An attempt to bring back three classic prehistoric species with a twist.
My rendition of the immortal characters created by Lewis Carroll. From left to right: The Cheshire Cat, The White Rabbit, Alice, The Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
“If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows."--Reverend Henry Ward Beecher
Nothing like a retreat into Norse mythology when you feel overwhelmed with yourself. It has always worked for me and it continues as I admit that the Greek Gods were not always the 'historically cool' ones. Norse Gods were brewing their own brawn and dousing their fear in mugs of ale made from the skulls their enemies.
Formidable as Odin was, I was always struck by the fact that he had this fascination for ravens much like Chengiz Khan. His ravens were named Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory). Each day, he would send these two birds off around the world at daybreak to bring him news or tidings. In 'Grimnismal', Odin says
"For Huginn I fear lest he return not home, but I am more anxious for Muninn".
This suggests that Odin valued memory more than thought, something you wouldn't normally conceive about the God of war.
In this illustration, I have sought to represent a 'humaniod' or a 'sprite' (whichever you'd prefer) version of Muninn, which I feel, for obvious reasons should be represented as a feminine apparition. I am also working on Huginn's apparition, although with little success.
It had taken Jefito the gypsy, seventy years to accumulate and collect talismans in the form of pendants, coins, plants, rings, stones, statues etc from different parts of the world. One night, after having heard the Gods whisper about her impending departure from earth, she decided to bestow her bounty to the world through a little window of her house. Wanting to bless the world with her charms, Jefito was instead damned as a witch and incarcerated in a penitenttiary where she slowly died.
After completing this particular piece I affirmed the fact that I simply hadn't learn how to use water colours. I used them like acrylic paints. But considering the amount of time it took for me to complete this, I'd say I feel pretty invested right now and dang those paints needed a giant push out of the tubes!
The first two sketches were a part of my first set of character explorations for Reticuli. As you can see, I could not implement the colour palette since it made the character look too ludicrous. The character sheet that you see below was the basis on which I modelled the character on Maya by placing the three sketches along three different axis'.
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of the female figures who choose those who die in battle. The valkyries bring their chosen who have died bravely in battle to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens, and sometimes connected to bottles of mead.
Parallel verses of the billows and gales,
It would be interesting to note that the 'black forest' which so often makes an appereance in popular western fables and mythologies has indeed, an equally interesting history behind it. It is the birthplace of, and is synonnymous to a worldwide phenomennon known as the 'black forest cake', and also of the first cuckoo clock ever made. However, being a fan of the culinary arts I would rather emphasize on the former. In reality the Black forest exists in southwestern Germany in Badden-Wuttenberm, a place known for bitter winters and twisted, knotty trees. After reading the details about it, a small theme began to unfurl in my head.
