Persephone

8 x 10" Arches paper.

Graphite + acrylic.

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Persephone became Queen of the Underworld when Hades, god of the Underworld, kidnapped her. He burst out of the Underworld on a chariot, grabbing her while she was picking Narcissus flowers. Persephone's mother Demeter, goddess of harvest, was distraught and searched everywhere for her daughter. She refused to allow anything to grow on the earth until Zeus stopped avoiding her questions and helped her.

Zeus, not wanting everything to be destroyed, demanded that Hades return Persephone. As she was leaving, Hades offered her a pomegranate, which she ate the seeds of before returning to the surface. Whether or not she was tricked depends on what translation you read, but since she ate food from the Underworld, she would have to return to the Underworld three months out of the year. This, according the the mythology, is what causes the changes in seasons.

This is a pretty basic summary. You can read a more thorough version of the story here.

The pomegranate itself has polarizing meanings across cultures, from the fruit of the dead to symbolizing good health and fertility.

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I also drew from this video, which I advise you not to watch if you're sensitive to potentially disturbing imagery of a gory, violent, sexual kind. Or if you're not into music erring on the 'loud' side (sorry, I'm not so good at the genre thing).

Er... well I guess the preview shot on this video kind of says it all.

Happy Halloween everyone ;]

Little Portrait III

4 x 5" Stonehenge paper.

Graphite + acrylic.

Chasing Shadows

3.5 x 5" Stonehenge.

Graphite + acrylic.

I've been liking how the cuts, materials, and silhouettes of clothing are playing with what's hidden, what's visible, and what's suggested.

WeLoveFine! T-shirt

Remember those little hint pictures? They were for WeLoveFine!'s steampunk T-shirt design competition. Here is my submission:

Admittedly I'm not an expert on the steampunk style, but I did some research and I grew up on Hayao Miyazaki's films – I would watch My Neighbor Totoro repeatedly when I was little. I always think of his beautiful flying scenes (hence the Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Howl's Moving Castle images) and the thoughtful design of all the machinery. I read in an interview he tends to include at least one scene of flying because it's a form of liberation, and I'm inclined to agree :]

You can vote and see more of the awesome designs here.