Medusa- Frozen Love

For Printmaking II, we are starting screen printing.  We had to get our theme from a randomly chosen conversation heart, and I chose Get Real.  I decided to explore the subject with what is and isn't real and things that can alter their state of (non)being.

I finally got to use an idea I've had for almost six years: 

Medusa draped around a statue of a man with a sad look in her eye; the man was a lover and she inadvertently turned him to stone.  She will live in even more sorrow for the rest of her life.

 I'm considering adding text to the final piece due to the amount of negative space left on the 10"x10" format we are using.

I am titling this differently than the screen printed  piece since that one will end up having "get real" placed in the title to show it as part of the assignment.

Edit: (12:15am) I really enjoyed this piece, especially exploring styles for shading, coloring, and creating her snaky hair.  I figured out a technique in Photoshop and think I will try more Mucha-inspired art in the future.

All the previous color ideas: link

Underworld Deities- Satan in Hell

Satan, the Adversary of Judeo-Christianity.  Hell in works like Dante's Inferno have icy parts while most people think of fire and brimstone.  I decided to incorporate both along with a boiling lake of flaming blood.

I decided to depict the devil as stereotypically as possible. 

Underworld Deities- Persephone & Hades in Hades

In Greek mythology, Hades ("the unseen") is one of the big three, his brother Zeus is king of the gods and rules the skies, Poseidon the seas, and Hades the underworld.  While Zeus has a lightning bolt, and Poseidon a trident, Hades has a helm of invisibility that he lent to Perseus once when he went off to fight Medusa.  In Roman mythology he is called Pluto, which means "the rich one" in reference to gems being taken from the earth.

He fell in love with the goddess of spring Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest.  He abducted her when she was out picking flowers and took her to the underworld.  Demeter refused to let anything grow and when mankind grew scared of starvation, Zeus sent Hermes to return Persephone to her mother.  However, Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, which is why half the year she visits the underworld and winter occurs. 

Somewhere during the time she was down there, she did indeed fall in love with Hades and they have one of the happier marriages from Greek mythology.

The realm of Hades had the River Styx running through it.  It was guarded by Cerberus, a three-headed dog.  It was a gloomy place where all souls were kept.  The Elysium Plains were saved for heroes and Tartarus, a place lower than Hades, was a pit for wicked souls and special punishments.

Ref for cavern

Underworld Deities- Ereshkigal in Irkalla

Ereshkigal rules over the Sumerian underworld Irkalla with her husband Nergal.  She is the sister of Inanna/Ishtar and once killed her during a visit with a death glance.  To enter Irkalla, a soul must go through seven gates, removing an article of clothing at each one.  The Mesopotamian underworld is a dark shadow of the world above above and visitors are offered dirt to eat, which is the food of the dead, so anyone living who eats it usually suffers an ill fate.

Underworld Deities- Osiris & Anubis in Tuat

Osiris, once just god of vegetation and fertility, got the role of god of the underworld after his wicked brother Set killed him, cut him into pieces, and spread the parts around Egypt.  His wife Isis found all the bits but one... the fertility part... and despite resurrecting him, he was no longer suitable to be god of giving life.  He is in charge of judging the souls of the dead.

His son by his brother's wife (the same brother who killed him) Nephthys. Seth cursed the child out of jealousy and anger.  The child came out with a jackal's head.  During the time that Isis was retrieving Osiris' body parts, Anubis accompanied her.  In the underworld, Anubis is in charge of embalming and helps in the judging.

Background ref

Underworld Deities- Hel in Helheim

Hel Half-rotten, Norse goddess of the underworld and Loki Lie-smith's daughter.  She's described both as half black or half rotten, so I did both.  I added black tattoos and her lower half is dead.  Her realm is for those who die of sickness, old-age, or any way not in the middle of battle.  Those who die in the midst of battle get taken to Valhalla by Valkyries.  Helheim, sometimes combined in appearance with Niflheim, is misty and covered in snow and ice.  

Background ref: Tigg-stock

Underworld Deities- Hel, Persephone, & Hades (Lineart)

 In Mythology class, I am doing a presentation on the underworld deities and comparing whether the underworld is for punishment, reward, or just a place to store souls.

The first deity is Hel, of Norse mythology, and her realm of the same name where those who didn't die in battle are kept.  Half of her is rotted, but there is also versions where she is half black, so I added the tattoos. (Tattoo refs)










Next is Hades, one of the big three gods (Zeus rules sky, Poseidon water, and Hades under the earth) from Greek mythology.  His realm is also named after him and similar to Hel is just a gloomy place.  There are special punishments and special rewards, though it's mostly just a place to float in a river of souls for eternity. (Ref)

The last is Persephone, Queen of the underwold and wife of Hades.  Originally goddess of spring, I used symbols of life and death, flowers and bats. (Ref)