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akitku β Baba Yaga
#magic #babayaga #folklore #slavicmythology #witch
Published: 2019-06-29 16:47:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 2509; Favourites: 168; Downloads: 0
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Description
My take on the Baba Yaga for an illustration contest. Baba Yaga is a supernatural being from Eastern European folklore. I think I didn't make her scary enough. Maybe this is the Baba Yaga's kindly sister or something.
I really wanted to make her look like a Eastern European Babushka...
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Comments: 55
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Beautiful, I say! I had heard very Little about Baba Yaga before, is she really common in all Eastern European countries, or in just certain countries like Poland, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine?
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Thank you for the comment! Well, I'm not sure about other Eastern European countries. I know there is a lot of Baba Yaga in Polish fairy-tales, but also in Czechian and Russian. I assume others might have their versions too. The bone leg for example is an aspect from Russian folklore more than Polish...As is the flying on a mortar. But the Polish version does live in a hut on a chicken leg, like the Russian version.Β
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This looks wonderful! Great clothing design!
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I once made a cute Baba Yaga, but with the chicken legs (Baba Yaga's Scion 2012 )
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She seems far more kindly than people usually portray her as, kinda wonder about that but it really is a nice piece.
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Yes. This is for a children's book so it's partly that. But I also thought it's interesting to present her as a typical Eastern European grandma, head-shawl and all. An insanely powerful granny who will end you, if you get on her bad side!
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Heh, there's a book series where Baba Yaga features very briefly.
She heals one of the characters and the protagonist has no idea that it is Baba Yaga helping them until she hops in her mortar and pestle and rides off.
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Very nice! I dunno, I kind of love the kindly air you gave her. Itβs two parts βIβll give you sweets, my dear,β and one part βIβve seen enough of this world to END you if you mess with me.β Gives the impression of a benevolent healer that helps the villagers while jealous townsfolk spread evil rumours... I bet she doesnβt even dissuade them. Keeps the watch away.
Excellently done! I love the cat in boots.Β
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Ah, that's exactly how I was thinking about it: a sweet, kindly grandmother who will give you advice and cakes. Just don't get on her bad side because things will go very bad, very quickly!! XDΒ
Thanks so much! I appreciate the comment and I'm glad you liked this one!
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Amazing work akitu! I think she looks great (though indeed, more cute than threatening but maybe that is her strategy - especially towards kids 
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The cat with the boots is cute! I like how this does indeed look like a storybook illustration or a cutout puppet for stop motion old school animation!
This is her on her day off. With no one to potentially trick she can let it all hang loose. Unless it's one of her many 'looks' as she's also left her chicken footed house or flying mortar behind. Though I heard she could also be helpful if she felt like it, maybe this is one of her 'helpful' moments
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Haha, thanks! It was odd to draw but quite fun.Β
Indeed, the Baba Yaga is an ambiguous character, a villain in some stories but guide or helper in others. Also, I think the Baba Yaga sort of embodies the dislike that old women were treated in past societies - you know, women past child-bearing age, wise and more independent than young women, but through that much more threatening to the status quo? Or maybe I'm just overthinking it...
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I kind of always felt like the whole chicken leg house detracted from her terror a little, but that could just be me. I mean if I came across a chicken legged house it could be terrifying.
You know what, you touch on a topic I was discussing with my twin once.Β Have you noticed how almost all the malevolent creatures in folklore seem to be female, or take on the form of a female?Β Like in a lot of cultures, vampiric creatures are the souls of women who died in childbirth (I mean why would they turn into something so horrible, it's like a punishment or something!).Β Why is it that when men die, they never turn into anything awful, but women have this huge risk of becoming a grotesque abomination through no fault of their own, then becoming an object of terror. The poor treatment doesn't stop at death!
Old women have it tough, they're seen as no longer of use and so are vilified when they didn't have the courtesy to die when their husband did, how dare they continue living on without the presence of a man to give her meaning. Old women alone are independent in a way, as they have to care for themselves if they have no family, thus they are a threat to the notion that women need men in order to survive.Β So these old women are easy targets. I mean what could she possibly be but a witch intent on eating children or bewitching people?
You rarely see the same accusations imparted on men
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Assuming it's actually a cat...
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I have no problem with theΒ benign appearance- what would be the point of snarling and screeching all the time? It is the sudden changes of mood and temper that make her so frightening, imho. And how clever to disguise her iron pestle as an old woman's staff!Likewise the pipe smoking cat- doubtless Margarita from a different fable, or perhaps
our old friend le Chat botte' - C'mon, people,Β Marvel comics has been doing it for years. Shake the shackles from your literal minds and live!
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I'm glad to hear that! I did think that this is just an appearance, that hides her true power. Though, I also thought, that given the name 'Baba' meaning 'grandmother' it wouldn't be too off, to have her look like a typical eastern European grandmother. Well, with clawed feet and a booted cat.
Ah yes, I also enjoy characters moving through stories. There is a webcomic I'm quite enjoying on Tapas currently which has Wendy from the Wizard of Oz, meet Wendy from Peter Pan and Alice from Alice in Wonderland, as all girls had once been to the other world, and posses the power to return there. It's rather entertaining.Β
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That's quite a concept- Dorothy meeting Wendy meeting Alice- We had the Wizard of Oz ( the first book, anyway) and Peter Pan both read to us as children- it was quite different encountering them as books for the first time, since the images ( even as coloured illustrations) were given life by our personal imaginations- Alice, on the other hand, I first encountered via Disney, and it never acquired the same depth until I finally read it in book form. I suppose every generation has its own particular perception- certainly I never had the experience of hearing tales told by a wandering bard who would bring the stories to life with his or her own personal charisma. The crossover concept was one that would never have occurred to me; with respect to characters, anyway. Having Baba Yaga occur in a variety of stories is different, since she is by her nature other worldly and eternal.
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Yup! That's how it was described in the storybook.
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Ohh the cat looks really cute! - in a kind of creepy sort of way xD I love the way you did her outfit and her hunched pose. She does look like a babushka, but for her feet which give the feel that there's something wild and eerie about this old lady.
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Haha, thanks! He was described as wearing boots and smoking a cigar - I thought that if it's a more or less realistic cat doing those things it will be more interesting than if it's a typical 'Puss in Boots' cat which walks on it's hind legs.Β
I'm so glad you like her!! And well spotted about the feet, I wanted them to indicate her wild nature which is hidden by the babuszka look.Β
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Haha nice, that was a great choice
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Heh, I already spent some time on ig trying to put my feelings about this into words, but right now I just have to say:Β A Smoking Cat in Boots??
I don't think I know anything about Baba Yaga. What's she about?
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Haha, yeah! It's how the cat was described in the story. I thought that making it a realistic cat rather than one which walks on its hind legs would be more interesting.Β
The Baba Yaga is a witch figure in Slavic folklore. Most countries in Eastern Europe had Baba Yaga appear in many fairytales. She's supposedly very wise and powerful. She lives in a hut on a chicken leg. In some versions, mostly the Russian ones, she carries a large iron pestle and flies in a mortar. She is usually portrayed quite monstrous and eats children. BUT in some fairy-tales she is actually the helper rather than a villain - she gives the hero or heroine wisdom or something that will help them on their quest. The ambiguity of the character is what I'm particularly fond of, and it is also a reason why I decided to make her look like a kindly (though slightly creepy) grandma. She may look kindly, but she knows a lot and she can be scary if she wants to. But if you are on her good side she will give you cookies and good advice!
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Oooh she sounds really cool!! Thank you for explaining
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Love Baba Yaga . . . Always wanted to have her house
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Haha, yeah! In some versions it moves which makes it like a creepy version of Howl's castle!
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You did make her rather friendly looking indeed (and wearing a headscarf!? is it a difference between the Russian and Polish version?), though, there's one of the fairytales where there were several Baba Yaga sisters and only the younger one was truly evil, so it can be from this version
I do remember drawing her with a literal chicken leg (to fit the one bone leg description, btw, is that why she has bandages on her right foot?) and decorating her garden with the bones of the children she ate XP
But I can't recall her ever having a booted smoking cat though, where does he come from?
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Hmmm, well the Polish version doesn't carry the pestle and mortar, but she too is usually quite hag-like or monstrous. I wanted to make her look more grandmotherly for a number of reasons: first of all, because 'Baba' was an old Slavic word for 'grandmother', and I thought that emphasizing that aspect of her might be original and fun. Secondly, the Baba Yaga is a very ambiguous figure in Slavic folklore, she is a villain in some stories, but she acts as a donor and helper in others. She may guide the hero or heroine, give them advice or even gifts. So it was another reason why I decided to make her 'grandmotherly', with only slight hints at the more dangerous aspects of her nature: the clawed hands and feet, the mystical tattoo on her arm, the twisted staff (a power symbol).Β
As for the cat, no that's not part of the folklore at all. But the story this illustration was based on (a modern one) had her accompanied by a cat in boots, and I thought that's pretty original so I included him.Β
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How nice! I love the legend of the Baba Yaga. My mother got a book for my little sisters called "Babushka Baba Yaga", and it's all about how Baba Yaga yearns to become a grandmother and take care of grandchildren, but it's hard for her since everyone thinks she's a child eating witch. It's a super sweet story. But I love your rendition of her, so looks so cute and grandmotherly!
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Oh gosh, that sounds like such a sweet story! And I'm so glad you like my grandmotherly version!!! XDΒ
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Probably my favorite folklore witch. Good job. But... no mortar and pestle?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QbXYβ¦
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