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bschu — Little Sphinx
#greekmythology #sphinx
Published: 2019-12-03 23:27:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 2181; Favourites: 59; Downloads: 0
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Description
This one is called Little Sphinx because I also am working on a Big Sphinx. There was a divide because I had my own vision of what a sphinx looks like which I think I developed from watching a movie when I was young "The Neverending Story" (Do kids still watch this? Is it a classic?) In that movie the sphinxes had tall bodies and they had arms resting at their side. So they looked more like a Centaur but with a lion's body instead of a horse.
But since this is specifically a Greek Mythology sphinx, I noticed that most of the Greek interpretations didn't have human arms at the side, and instead they emphasized the wings.
This illustration is worth zooming in. I have a lot of detail on the character, but no so much in the background. I will add detail later.
I'm organizing my full Greek Mythology series on a web page so I can have more control over the design and layout. View here if interested: bschu.net/greek/
Edit: Uploaded latest version 17 DEC 2017
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Comments: 16
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That's really stylish love it!!
Your greek works are really great! Maybe you should do a physical book!
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Hello there!
I'm writing my feedback on behalf of ProjectComment 's weekly commenting project and hope it will be of use to you.
I must say, it's the first time I see a sphinx portrayed that way. All the records I ever saw with a depicted sphinx in mythology or archeology had her more like the Thebes monument; with the feline head replaced by the human head and the wings emerging from the shoulder joints. Or other interpretations with bovine head and no wings. First time though, that I see it with the posture of a taur. But that's fully legible as it is mythology and can be laid out as such. In my eyes, mythology has always been very grounded ways of fantasy so it should be welcome to experiment with the interpretations and portray them as seen fit.
Even though I welcome this freedom, I think to achieve a believable fantasy, it has to be anatomically believable, which your artwork mostly is, I still found some issues here and there.
Its feline and human body parts look correct and I have nothing to add there but regarding the wings, there are a few problems that occur to me. First will be the 'arms'; they look simplified to a single shape; a curve without visible joints. When imagining, you can 'think' where the joints would be, but the clear indication where the elbow is, would help the viewer much and satisfy the ones who are looking out for that detail. Tip: avian wings are rarely stretched out, the elbow therefor should always be visible, the feathers are formed to perfectly cover the distance from shoulders to tip. Just imagine if you had to stretch out your arms fully to glide... it would be highly uncomfortable as the muscles are always under pressure.
Next is the alignment of feathers on its wings. They are built less like row after row of the same feathers, rather with feathers of increased size towards the tip. Explaining this with words is about as complicated as it can get so I found you a very handy cheat sheet on avian wing anatomy, which also covers the aforementioned topic about healthy bone position: i.pinimg.com/736x/fd/67/ff/fd6…
This should cover anatomy, now to some minor details.
You already mentioned to work on your background and I too would empathize on that regard.
Try to add some more complexity, add and erase your silhouette to create more details and think about greece's landscape: you have a ton of possible structures; Cliffs, plateaus, scarce vegetation; single trees on a stony slope; riversides, beaches, rough see water. Forget about any flat lines and think organically, go crazy with your pen and you should have a ton of fun.
Also; the cube-pedestal for your sphinx looks very odd to me. Not the rendering, the rendering is on point but it looks to perfect. Try adding some imperfect cracks or hits to the edges that it took in its many years of exposure to the environment. It should help selling it as part of mythology rather than a showcase in a museum.
Also; very nice work with your web series. The idea is very nice and the illustrations all add to the stories as anything fantastic could really use some imagery to help imagine the story unfold.
So keep it up!
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You're welcome and glad that my feedback is appreciated. I hope you'll enjoy adding wear and tear from now on :3
And yes that was exactly the representation I have seen most of.
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This looks incredible! I love how accurate this is to the myth! I mostly remember the Sphinx from the story of Oedipus (hope I spelled that right). I used to read Greek myths, and I had to read both Oedipus Rex and Antigone in high school. Very cool stuff!
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Ever read the book version of the neverending story by Michael Ende?
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It has much more to it than the movies ever did. Look it up.
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