The first painting was of my friend Logan and his favorite Celtic deity, Cernunnos. But that isn't even entirely true because I also took inspiration from another deity, Herne. Both of these stag gods come from Northern Europe and are similar in the fact that they are both deer and that they both protect the forest.
Herne was a man who killed a stag and as punishment was turned into a white stag and made to protect the forest for the rest of eternity. His punishment being mortality and through that, he grows to love and respect nature.
Cernunnos has inspired art in modern times. In the Studio Ghibli film, Princess Mononoke, the literal Forest Spirit is a deer with a man's face and horns with many more spikes than a normal stag would have.
The same imagery can be found in video games, the latest Pokemon game to be exact. Where the legendary for Pokemon X, Xerneas, is a stag with the same horn structure.
Logan told me about both of these myths and where we see them today and that was how I was able to come up with the composition and color scheme. I wanted something that was cold and snowy and serene. Basically, I wanted to turn a human into a stag without actually painting a stag. I chose a photograph of my friend that made me think of something proud and powerful and then I put acorns in his hand to represent his connection with nature. He is holding seeds that will grow into trees as if he were about to plant them. I showed Logan his painting and he wants to put it on an alter he has for nature and that is probably the best place for it.
At this time, I was getting fed up with oil painting and decided to switch mediums. I had a kit of really cheap gouache from another class and chose that. It was way more challenging than I thought it would be. I made the illustration of my friend and her favorite deity, Ganesh. She sat me down and told me about his entire mythos which was way more interesting than I thought it would be.
Ganesh was originally the son of Shiva and Parvati. Shiva didn't recognize him and cut Ganesh's head off in anger. His head was then replaced with an elephant head and he became the god that removes obstacles, the patron god of the arts and sciences. Because of this, I drew Ganesh holding my friend's head. She has transformed into this god in the same way he was transformed into the god he became.
The iconography I used is a majority of the ones he is usually depicted with-- an axe, a trident, a mouse, his grand throne, a lotus flower, the om markings on his face and down his trunk, his original head, and his jeweled crown. All of these things hold significances to either what he does or what he represents. The only major thing I left out was the snake which represents death and rebirth. Honestly, I just couldn't choose a place to put the snake. But I have everything else there. I even placed stars on the back of the throne and in his stomach to represent the universes he creates. It is said the reason why his stomach is so large is because it holds every possible universe ever in it.
Ganesh is basically the best god ever created, in my opinion.
I also found out that Hindu Sutras were painting with gouache. My choice of using that to paint this was completely on a whim and also a pleasant additive to the final piece.
The last painting I did I actually started before I began painting the Ganesh. Gouache was more difficult than I remember it being and I was scared I was going to ruin my illustration, so I started a self portrait that turned into a type of fake deity as well. The color choices I made were more because I love that teal with that salmon pink. I've made a bunch of paintings with those two colors. It's become basically subconscious to use them when I paint.
I am also a fan of surrealism and I was able to show that in this painting.
Basically, until this semester, I have had trouble drawing people and having them be recognizable. I was able to get over that little bump and now I can change what my portraits look like by other means and be happy with the outcome.
