Classicstober - Tumblr Posts

day 1 of Classicstober: Cassandra 

OKAY ITS A BIT LATE AT NIGHT BUT IM ATTEMPTING THIS!! im gonna try making a design and then portrait for each character, and staring off with… Cassandra!

her design was primarily based off Evelyn De Morgan’s painting, just with some different colors. the pins holding her clothing together have a sun emblem on them, as homage to how she got her prophecy ability from Apollo

ALSO if i ever draw her again, i want to do something associating her with ravens. as ravens, while considered omens due to being carrion birds and with black feathers, are also considered to represent prophecy due to their ability to “talk”! apparently they were considered a messenger of Apollo in some myth, which is a nice homage too!

i gave her black hair and blue eyes based off ravens (even if ravens gain brown eyes when they grow older but shshh i liked the aesthetic)

but that’s it! i wanna draw her again sometime

day 2 of ClassicsTober: Medusa

this was very rushed BUT i’m ok with how it turned out!! her design is pretty cool i’d say! i gave her wings based off some older descriptions, and the pattern on her outfit is based off the pattern found on the Common European Adder

it’s literally midnight so i’m kinda late with the prompt but I STILL FINISHED IT WOHOOO

im afraid of snakes this was very… interesting to draw per se! /j

Day 3 of Classicstober: Asterion/The Minotaur

OK tbh his design is simple, man with bull head + basic chiton

not much to note

i think you can tell i’ve never drawn a bull before

not much else to say!! other than he was meant to be intimidating but ended up kinda cute

y’all have probably noticed i’m using the same base for the designs, but if i ever drew this guy again id try to make him muscular, just to fit with classic interpretations? idk what i’m doing

day 4: Lycaon

OK IM BEHIND AS ALL GET OUT (2 days) BUT I DID HIM!! HOPEFULLY ILL GET CHIRON AND MEDEA DONE TOMORROW/IN THE MORNING AND CATCH UP ON ART DEBT

uh. pov you’re Zeus about to eat some tasty soup except the king who made it looks at you like that and for some reason his son is now where to be found

he’s less unsettling than i hoped

ALSO LOOK AT HIS STUPID OUTFIT

day 5: Chiron

ITS THE HIM!! i tried doing a sunlight effect but kinda messed up

oh well

here’s what it looks like without sunlight effect:

ANYHOW

HE WAS FUN TO DRAW!! he doesn’t look too old cause, idk he’s immortal so kinda doesn’t age i guess

gave him long hair because. why not ‼️

other design stuff uhh. gave him armor and a hunting cloak!

idk what’s happening in his portrait, but it kinda has the vibe of him going hunting (bow drawn in hand, but lowered) and then encountering an old friend

i’ve been giving kinda like. almost scenes? to the portraits i’m doing, at least in my head. Cassandra’s is meant to be like she’s seeing a prophecy, Medusa’s is like she’s encountered someone attempting to slay her, The Minotaur’s looks like you’re in the Labyrinth and just encountered it, and Lycaon looks like you’re Zeus eating the Human Meat Stew

I HAD A LOT TO SAY

he doesn’t have his legs in the design sketch cause i was too lazy to draw a horse

ANYHOW

ALREADY HAVE MEDEA DESIGNED, SO I SHOULD BE CAUGHT UP SOON!!

day 6: Medea

BACK ON TRACK WOHOOOOOOO

I HAD FUN DOING HER DESIGN!! idc yellow eyes aren’t a thing, she’s a descendant of Helios and i do what i want /j

Medea is. something! i’ve never read the original source material (if there is any), but my first encounter with her myth was through Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero! which i’ve been reading as of recent

gotta say, it was odd seeing her depiction in PJO vs her actual myth. like.. in PJO she’s very clearly antagonistic, someone who shouldn’t be trusted

meanwhile in her myth, while she did intentionally kill her brother in cold blood- that just seems on brand for Greek myth characters

like.. Patroclus killed another kid over a game and Hercules killed his music teacher, and they’re both regarded as heroes

anyhow she’s just the protagonist of a murder ballad /j

don’t have much to say for her design. i think i leaned too heavily into her the Helios-descendant thing (sun earrings, tan skin, and when drawing the portrait gave her freckles) but oh well

i am now a Medea apologist /j

day 7: Persephone

ALRIGHT GANG WE GOT TO DRAW A GODDESS!! gave her blank eyes cause thought that’d be cool, and a torch! didn’t draw the fire effect all too well but

otherwise, her outfit is kinda basic. gave her brown hair with ginger streaks cause i thought that’d be cool

her color palette is a mix of green (the color i’m associating with Demeter) and bits of purple (the color i’m associating with Hades) to reference her story

gave her a hood cause why not

not much else to say other than the fire was difficult!

day 8: Icarus

IM GONNA START HYSTERICALLY SOBBING HIS MYTH MAKES ME SAD /j

i like to believe this is the moment where he learnt he might have a chance at escape via his dad constructing wings of wax. look at him!! there is hope in his eyes!!

honestly i can’t blame Icarus for flying so close to the sun. like yeah that was stupid, but if you were given the ability to fly, wouldn’t you try to risk it? after being trapped in either a tower forced to overlook the sea, forced to see freedom just out of your reach. (either that, or trapped in a labyrinth- the same one that held the monster that plagued this kingdom, the same labyrinth your dad made to help hide it away. depends on version apparently)- back to what i was saying; wouldn’t you too, after being trapped for so long, fly too close to the sun? just to see how close you could be? wouldn’t you too risk danger just to touch the sun and feel it’s warmth, after so long of only seeing slivers of it in a dark and cold room?

ANYHOW, ON HIS DESIGN-

i gave him a very simple outfit, cause he’s yk. a prisoner. the scar on his leg was just cause who doesn’t have a scar on their leg from doing something stupid like idk falling down a tree

his hair is very messy and long, cause once again: has been imprisoned!

gave him acne cause he’s like. 16 or something.

his design and portrait accidentally have parallels to the Minotaur (same outfit just slightly different + similar lighting)

that’s not intentional but make of it what you will

i want to give this guy a hug he deserves one

day 9: Achilles

OK so i’m behind again but i’ll catch back up tomorrow! hopefully

i just felt like drawing a sad man what can i say

his design is simple, slap some armor + long blonde hair and you’ve got an Achilles

someone get him therapy he needs it

Day 10: Asclepius

OK catching up on ClassicsTober wohooo!! i already have Pandora designed, so her post will follow this one soon

i had fun drawing this guy though! since he’s a god, but born human, i did a kinda cool effect in his eyes- his sclera is a nonhuman color, but he still has an iris! this is opposed to other gods (see: Persephone) who have no iris

as for his design, pretty simple. i remembered i can give these guys armbands made of metal so that’s cool. he has a very blue color palette, just as i associate that with healing, with a few orangish accents (reference to his father, apollo)

added red trim because. idk blood

i kind of want his gender

day 11: Pandora

THE ORIGINAL SILLY

she’s so funny to me like. yeah tragedy exists cause this one gal was like “what if i open up the Fucked Up Jar of Evil” /j

she kinda looks like a cat

this was somewhat on intention

ok uh what to say about her design. made it pink cause pink seems like a curious color. barbiecore thousands of years before Barbie was ever made

don’t have many other thoughts

day 12: Theseus

i want to punch him

OK LISTEN i get that Ancient Greek morals were different than modern day, and the faults of heroes were possibly viewed like cautionary tales; which is why there’s quite a few who did some messed up things. and yes i understand critiquing an Ancient Hero for something like this is just opening up a can of worms that wouldn’t lead to any good effect, as truly if one is to say one hero or character wasn’t a good person then in the end most (if not all) characters could be accused of being not good people

and i do not condone the removal of myths just because they have elements of the heroes doing bad things, critical consumption exists and you can read a piece of media without 100% condoning the acts of its hero

anyhow with that out of the way

i want to fistfight Theseus why the fuck did you kidnap an underage Helen

ok so now to the art. drew him getting turnt into stone in the Underworld. for those who don’t know- he sat on a rock and got.. temporarily turnt to stone? idk, haven’t read the source material. but i tried to draw that. he’s meant to mimic a marble statue, which is why (asides from shading) he’s all one color

this portrait was rushed so it’s kinda stupid

AS FOR HIS DESIGN-

nothing important to add. basic armor + sandals. i didn’t have many ideas.

tbh his is one of my lazier entries i’d say, probably lower quality, but i guess something being done is better than it being perfect

Day 13: Arachne

OK IM BEHIND BY A LOT BUT IM STILL TRYING!! i have Helen’s drawing already done but am making separate posts for the two

i’ll do Promentheus (today’s prompt) and Circe (tommorow prompt) tomorrow. hopefully

anyhow i’m an Arachne apologist. she’s cool and hubris is bad unless she does it /j

DESIGH WISE UHM. surprisingly, against the very warm toned shading i did, she has BLUE clothing! i gave her spiderweb patterns cause why not

i was originally giving her a hair bun on the back of her hair, but that wouldn’t be visible, so it’s a high bun ish! i made it messy to mimic the 8 legs of a spider

i may hate spiders but i like Arachne

Day 15: Prometheus

!!WARNING FOR EYE STRAIN!!

ALRIGHT GANG STILL BEHIND BUT TRYING TO CATCH UP

HOPEFULLY I CAN DO CIRCE, ATALANTA, PHAEDRA, AND SISYPHUS TOMORROW! granted i am busy tomorrow so

ANYHOW TO THE DRAWING

IM REALLY PROUD OF THIS! IT LOOKS TERRIFYING AND THST WAS THE GOAL

i’m ngl i struggled with the expression, BUT IT TURNT OUT OK!

NOW FOR HIS DESIGN

didn’t feel like drawing clothes so he gets scarf. /j and cement block. i thought it’d be funny to give him red hair cause of the fire association

OH AND the orange splotches are inspired by the markings of fire salamanders! while those don’t have an association to Prometheus, salamanders are correlated with fire! this is due to Salamanders hiding in rotten tree logs, which would then be used for firewood, and the salamander would escape from the log- but, it kinda just appeared like the salamander spawned out of the fire!

he was kinda fun to draw! i’d like to draw him again some day!

Day 16: Circe

IM STILL BEHIND BUT IM TRYING MY BES T

I HAD FUN DRAWING HER!! she looks like she just caused problems on purpose

DESIGN WISE UH

i gave her freckles cause she’s a daughter of Helios! and i like symbolism

her earrings and chiton are very greek inspired, but her “cape” is based off Etruscan art! this was because Aeaea, her island, was described as being located south of Aethalia (aka: Elba) and within view of the Western coast of Italy! this places it kinda in the Tuscany region, which was once populated by the Etruscans!

i hope to draw her again someday, that’d be fun

day 17: Atalanta

only 4 prompts behind now wohoo! honestly i’m just hoping i can get caught up before October 31st so i can end the challenge off on the day it’s meant to be ended off

BUT YIPPEEE ATALANTA

her expression is a bit wonky but eh

as for her design, it isn’t historically accurate but i kinda wanted to make her a bit more masc presenting! on Ælian’s various histories if said she was “masculine and fierce”.. granted i also missed the part where it said she was blonde-

anyhow she’s very nifty shame she got turnt into a lion

Day 18: Phaedra Hippolytus

content warning: mention of incest and SA

i do not mean to be rude to the person who made ClassicsTober, and i have been enjoying the prompts, i just didn’t want to draw the woman who had romantic interest in her step-son, falsely accused him of SA, and thus inadvertently caused his death

yeah

sorry

as per his design! idk i just gave him a hunting cloak and called it a day

the lines under his eyes are what i think are called “hollow eyes”? idk, they can be caused by lack of sleep but also just by genetics

and i thought it’d be fun to give him that

f for Hippolytus

man just wanted to live his life and not marry anyone and then Aphrodite decided “hey what if i made your step-mom fall in love with you”

day 19: Sisyphus

design of Hermes (in background) by @wolfythewitch

THIS WAS FUN TO DRAW

Sisyphus is absolutely hilarious to me like. went “hey bro can i see how the Chains of Death” work and then managed to cheat death. cheated death twice. iconic.

one of my favorite myth characters simply in the way of sure he was a bad person and an idiot but he was funny about it

i had fun drawing the skeleton! it’s not accurate it’s just scribbles

on his design

idk man i just threw together some stuff and called it a day

nearly made him blonde as i’ve drawn one singular blonde for this entire drawing challenge. but alas it didn’t look right

back on ClassicsTober. yeah i doubt i’m gonna finish it during the month of October. i’m gonna draw all the prompts! i’m just gonna finish it in early November

yes i know this means i failed the challenge but im just here for vibes

ClassicsTober day 6 : Medea

This took me So. Much. Time. But the process was interesting, I have to admit, I can see I got a bit better since the prior painting of Medusa so let's keep experiment ! :)

day 1 of classicstober! Cassandra of Troy