Greek Gods Part I Persephone

greek gods part I — persephone

dont mind me, just crying over the fact that i didn’t save after erasing it and now i dont have it anymore 😭

Hera

(made in february)

“Apollo, could you play that song you played last time?”

One of Apollo and Athena’s many art hangouts !! If you haven’t seen my previous drawings of them, Apollo’s the one on the left and Athena’s the one on the right.

Ramblings below !!

In my story, I’d like to think that they help each other with their specific arts, such as Apollo’s music being her background music (because I can’t draw in silence) and using him as a light source when doing still life paintings or something, since he could glow. (Logically, he could probably just make light come from a specific direction, but Athena telling him to stand in a very specific place for the lighting she needs is funnier.) They’d likely ask each other for input and as a different perspective, since there’s the tendency to be overly critical or not see mistakes after looking at the art too long. They chat while doing art sometimes, usually about random things.

Extra - I have no clue what lyre is historically or culturally accurate. Anyway, Apollo’s halo doesn’t appear unless he makes it, or if he’s using the domains of the sun, light, plague, or archery. Athena’s hair isn’t tied back because either paint gets everywhere anyway and she’ll deal with that problem later, or she’s perfect at painting without making a mess. Athena using her left hand to paint the owl clay sculpture. Within the story, it’s either due to being ambidextrous or left-handed, which I will make both of them either of the two. Even though left-handed artists is a stereotype, I am one myself, so it’d be pretty fun.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to share any ideas !!

Aphrodite is done and looking gorgeeousss. she's based off a Eurasian Collared Dove. which is native to Greece.

schematic designs of Hermes and Circe from me! full-fledged ones are being prepared, so everything will be soon!

Here’s the next part of the design concepts for my story, this time featuring Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite !!

Normally in depictions of Ares and Athena, they would wear armor, but I drew them without it because I wanted to try to incorporate their other motifs !!

Details below for design ramblings !!

Athena - The design of her face and the shape of her hair combined is meant to have a faintly owlish resemblance, her expression stern to represent her domain of wisdom and connection war. For my story, she’d be a bit more steely and essentially logical, showing more of wisdom than knowledge by her actions being based on past experiences. Her peplos is in reference to greek pottery with its black and orange, and her epiblema is in reference to her birth from Zeus’s head (the version which I am going with for my story) with it weaved to resemble the brain from a side view on either side. Lastly, the shield on her back is the aegis (or aigis?), which in this version, is a shield. Her having a shield but no spear represents defense and more “distance” from battle (despite hoplite soldiers using both) to represent strategy, and Ares having a spear but no shield represents offense and closer proximity in fights, thus closer to see the uglier side of war: the bloodshed and death.

Ares - He and Athena have complimenting details in their spear and shield, and in their color palettes. Both of their weapons are bronze, but appear brown due to the shading. Both have very fiery colored clothing, showing their connection of war despite their differences. Said differences include Ares’s (at least, within my story) tendency for impulsiveness and better emotional intelligence. He has scars not because his injuries didn’t fully heal, but because he (within my story) thinks they’re cool. His near-black, dark red(ish) chiton and hair represent blood and death, both common on the battlefield. his himation is red for blood, with orangey details for the metal of weapons or metallic taste of blood, and in resemblance of vulture wings. He has a more boyish appearance in reference to the young age in which Ancient Greece (as well as many other civilizations and modern day countries) could draft men to war.

Aphrodite - Her hair is red due to its perceived beauty in Ancient Greece and its rarity within the global population. Several strands of her hair are shaped like hearts. Her face is meant to resemble a dove, with eyes blue like the sea. The pearlescent jewelry is in resemblance of the sea foam from which she was born (the version I’m using), her ionian chiton colored in resemblance of the sea behind the sea foam (and funnily enough, it is sea foam in color.) In addition, her necklaces resemble the pattern of feathers (dove) or scales (sea theme.) Her hair color is exactly the same reddish-orange shade as the details on Ares’s himation. If you look closely, there is a very faint heart shape within the shading of her forehead. A consistent element in my designs of the Olympians drawn so far is a metallic element, as seen in Apollo, Hermes, and Dionysus having matching gold jewelry, Artemis having silver hair bands, and Ares and Athena having bronze war gear. I’m not entirely sure what Aphrodite’s jewelry is made of, perhaps pearl, or perhaps white opal? Maybe the metallic design element will be a “children of Zeus” design choice.

Thank you if you’ve reading all this rambling, it’s much longer this time. All in all, I’m fairly happy with the designs of these three, but now I have to go back and add more details to the other designs to balance it out a bit. Anyway, if you have any ideas or suggestions for future designs, please do tell me !!