Daphne, The Nymph, Amidst Her (infamous) Transformation Into A Laurel Tree

Daphne, the Nymph, amidst her (infamous) transformation into a laurel tree 🌿

(Close Ups:)

Modern Prometheus

Happy (somewhat belated) Halloween!

I originally planned something more elaborate, but in the end I had to settle for this rather quick doodle of Frankenstein, as I am currently a bit short on time. (Hence also the void background and lack of details in this painting)

(Alternative version & close-ups)

🌾 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)

☀️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!)

St. Sebastian and St. Irene of Rome

The motif of Saint Sebastian perforated by arrows is in itself quite common, but I found far less depictions of the scene that followed, involving the widowed Saint Irene and her servant rescuing him from this martyrdom (only for him to be martyred again later lol), so I decided to try my hand at it.

Besides, I wanted to paint something with more anatomical detail, as I have been quite lacking behind in doing actual studies and involving it in an actual painting makes anatomy more interesting to me.

I feel it necessary to note that I myself am not religious, but growing up in a historically somewhat catholic area and having an interest in religions and mythologies must've imbued me with a certain interest in the imagery, I guess.

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Closeups:

As previously mentioned, I am kinda going through a Greek Mythology Phase™ right now, which led me to creating this painting depicting Klytaimnestra after the murder of her husband, Agamemnon. The snake is in reference to a dream she had, in which she gave birth to and nursed a venomous snake/dragon instead of a child, which is seen as a prophecy of her death at the hands of her own son, Orestes.

I decided to do a bit of research into historical Mycenaean Greek dress, seeing as the Epic Cycle and the events directly thereafter are most likely set in the mid to late Bronze Age and as such the style of clothing and architecture would differ considerably from that of the later Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Periods that is often associated with Greco-Roman mythology.

Then again, I'm not a Historian, Classicist, or anything of the sort, I'm just some random sixteen year old with too much free time on their hands, so I make no promises of accuracy. There are also certain elements that I deliberately left inaccurate, either because it didn't fit the colour scheme, such as the fresco on the wall, which should have had several yellow elements that just looked a bit muddy when I tried to add them, or because I was too lazy to paint them in intricate detail, such as the skirt, which should consist of several layers of different fabric atop each other, but I didn't want to paint all that.

Said skirt is inspired by John Colliers painting also depicting Klytaimnestra after the murder.

Anyway, sorry for the long, nerdy ramble of text, I hope you like the painting and have a nice day :)

(a couple of close ups in case Tumblr fries the quality)