Adder Stone

Adder Stone

Medium: Mixed

Size: 12x16 inches

Prints: 8.5x11 inch ($16.95) available -here-

An adder stone that has a naturally occurring hole in it. Such stones were thought to grant magical powers to the bearer, among with was the ability to see through fairy illusions, but also sometimes invisibility, defense against the evil eye, and curative properties.

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Sketches and the process:

 Initial sketches and brainstorming that I did over Christmas while away from my paints and desk. I did a lot of thumbnail drawings in my sketchbook.

This was the initial finalized thumbnail I arrived at. It was only when I was just about to start the meticulous finer sketch that I noticed the figure was almost exactly the same pose as the one in a painting I did in 2012 entitled Firefly Hunters.

So I had to rethink the composition a bit and came up with this instead:

 

First layer of paint to create a base layer of texture.

After that dried, I sprayed fixative so that I could retain the lovely ink textures. Then I started back in with a large flat brush with opaque white watercolor ground, and also started adding tints of color to various sections.

After the main areas were blocked in, I could take smaller brushes and pens and start to pull out the fine details in the background, starting with the background trees.

Started adding more contrast in the foreground elements.

And getting more detailed.

Hrafnagud: Raven-God

Raven God

Size: 11x7.5 inches

Medium: Mixed

For detail closeup pictures, and prints ($16.95), -click here-

One of Norse god Odin's many names: Hrafnagud, Raven God. For his companions Huginn and Muninn. They fly out across the world at dawn and return to him in the evening with information of what they have seen.  

This original will be on exhibit at Krab Jab Studio in Seattle, WA in the "Quoth the Raven" group show taking place from January 11 - January 30.

Avalon

Avalon

Medium: Watercolors, India Ink

Size: 16x22

Prints ($16.96 & $26.50), Original painting ($1650.00), and closeup detail views available -here-

The Isle of Apples. Mythical island in the mists. The final resting place of King Arthur.

The name of Avalon invokes magic and mystery. 

* * *

I began with some scribbled thumbnails. The structures of the buildings, I wanted to be reminiscent of the ruins that can be found today in Glastonbury. 

 The final shape of the composition at first was a very centered piece.

 But I found that to be a bit dull, and on a whim, pushed things over to one side (in photoshop) a few inches, and shifting the boat a little bit to fit that new alignment. That turned out to be just what was needed.

 The final pencil sketch that was ready for painting:

  The initial colors I had in mind were for a ghostly night scene, with the tree glowing in the darkness. I tried to be lazy and just use photoshop brushes to sketch in the colors. But it really looks nothing like actual watercolors, and so it's hard to get a good feel for how the colors will actually work out when using the paint.

So, reluctantly I went through my much lengthier color roughing process, that involves cutting and pasting large areas of color and texture from my collection of other scanned paintings, and then tweaking color balance and contrasts in photoshop. This gives a MUCH better approximation of what a finished piece could look like, and gives me a basis to decide colors and values. 

Using that above color rough as a guide, I  started painting.

The final results:

3 Pure Ones & Kannon

Some ink drawings, done on japanese tanzaku and shikishi, a thick card that is used for calligraphy and small paintings, that is then hung onto a scroll for display. This was a commission for Nyoirin Kannon, and the Three Pure Ones.

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Nyoirin Kannon. Gwanyin takes on many forms. Bodhisattva of compassion, hearing the cries of the world. In China she is most often known as the Goddess of Mercy. And she is most often believed to have originated as Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit. Guanyin is depicted as male or female.

Nyoirin Kannon is a Japanese form of this bodhisattva/deity. She has six hands, and she is always depicted as holding the sacred wheel in one, and a wish-fulfilling gem.

* * *
The Three Pure Ones are a Taoist Trinity, pure manifestation of the Tao. Yuanshi Tianzun saw the creation of the universe. Lingbao Tianzun classified and gave order. And Daode Tianzun brought about civilization.

White Knight of Bright Morning

White Knight of Bright Morning
Size: 19.3x21.6 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Original and prints for sale -here-
Detail closeups -here-

Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore: she was wise woman and witch, bestower of gifts and curses, life and death, crone, grandmother, and goddess. "My white knight, bright day. My red knight, round sun. My black knight, dark night," so she names her three servants.

This is the first of what will eventually be three paintings. Red & Black are forthcoming.

* * *


Some of the inspiration for the background:

A birch grove on Manatoulin Island in Canada. Crisp edges and the mottled texture of the bark very striking. The morning sun streaming through the trees on a chill winter day in New York. Shadows and light. Lines and edges and a latticework of fine branches. Though my references may have been a little more close to home, white birch forests are found in Russia as well, and so it made an excellent setting for this piece.

Essence of Beauty

Essence of Beauty
Size: 11x15 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Prints and original available -here-
Detail closeups -here-

Inspired by an ancient Chinese fairytale - the story of Yeh-Shen. This tale is a variant of our more familiar Cinderella story. Yeh-Shen's dead mother's spirit lives on in a golden carp who befriends the lonely girl. When Yeh-Shen's jealous step-mother discovers this source of happiness, she kills the fish, and serves it for dinner for herself and her daughter.

But the spirit is not so easily banished. When Yeh-Shen's step-mother and sister head off to the spring festival, her mother's dead spirit visits and tells her where she might find buried and hidden a beautiful gown of kingfisher feathers and golden shoes to wear to the festival.

Ten Suns

Ten Suns
Medium: Watercolors
Size: 10x16 inches
Detail closeups -here-
Prints and original available -here-

A Chinese legend:

There was once a time when there was not just a single sun in the heavens, but ten suns. These ten suns were embodied in the forms of celestial Sun-Birds, who lived in a mulberry tree far out in the eastern sea.

Alternating amongst themselves each day, it was the task for a single one of the Sun-Birds to spread his wings and fly over the lands, to light the skies. As he soared across the vault of the heavens, the sun\'s glorious radiance bought warmth and life to the fields and people. In a day-long journey, the Sun-Bird flew to the western mountains. Each night, that Sun-Bird would come back to roost at the mulberry tree amongst his siblings.

Day after day, the Sun-Birds performed their duty, until they bored of the routine. On that fateful morning, they all took flight, in a burst of overwhelming flame and glory. The ten Sun-Birds flew out across the lands, and the people cried out in pain at the furnace that opened up from the heavens with the heat of ten suns beating down upon rice fields and rooftops and heads.

It fell to the Archer God, Houyi to remedy the situation. Drawing his great bow, he shot down nine of the ten Sun-Birds. So it is today, that there is but a single Sun.

Ten Sun Crows - ink drawing

Another little something I did while at wondercon last weekend.

This is an ink drawing on bristol board. It measures 11x7 inches. Grey, brown, and black inks were used. On sale -at my etsy shop-.

Brainstorming for the next painting, which will be on this story.

According to Chinese legend, there was once not just a single sun, but ten.

Ten sun birds lived in a mulberry tree in the eastern ocean. Each day, one of them would make the day-long journey across the skies to the western mountains. Until one day, all ten descended on the earth at once, and the archer Houyi was forced to shoot down all but one of the wayward sun birds.

The text on this piece says:

Each day, it was the task for one
of the Sun Birds to fly from the Mullbery
tree in a day-long arc across the
skies, to the Western Mountains.
Until one morn, on a whim, all ten spread their
wings at once, and a burning wind kissed
the earth.

Bridge of Wings - The Herder

Bridge of Wings - The Herder
Size: 13x16 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Prints and original available -here-
Detail closeup views -here-
Matching pair to The Weaver, viewable -here-
Pencil sketch viewable -here-

There is a legend of lovers: it is said that the stars Altair and Vega in the summer night sky are the celestial glimmers of the Weaver Girl and Herder Boy. The Milky Way spills in a glistening river, sprawling across the heavens, and forever keeping the lovers apart, except for once a year when all the magpies of the world would fly up and form a bridge of wings that the Herder Boy and Weaver Girl might briefly touch, before spinning back to their corners of the sky. This is one of the reasons why magpies are considered auspicious birds and bringers of good fortune.

Bridge of Wings - The Weaver

Bridge of Wings - The Weaver

Size: 12.6x16.3 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Prints and original available -here-
Detail closeup views -here-
Sketch -here-

There is a legend of lovers: it is said that the stars Altair and Vega in the summer night sky are the celestial glimmers of the Weaver Girl and Herder Boy. The Milky Way spills in a glistening river, sprawling across the heavens, and forever keeping the lovers apart, except for once a year when all the magpies of the world would fly up and form a bridge of wings that the Herder Boy and Weaver Girl might briefly touch, before spinning back to their corners of the sky. This is one of the reasons why magpies are considered auspicious birds and bringers of good fortune.

White Nine Tailed Fox

White Nine Tailed Fox
medium: watercolors on illustration board
size: 14.6 x 4.4 inches
detail closeups -here-
prints and originals -here-

I got sidetracked from the other sketch I had prepared. I've been reading the Shan Hai Jing, a very ancient Chinese mythical bestiary, detailing all manner of fantastical gods, places, peoples, plants, and animals to be found under heaven. I had often come across references to it in other readings (The story of Nuwa and her transformation into the jing wei bird, for which I also recently did a painting, finds one of its earliest mentions in the Shan Hai Jing), and figured it was time to get down to the actual book itself.

I came to the early entry of the nine-tailed fox. This creature resides upon the Green Hills Mountain, amid the jade and cinnabar, and is a fierce man-eating beast. The commentary also mentioned a story of Yu the Great (the founder and progenitor of the legendary Xia Dynasty, China's supposed first dynasty over 4000 years ago). Yu sought an omen that he would marry, and as he rode through the hills, he caught sight of a white nine-tailed fox. This was the sign that he had been searching for, and he took it to mean success. Nine tailed foxes were thought to be auspicious creatures.

Forgotten Bells of Ys

Forgotten Bells of Ys

Medium: Watercolors
Size: 12x17 inches
Detail closeup views -here-
Prints and original for sale -here-

Pencil sketch -here-

The sailors and fishers have seen the gilt shadows
stretching proud arches upon the glass seas;
and I have heard echos of eons dead bells
drifting in tides of ghost melodies.

There are many legends of vanished cities, sunk beneath the hungry ocean waves. One of the most famous was the beautiful city of Ys, off the coast of Brittany, in the Bay of Douarnenez. There was once a King of Brittany, named Gradlon. He fell in love with a druid woman, a Queen of the North, the sorceress Malgven. Together, they slew her husband, and took his magical horse Morvarc'h who could fly across the shifting seas as upon land. The lovers fled back to Gradlon's lands. Their journey across the seas took so long, that Malgven grew pregnant, and gave birth while still in transit. Their daughter, born on the shifting ocean waves, was named Dahut.

Malgven died in the birthing, but to honor her, and as a gift to his daughter, King Gradlon built the most glorious and beautiful of cities. There were great white temples to the old gods, fantastic towers and spires and palaces. These were all built below the sea level, and protected from the deadly waters by bronze walls and a gate, to which Gradlon held the only key. He named this city Ys, and its beauty was to be rivaled by no others.

Dahut grew to be a lovely young woman, doted on by her father, but she reveled in debauchery. Ys was transformed into a haven for her wicked ways. Each night, she took a new lover, and in the morning had him executed. One day, a strange knight, clad in red armor came to Ys, and Dahut was smitten by him. He convinced her to acquire the key to the city gates to satisfy his whim and prove her love. In drunken giddiness, Dahut crept to her sleeping father's bedchambers that night, and lifted the key from the chain around his neck. She brought it back to the red knight, triumphant; but the knight turned out to be none other than the devil!

The gates to Ys were opened, and high tide and storm that had been raging all the while, came crashing through the bronze doors, flooding the city. Gradlon awoke and instantly knew what had happened when he found the key missing. He raced through the palace to his magical steed Morvarc'h, flying up above the waves that quickly were enveloping Ys in their saline embrace.

When he caught sight of Dahut, he pulled her up behind him on Morvarc'h, attempting to fly away, but time and again she kept slipping, and Morvarc'h struggled to stay above the clawing waves. A Saint appeared to Gradlon, telling him, "You must abandon the demon who sits behind you." Gradlon resisted, but eventually Dahut slipped from his grasp, falling back into the ocean, where she was transformed into a mermaid, forevermore to swim among the ghostly bells of Ys.

* * *

What seems a very long time ago, back in 1998, I did a painting on this theme. I was not yet working in watercolors back then. Digital was my main medium. Here's a little glimpse of one of the (really bad!) pieces I did back then. So...uh...yeah...I think practice every day for over a decade has paid off.

Climbing the Dragon Gate

Climbing the Dragon Gate

Medium: Watercolors
Size: 12x17 inches
Prints and Original available -here-
Detail closeup views -here-
Original sketch available -here-

In Chinese and Japanese legend the lowly carp spends its life trying to swim up the Yellow River. At the source of the river is a great roaring waterfall. If the koi were able to swim up that waterfall, it would be rewarded and transformed into a dragon. Thus, the koi is a symbol of personal advancement, perseverance, determination in the face of impossible obstacles, and inner strength. The journey of the carp to become a dragon was a metaphor for young scholars passing the Chinese state exams and become a mandarin.

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Dana is amused by this painting. He says it looks like all the carp are saying, "HORRAY! You made it!!! Go go dragoncarp!!!"

Cath Palug

Claws in the Night
Size: 12x17 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Details closeups -here-
Prints and original available -here-
In Progress sketches -here-

As told in Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (or the Mabinogion), a collection of Welsh legends:

At the Black Stone in Llanfair in Arfon, the great sow Henwen gave birth to a kitten (after having previously birthed a wolf-cub and an eagle). Coll mab Collfrewy was the swineherd, and when he picked up this ferocious little kitten, ball of scratching and fur and claws, and Coll hurled it into the sea to drown.

The kitten clung to life as fiercely as it had clawed at Coll, and managed to survive and swim to shore at Anglesey, where it was discovered and raised by the sons of Palug. (Hence the name Cath Palug, "Palug's Cat", although it is sometimes thought to be translated as "clawing cat" as well.)

It is said that this Cath Palug grew to become an enormous beast who terrorized the surrounding lands. When word came of the ravages, King Arthur sent his knight Sir Cai to dispatch the giant cat. Nine-score warriors and champions rode alongside Cai...and none of them returned, save Cai. How the confrontation went - whether Cai slew Cath Palug, or simply fled...the poems and stories do not say.

The Seduction

The Seduction
Size: 17x12 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Detail closeups: -here-
Prints and original available: -here-
Sketches: -here- and -here-

* * *

She sings with voice that's summer-laced
She lifts her arms with lithesome grace
She dances, skips, steps back a pace,
and beckons, haloed in the light.

"Lay your head down, come and sleep.
Let weary world drift to your feet.
Lay your head down, come and sleep.
Taste of innocence so sweet."

She beckons, lures, and tempts to chase.
No shadows fall upon her face.
She chimes, "Come share a sacred place
we carve to keep back night."

"Anemones cup crimson wine:
Let words and needs sift past, like wheat.
Leave marigolds to dream of dawn.
Taste poppy juice, so rich and sweet."

She promises no promises taken,
nevermore to be forsaken;
a peace from which to never waken:
Taste of innocence so sweet.


* * *

In European legends, it was said that a unicorn could not be captured by force. The only way to subdue the fantastic beast was to let a maiden wait alone. Lured by her, the unicorn would venture near, and lay his head upon her lap, at which time the hunters could spring on the creature.

In Medieval writings and art, the unicorn was frequently symbolic of Christ, most famously in the unicorn tapestries depicting The Hunt of the Unicorn and telling the story of Christ from birth to resurrection.

A Dream of Grace

A Dream of Grace
Size: 12x17 inches
Medium: Watercolors
Prints and original -here-
Detail closeups -here-

Throughout Asian folklore, there tales of fox spirits. A common variation in both Chinese and Japanese stories is of the man who finds himself traveling alone. He comes upon a beautiful girl, and falls in love with her at first sight. It is only later that he discovers she is a fox spirit, having beguiled him either for her own fancy, or sometimes for darker purposes.

* * *

A dream of mist:
of ghostly shapes,
of sauntering shadows,
beneath moon's pale disk.

A dream of trees:
that rake the sky,
of silent sentinels,
a lattice of etched leaves.

A dream of beauty:
she glides with a grace
of a leaf skirting the wind,
silver moon-touched face.

Mab of Dreams

Mab of Dreams
Medium: Watercolors
Size: 17x12 inches
Prints & Original: -here-
Detail Closeups: -here-
Sketch: -here-

* * *

The colors for this piece ended up being a surprise. I'd intended originally a rocky outcropping jutting into the dark blue night sky. Somewhere along the line that quickly changed instead into the dusky green of forest shadows. The initial intention of golden butterflies/dreams/souls took on a different aspect than I'd planned as well, with rich blue hues. I wanted to create in Mab, a creature of otherworld fae beauty; but beware and do not forget that she has a dark side, stark and icy, a masterful manipulator of man's deepest desires.

* * *

Shakespeare - Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Act I, scene IV :

And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O’er ladies ‘ lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are


* * *


And Thomas Hood, "Queen Mab":

A little fairy comes at night,
Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,
With silver spots upon her wings,
And from the moon she flutters down.

She has a little silver wand,
And when a good child goes to bed
She waves her wand from right to left,
And makes a circle round its head.

And then it dreams of pleasant things,
Of fountains filled with fairy fish,
And trees that bear delicious fruit,
And bow their branches at a wish;

Of arbors filled with dainty scents
From lovely flowers that never fade;
Bright flies that glitter in the sun,
And glow-worms shining in the shade.

And talking birds with gifted tongues,
For singing songs and telling tales,
And pretty dwarfs to show the way
Through fairy hills and fairy dales.

But when a bad child goes to bed,
From left to right she weaves her rings,
And then it dreams all through the night
Of only ugly horrid things!

Then lions come with glaring eyes,
And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,
And ogres draw their cruel knives,
To shed the blood of girls and boys.

Then stormy waves rush on to drown,
Or raging flames come scorching round,
Fierce dragons hover in the air,
And serpents crawl along the ground.

Then wicked children wake and weep,
And wish the long black gloom away;
But good ones love the dark, and find
The night as pleasant as the day.

Jing Wei Bird Sketch

This Chinese fable was first told to me by someone when I was in college.

The youngest daughter of the Emperor one day took a boat out to sea. As she sailed, the Ocean grew fierce and a storm blew up without warning, capsizing the boat and drowning the girl. She was transformed into a magical bird, living on an island rock in the middle of the Ocean. Each day she would fly back and forth from her rock to the Ocean, dropping one stone or twig at a time into the pounding waves, crying, "Jing wei jing wei!" as she did so (and thus how she came to be called the jing wei bird).

One day the Ocean grew tired of her pestering. "Why do you throw your little stones into me day after day?!" the Ocean roared.

"I will fill you up with my twigs and stones, that you claim no other hapless victim!" the jing wei bird responded.

The Ocean laughed. "Foolish little bird. You cannot fill me up! I am vast and endless!"

The little bird was not deterred. "I will continue to throw stones into you, and I will succeed even if it takes me a thousand years!"

And so the saying came about that One has the indomitable spirit of the jing wei bird.

* * *

From the sketchbook, scribbling after Claire went to sleep the other night:

Refined sketches for transfer to the illustration board. The Ocean:

Jing Wei bird: