My Current Main Wip Is Frustrating Me Somewhat, So I Painted This Quick, One-layer Doodle As A Distraction

My current main wip is frustrating me somewhat, so I painted this quick, one-layer doodle as a distraction and I might as well post it

🌾 Demeter and Persephone 🌾

I guess springtime got me thinking about the two of them, which is kind of ironic since this painting is set just before Persephone's departure into the underworld.

I also thought the mother-daughter relationship and Demeter's grief at her daughter's marriage/ metaphorical "death" (as described in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter) would be interesting to explore artistically.

(Close-ups)

Another painting! (Am I actually starting to develop a consistent artstyle??)

I felt in the mood to create some Greek mythology related stuff again, so I painted this portrait of Selene, goddess/personification of the moon.

Both the colour scheme and the motive are somewhat inspired by Jules Louis Machards artwork depicting Selene.

I aimed for a somewhat 'soft', 'warm' look, so I avoided stark contrasts, especially in the face and kept the clothing relatively plain, as not to distract with any complicated pattern.

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(Close-ups)

Orestes and Erinys

A bit over a month ago I had to give a short presentation on Aischylos‘ Oresteia as part of my coursework and reading it gave me the idea for this piece.

Specifically, it is referencing lines 1057-1058 of the Libation Bearers, where, for the first time, Orestes is seeing the Furies.

(The text does explicitly describe blood dripping from the Furies’ eyes, but when I noticed this, the idea of a blood-covered face had already developed, and I chose to keep it. Also I didn’t have the time or patience to paint more than two figures, so I suppose you can imagine the rest of the Furies somewhere off-screen or something)

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(Close-ups)

☀️Far-Shooting Apollo☀️

The idea for this arose a while (and by while I mean about 4 months) ago, when we were reading the Exposition of the Iliad in class.

I wanted to depict the scene in Book one where Apollo sends a plague to afflict the Acheans by shooting first the mules and dogs, then the men, after Agamemnon denied the release of the priest-daughter Chryseis to her father.

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(Close-Up Time!)

Blessed King of Longing

I tried to put a bit more thought into the colours and I must say that I am quite happy with the result.

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Close-ups: