Ha! I Genuinely Had No Idea What This Critter Was When I Was Drawing, But It Suddenly Dawned On Me When

Ha! I genuinely had no idea what this critter was when I was drawing, but it suddenly dawned on me when I browsing other people's art afterwards.

Also, as with so many things, Blame Ovid....

Bestiaryposting Results: Wimchlat

Very similar art this week, which kind of can't be helped because the entry does specifically say that it looks like a wolf with spots. There's some range here, though.

If you're not sure what this is about, you can find an explanation and previous posts here: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry artists are working from this week can be found here:

And if you want to participate in the next round, here's that entry:

...huh. I didn't realize which one was up next until I went looking for the link just now. That'll be an interesting artistic experience, I'm sure.

(Pursuant to some previous speculation on the "-bael" morpheme in the Dikebael and Dirubael, now I'm wondering if the "-at" morpheme in our randomly-generated words might have something to do with bodily waste.)

Anyway, this week's art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) notes that their version ended up quite fluffy, which I have also noted and enjoyed. For some additional detail, which includes some interesting animal facts, click on the linked post.

@doodlebethel (link to post here) is joining us for the first time, and has drawn an excellent not-quite-a-wolf. I feel the depiction of it aggressively guarding that sparkly sand is very well-executed.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has made the decision that the urine in question solidifies into a jewel basically immediately, which I think raises a lot of interesting questions (complimentary). Also, thank you for providing alt text.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) observes that the creature hiding its urine sounds like cat behavior, so they leaned a little harder towards the leopard side than the wolf one. I think it came out well; an animal that is both relatively wolf-shaped and clearly feline has an interesting look to it.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) decided to base theirs on the maned wolf, which I think came out really well in this art style. I also like the decision to make the spots look like eyes -- together with the color scheme and the long limbs, it really has a fascinating (and slightly sinister?) effect. I kind of love this design, really. I want to know more about this creature. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to mix it up a bit animal-wise, and also landed on the maned wolf as an interesting non-wolf wolf option. It's also got ocelot features rather than leopard. I just really like the vibes here -- something about this art style is very charming to me. I'm not an art critic, so I can't elaborate on that. I would recommend clicking on the linked post, which has more information and also some tags I find quite funny.

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary!

... or not, actually. This is one of the folios missing from that manuscript, so the text actually came from Bodley MS 764, and we'll be taking the illustration from the Ashmole Bestiary.

That illustration doesn't help a whole lot, though it does also lean more feline, so we can get something there -- but I saw a number of comments saying that people had recognized it in the process of drawing, so it's probably no surprise that this is the lynx.

No, I don't know why people thought its urine turned into gemstones. Ask Pliny the Elder. (The supposed gemstone in question is called ligurius, by the way.)

I also don't know why the lynx in the Ashmole illustration appears to be having a staring contest with a ram... hold on, let me see something...

... okay, bestiary.ca doesn't have anything that explains that. It might just be an artistic decision. Things I did learn from bestiary.ca just now, though:

Ovid (yes, that Ovid) specified that the lynx's urine solidifies on contact with air, which means that those interesting questions (mostly along the lines of what is in that stuff) raised by CheapSweets's drawing are definitely still on the table.

Thomas of Cantimpre also says that the lynx has the hilarious combination of comic-book-style x-ray vision and a total inability to remember anything it's not currently looking at. So it can see through walls but just immediately forgets what it saw. I love that.

World’s First Transformers Zine?

Fun fact: I’ve been doing this fandom thing for a while.

I mean quite a while. So long, in fact, that I published what might have been the world’s first Transformers ‘zine. Well, I certainly thought it was at the time. It was called Matrix. The first issue came out in 1987 or ‘88 (I can’t be sure now because I didn’t think to put dates on anything back then), and it ran for two issues. I didn’t own a computer at the time, but a friend of my mom’s let me use her Mac Plus. The ‘zine featured art, fiction and other goodies, and considering that I knew next to nothing about layout, it still looks pretty good today. Here is a little tour of the first issue…

The cover, proudly featuring my claim of being first in the world, as well as one of my OCs. The early fandom was really into OCs. Everyone had a Transformer alter-ego, and this was mine. Her name is Spitfire. I was really into WW2 planes at the time, so her altmode is, appropriately enough, a Spitfire.

The all-important disclaimer, hearkening back to the days when fans lived in constant fear of being sued. 

Table of Contents…

Editorial page. This is from the days before I was Grayseeker, as you can probably tell, and it features my first attempt at digital art, in the lower right corner. (Sorry about my crap photography, btw. I did my best.)

Mad Lib, Part One, with an illustration by Steven ‘Zigzag’ Acevedo.

Mad Lib, Part Two.

One of my illustrations, for a story called Pilot of the Rockwaves by Steven ‘Zigzag’ Acevedo. This shows his character, ZigZag, having a conversation with Spitfire. (I did mention we were really into OCs, yes?)

Not only were we really into creating OCs, but creating character profiles for them was a pretty big deal too! 

Spitfire’s Tech Specs, Part 2.

Every publication should have a Classifieds section, and Matrix 1 was no exception.

Classifieds Part 2. The car that appears in these hallowed pages is my own vehicle at the time, who also (naturally!) had a Transformers alter-ego named Electrofox, which I shortened to “Foxy.”

Last but certainly not least, my illustration of Starscream at the bar.  Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of fannish history!

This is incredible - I spent a lot of time looking at these ammonites for my dissertation many years ago, and this is bringing back memories 😅

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

In 2011 I created a bunch of models for the Leicester New Walk Museum. Here is the scale model of the ammonite, Kosmoceras.

fun USA 🇺🇸 fact: the flag’s design was based on the colors of this beautiful jumping spider! Habronattus americanus pair, coastal WA.

July 4th is a holiday dedicated to appreciating this tiny arachnid, with people setting off fireworks in emulation of its iridescence and graceful movement.

This was another fun week :) I've always seen it depicted blowing fire from it's behind (like the picture from the Aberdeen Bestiary, but sometimes a bit more scatalogical, but the description implies more that it the noxious gasses from its belly creeping along the ground and slowly setting things alight... (I very much appreciate that second bestiary picture - noone looks happy!)

Bestiaryposting Results: Bawigrat

This one is kind of odd in general, but also notable in that it's a mythical creature that has not, to my knowledge, made its way into modern pop culture, but is kind of on one of the upper levels of the metaphorical iceberg for people interested in Medieval Bestiary Trivia just because of its... rather memorable ability. So let's get into it.

If you don't know what this is about, you can check out https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting for an explanation and previous installments.

The art you are about to see is all based on this entry here:

And if you want to get in on this, the current entry up for interpretation is here:

(bit of a long one there)

And without further ado, art for this week is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has given us a sort of bovine with recognizably skunk-like features. They note that they focused on giving it an appropriate pose (more details in the linked post), which I think they pulled off well -- I would absolutely believe that this creature is about to fire dung at the viewer.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has a shaggier bovid here, with a notably calm expression. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a terrifying defense mechanism? Also we see that the emphasis here is on the fiery nature of their dung-based defense, as shown by the flames at the back there. (And thank you for including alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has done a bit of malicious compliance here. Yes, it has the head and size of a bull, the maned neck of a horse, sure, but otherwise this is clearly a giant bombardier beetle. You know what, that's fair. I like it. I also appreciate that it is, to quote Coolest-Capybara, "seen here incinerating some Stylized Plants." (And thank you for including alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) has a bull/horse hybrid thing for us, but notes particularly the distended belly, saying that they figure that whatever kind of internal chemistry is going on here might have externally-visible effects. They also question the "acres" thing, as it seems to imply "a creature which can basically do sniper-range attacks with its poop".

I am thrilled to tell you that it's even worse than that. The phrasing of this entry aside, an acre is technically not a measure of distance, but of area. And this isn't a modern contrivance, it's always been area: the definition of "acre" that our medieval writers would be familiar with is "the amount of land that a man can expect to plow in a single day with the help of oxen". Three acres is, according to a quick conversion on Google, 130,680 square feet / 12,140.6 square meters). So it's not a sniper-like attack, it's blanketing an entire city block (or most of one, depending on your city) in burning fumes & poop.

Implications for the fertilizer industry are, I assume, still under investigation.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) apparently decided to roll with the "three acres" thing and has drawn their Bawigrat... um.. burninating the countryside. Which is very funny to me, as a person of a certain age who grew up on the Internet, but the rest of y'all will have to Google it. Reasons for domesticating the Bawigrat may expand from agricultural to military, though that does seem like a dangerous proposition. (And thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to go with a bombardier beetle, as the animal with the most similar defense mechanism in real life. (This one is also giant; note the banana for scale.) They've made it more unambiguously insectoid, as the "horns" are clearly antennae and the "mane" is a sort of ridged plate. I really like the stylization here and the inclusion of the alchemical symbol. For more information, and a video that shows off the glittery ink used here, check the linked post. (Also thank you for including alt text.)

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary:

Yep, that beast is sure farting fire onto some knights. If you look for other medieval images of it, this is a pretty common way to show its defense mechanism. I think my favorite is this one:

(Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, folio 78r)

Tell me that doesn't look exactly like the face a creature with weaponized flatulence would make.

Anyway, this is the bonnacon.

As mentioned previously, this is a mythical beast that for obvious reasons failed to really catch on in modern pop culture, but remains a favorite in Bestiary Trivia -- any Internet listicle about obscure mythical creatures is almost certain to mention the bonnacon.

Beyond that, I really don't have much to add other than reiterating that I think it would be pretty funny to include attempts to domesticate the bonnacon in your fantasy worldbuilding.

Hi hello, you all need to see Ray Troll’s kitsch masterpieces:

It’s just too good. this is the pinnacle of cool dad art. I’m getting a t-shirt. Oh yes, i’m getting one. You bet your ass. you bet your bass! Ha! It’s spreading!