More Shinto goddesses

I finally got around to finishing the triptych I decided to undertake when I finished Benzaiten. I'm not sure that I am entirely done with the whole ukiyo-e inspired style yet. I really enjoy the ethereal look, with the figures seemingly suspended in time and gently considering their surroundings. But for now, these are the deities I thought would complement each other nicely.

So there's Benzaiten/Benten, as previously introduced...

Then it's O-Ryu the willow goddess with Konohanasakuya-hime the cherry blossom goddess. I liked the contrast between the two trees/goddesses: An sturdy, tall green tree beside a dainty flowering tree...

Lastly, there is Amaterasu, the Sun goddess. I wanted her to look colossal, as the Sun shines on the entire world, but I wanted her to still look nurturing and poised...

Even though I didn't carefully plan how each picture would look when finished, I quite like the effect when putting them all together. There is a nice spectrum of elements going on with the goddesses and the colour schemes, Benzen being water, O-Ryu and Konohanasakuya earth and Amaterasu fire...

DIY- Medusa geisha Halloween costume

In compliance to this year's Greek mythology Halloween theme, my costume was the Gorgon Medusa but with a Japanese Kabuki/Geisha style.

I was lucky to find lots of helpful elements to build the rather elaborate costume around. I wanted a very lavish kimono in tones of black, gold and red, to match with Jacob's Minotaur costume. A trip to the thrift store (Value Village) yielded a kimono-top dress and another large dress in the right colours for a total of $20:



I got a bit more fabric from the fabric store for about $40. A glossy black fabric to make the kimono's long sleeves, a rich golden fabric with dragons for the kimono's 'Obi' and some red trim ribbon:



After visiting several craft/dollar stores without success, I found some nice-looking rubber snakes in a toy store (no picture, sorry) and a basic black wig.

I found some neat yellow contact lenses, to finalize the Medusian look that could turn onlookers to stone, at www.fashion-contactlenses.com for a pretty good price. Their shipping was very fast too.

Putting the whole costume together was a somewhat haphazard affair, as I had about a week left and a busy little 3 month-old to entertain. I wish I could have made a more comprehensive tutorial, but it basically consisted of sewing the various parts (sleeves, trim, obi etc...) together. The kimono was assembled in two parts, attached with snap buttons, to allow me to nurse Penelope easily. An interesting observation was that Penelope seemed completely oblivious to my attire, full-face makeup and creepy eyes eyes: She just giggled and demanded her embraces and feedings as eagerly as usual :D

The final look:





Little Penelope also had a costume of sorts to celebrate her very first Halloween. She sure nailed the essence of jolly, carefree Pan:



... She got more enthusiastic once she got out of the car seat, promise ;)

Benzaiten- New piece and Step-by-Step progress

I've created a piece to enter in a contest on an art forum. I was interested mainly for the possibility of a few entries to be included in an artbook. The theme was 'Ethnique- Women of Legend', so it was about choosing a female mythological or legendary figure from various cultures. Of course, I only found out about the competition 2 days before the deadline, but I do draw well under pressure ;)

As subject, I chose Benzaiten: The Japanese/Shinto equivalent to the Hindu goddess Saraswati, Benzaiten represents music, language, knowledge, poetry and speech.

Old Japanese prints were a big inspiration for style. The water and fishes represent the flowing nature of words and songs and the fact that both Saraswati and Benzaiten are associated with rivers. I've used chiefly tones of muted blues, orange and pink to represent the peaceful and feminine nature of the goddess. She is supported above the water by a moonfish (akamanbo) and accompanied by goldfishes: Both kind of fishes represent good luck, indicating her status of protector goddess and bestower of fortune.

Step 1- Pencil sketch (crappy digital picture, because I was too lazy to scan the large drawing in 2 pieces):


Step 2- Inking:


Step 3- A limited insight on the colouring process:


The finished piece!


A few closeups of details:


I've been wanting to draw a moonfish for a while now: I think they just look so gorgeous (and they're huge! Probably large enough for a dainty goddess to ride on, too!). Fishes in general are lots of fun to draw.


It would be awesome to be included in some anthology, but I'm quite happy with this one as a new portfolio piece, if nothing else. It was very enjoyable to create.