This started as on of the typical full gymnast / ballerina poses to try and box the photo. I then realized I needed another dancer to do that. That worked but it was boring. Then as I was going through the color coordination of the outfits, I was, like, “what if I took the floor away? No one has gotten that shot before.” So I did, and did. Then I was reminded of the scene from ‘Scott Pilgrim Verses the World’ where Wallace is telling Scott that if he really wants the girl, he has to give into the ‘L-word’, to which Scott answers “Lesbian?” and Wallace says “It’s ‘Love’, I wasn’t trying to trick you.” So, I may have incorporated that into the scene. Lastly, I worked on the camera focus, aperture blades and whatnot. So, that’s the process, kind of ho-hum. The result is two interpretative dancers practicing for the stage in the future.
This is both fan art and a statement. It started as a momento of what I have always thought the perfect woman was, the Goth Girl, which goes back to high school. Hint, it was the Nerds who were totally interested in you, not that it mattered. There’s a girl, Desiree was her name, that I was infatuated with in high school, but was too afraid to talk to her. She disappeared after graduation. I have no idea weather she still walks the planet. so this is kind of a tribute to her.
It’s also a tribute to one of my favorite movies. Can you guess? Artax? Atreyu? The bog? Yup, it’s the Neverending Story, or Die Unendliche Geschichte, which is the book that is the origin of the movie. There may be some copyright stuff here but fanart should be covered by fair use.
Today’s doodle is a dyoptych. Technically, a dyoptych doesn’t exist, as it means two fold. In the art world a polyptych typically start with triptych, or tri-fold, a series of three paintings. I’m lazy, so I invented the dyoptych. What’s it about? Beyond the usual celebration of the human form, its an imagining of the Dervish, as portrayed in the DnD world.
Dervishes (aka Whirling Dervishes) in the real world are male (though it’s changing) and focus on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego to reach God (Allah). In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr (previous sentence) through physical exertions (dance) or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God, but they are not weapon focused, that is pure fantasy.
Second Panel of the Dyoptych – focuses on the glitter, because there is no life without glitter.
In Role-playing Games (RPG) Dervishes are a dancing order, more like belly-dancers who carry weapons, who have an affinity for water (as noted in the Guild Wars video game), and are deadly assassins – the Mideast equivalent of Ninjas.
Here, an unnamed dervish, let’s call her Anya, dances in practice for a coming performance, drawing power from the water surrounding the holy site in which she dances, unlike the assassins or ḥašīšī ‘hashish-eater, also of Mideast origin and the genesis of the term assassin, she draws her power from music and form. Now, the music is totally in her head but is definitely Mideastern in origin (why substitute for a good thing :).
The second panel of the Dyoptych was accidental. I was positioning the Scythe and said to myself, “Self, this is a good angle for a picture.” Beyond being an artist I’m also an aspiring photographer.
What’s it about? Err, I don’t know. I may be a bit tipsy with creating this artwork – I do know that I started out with the idea of using the human body as a frame for what’s in the picture, so, goal achieved. She’s a regal woman constrained by the borders of the art, but she has power, as reflected in the claws on her tattoo – this won’t make sense in the morning, but who she is at night, with the moon behind her is not the limit of her power.
It’s the Vietnam War, but with magic! As someone who has studied Vietnamese (Hanoi dialect), one of the cool cultural components that comes along with the language is that the Vietnamese believe in ghosts of ancestors wandering around in the jungle – and, if you extrapolate this to the rich Asian lexicon of mythology (Hint, China mythology is way cooler than European folktales, watch the fantasy movies they are making), then something like this artwork falls within the realm of possibilities.
I put this together over a longer period of time than normal as I’m slammed at my day job, but managed to finish it up late last night.
Totally inspired by the playlist I’m listening to (Middle Eastern dance music), singers like Elissa. I also noticed she (the dancer in the painting ) looks like one of my friends – there is no subtext – okay, maybe there is, she looks like someone I’ve crushed on for forever, but ‘twill never be. Then again, maybe it’s the Bumbu creating false honesty. Anywho, here she is, an artist of the dance.
This doodle was inspired by Flock of Seagulls’ ‘Space Age Love Song’ from 1982, and Bumbu rum. The first stanza is, like, “I saw your eyes, and you made me smile, for a little while, I was falling in love.” I interpreted it into this fan art / original piece. I’ve said before I’m unapologetic about artwork involving eyes, as they are the very cliche ‘windows to the soul’. I’ll shut up now and let it speak for itself.
“Habibi stood looking down at the encampment below. There were too many of them. She could handle maybe 10 at a time, 15 with her horse, but the 100-odd troops below guarding the palace entrance would need something other than a frontal attack. Thoughts raced through her mind. She needed to think of something fast, before her horse decided to eat all of her hair”.
A new digital doodle for you. It’s what I do with the little free time I have.
Queen G’elzanna was becoming impatient with the interlopers from the surface. The under dark was her world. They did not belong, even if they came with gifts. The Drow would not suffer long a ruler who made peace with the surface dwellers. Then one of them blurt out something that intrigued her. The planet was dying, and if that happened, neither surface dweller nor Drow would survive. She decided she would not throw them into the dungeons just yet.
It’s a silly title but I can’t think of another, except untitled, so I’m going with it. It’s yet another portrait of a fantasy beauty. Yawn, right? Okay, but created artwork is worth two in the artists head. Besides, maybe it’s not about the girl at all? Maybe it’s about camera settings, what you can see but can’t see. Maybe it’s a technical exercise. Or maybe it’s art and unapologetically about the girl. That’s the beauty of art.
I had to do some #art tonight because I’m literally dying inside. It’s not anything that will win an award but it will keep me going for another day. It’s a representation of my DnD character, Malice. #new #digitalart
Alternate angle of the #digital #art I did a day or two ago. Squeezed this out between 70-something hours of work so far this week. Added some #sun to pull the fire in her eyes, and a cherry tree, as well as hand moving about / posing because what looks great from one angle is horrid from another. #fantasyart #fantasy #warrior #archer my #dnd #characterart
“Her reputation preceded her, judging by the gasps of the people on the way to the castle. She was synonymous with evil, and had adopted the nickname of the light bringer, Lucifer. There was irony in that it was the same as the weapon she used to dispatch justice on those who had wronged her as she made her way back to the root of the problem. As she crested the hill, the familiar ramparts greeted her, and she smiled, in her unsmiling way, a most wicked smile; for she was home.”
Some hot off the render digital art I ginned up over the last couple days (and a backstory). The castle you can barely see in her eyes, which were the focus of all of this. Actually, it was reflections therein I was working on.
