someday*
DeleteThe "distortion" just meant the flash reflecting off everything. The photos are lighter than the hard copies and the shine kind of hides some detail.
So no, the figure is indeed that weird-looking. 8D The one I did yesterday is better at least. *gets gesso ready* We need at least 5 works at the end so I'm fine. (Cut-off is 20-long way to go)
I don't think she minds us painting over stuff. Other people do it and it's obvious when they bring the canvasses in since the gesso doesn't cover up the previous painting completely. She makes no comment though, unless she wonders why someone is painting over something she considers good.
Did Ladnier allow do-overs? And did he want you to slather the canvas and brushes with paint? That's just wasteful in my opinion. (I use as little as possible. She asked if I was poverty-stricken since I use so little at once. I'm just careful. That was a bit rude. ._.; But she does have her moments, so I can't go completely mental.)
Oh god, I still have leftover stuff. Let's share the pain. D: But at least we find use for it? *looks at Indian inks*
Ah, the wings didn't take too long. It wasn't a short process either, but no ungodly amount of time was used. I just filled them in quickly; pens make that easier, I've learned. I love 'em. :3 And thank you! Nice to know the effect works.
(The mummy with Nephthys is supposed to be Osiris, so he's a bit small for a god. XD Too late now to change him unless I build up some lines to make him seem larger.)
I was kind of going for an engraving-like style, so YAY! Let's see if the others cooperate. >.>
The Morrigan is pretty damn proud, and intense. <.< She's a bit scary, and this is coming from someone who loves Kali-Ma.
(The souls are meant to look sexless, but "doll" works. Thanks. ._.; Now I can't help but think about those old porcelain dolls. *shudder*)
Ereshkigal was supposed to have zombies. The result shown isn't very exciting. (No idea how I got sidetracked)
And yeah, birds are associated with death. >.> Usually carrion birds, but owls were thought to be omens of death and disaster, and bad luck. To us though, they're seen as wise. So they're not completely bad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl#Relationship_with_humans
Also, something cute: http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzj75b3mAl1qm6eujo1_r1_500.gif
Heh, "guardian cat." I see a magical girl parody in there somewhere. 8D "Meet my guardian pussycat!" *spreads legs...CHOMP*
Hope you like some of it. >.> I should have linked to my fave Hazards of Love song. The one I listed isn't the best. Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKhydixkeA
That's good that you only need so few... yay, you get to save hundreds of dollars that I could have saved if I was smarter! XD Actually, I don't think any of my professors explicitly stated not to repaint over a canvas. Maybe I saw a look in their eyes that said they didn't approve? (It wasn't Ladnier, since he was super lenient, but I'm guessing you can imagine which professors seemed not to approve. XD) I sucked so bad at painting in the first place, so I didn't want to look even more bad in the eyes of the instructors. At least the people that painted over their art could actually paint.
DeleteMm, I think he wanted us to get messy and push the paint around and have fun. So yeah, I think he wanted us to put a lot of paint on the canvas, if I remember correctly. And as to the poverty-stricken statement, I would have looked her in the eyes and said, "Why yes, yes I am." And then things would have been awkward. XD (Okay, I don't live in true poverty, but if it wasn't for my parents, I would be.)
Maybe we can find use for SOME stuff... other stuff I gave away to friends. Or in the case of stinky plasticine, there are no takers and it rots somewhere out in the garage.
You're welcome~ And yes, pens are amazing. <3 (Aww, poor Osiris... well, Nephthys is the focus, the one in power, so that can be the secondary explanation. XD)
I think I like The Morrigan even more now, knowing her personality. :)
Zombies?! Well, that will get more attention. XDDDDD Can't wait to see it! ^^
I knew about owls and omens, but I didn't realize the avian pattern until it clicked that most of these drawings have wings, feathers, or outright birds. And I've seen the video that gif came from! It really is super cute~ I wish I could be the one petting that owl. ;_;
That would.... it's hilarious, but the problem with that parody would be that the audience would be severely limited. Don't want to get in trouble with obscenity laws. 8D
I actually liked quite a bit of it! I actually listened to the full Hazards of Love album (because the other tracks were in the related videos. XD) I liked the Hazards of Love parts more than what you linked me above, actually. But since I liked most the album, that's not a bad thing at all. The Rakes Song was hilarious to me, though. Probably shouldn't be, but I was giggling inside... But yeah, the entire album's instrumentals were awesome. Very nice 70's rock vibe, reminded me of Styx and Kansas a little. :)
I liked the sound of The Howling and the synthy bit of We Are Young (the chorus.) The Joy Formidable's songs didn't stick out to me. The other songs were okay, but I was more interested in their music videos. Kimbra's Settle Down had a cute dance, I liked the costumes and visuals in The Ballad of Mona Lisa. In that last video, though, I couldn't stop staring at the dude's GINORMOUS TEETH. D:
And while catching up on recommended music, I already told you that I liked the Calypso series and how early on it sounds like The Snorks or an early 90's computer game. <3
And from the Kamelot album, I liked the Ghost Opera, Love You To Death, and Silence of the Darkness tracks. It was another pleasant album to listen to while arting, and the instrumental solos reminded me of good old songs, as if it was a continuation of the awesomeness of the 80's hard rock ballads. I really like these instrumental focused songs you've been showing me. :)