Portrait of an Official

The color and material of the sphere in the hat finial indicates an official's rank.¹ An opaque blue hat knob indicates an official of the 4th rank.

You can see why I decided to portray an official in informal uniform instead of ceremonial or formal dress. ;-) It's much less work, lol. Hats for formal occasions have a hat spike instead of a hat knob,² and hat quills differentiated status according to color - blue quills for 6th rank and below, peacock quills for 5th rank and above,³ - and the number of 'eyes' in the peacock feathers.⁴ Formal uniform also required rank badges.⁵ The ceremonial⁶ necklace of 108 beads was worn by civil officials of 5th rank and higher, and military officers of 4th rank and above.⁷

Portrait of a Courtier

Influenced by the art and design of Mughal India. Lattice background is inspired by the stone latticework designs of India.

Costume references used are 18th century Mughal era paintings. I originally wanted to have the character facing right, but realized that the left side of the garment had more detail than the right, so I decided to save myself some trouble.
;-)

Skull modification around the world

Arawe skull lengthening in Papua New Guinea 

Mangbetu skull elongation in DRC

The scifi illustration Through the Gate was inspired by elegant Mangbetu head shapes and hair-styles.

A (non-exhaustive) list of cultures that practiced head shaping for aesthetic or social reasons:

Dawn of the Eagle

Inspired by giant mecha anime and the soapstone eagles from the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a royal city active in the 11th-14th centuries. Robot design influenced by the African fish eagle.

Many thanks to the kind friends who assisted with modeling and critique.

Print available!
Also available on Redbubble as stickers, laptop skins, and more

Sun Eaters, Moon Eaters

From Asia and the Americas, myths about animals/demons that devour the sun or the moon:

Jaguar Dreaming

I've decided that my tiger needed some company. :-) This is the 2nd piece in the Wild Cat Portrait series.

Jaguars in the mythology of the Americas:

• One of the aspects of the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca is a jaguar who destroyed the world.
• The Mayans' many jaguar deities
• Priests of Chavin temple in Peru were depicted as able to shapeshift into jaguars (Paul Richard Steele, Handbook of Inca Mythology, p162)
• A Yanomamo Jaguar Myth

Get this jaguar as:

• 8.5"x11" (approx.) print (on storenvy.com)
• Masks, stickers, and more awesome products on redbubble.com)

Bird-like thunder spirits on both sides of the Pacific

Bird-like deities or monsters associated with thunder occur in a diverse range of cultures:

Culture	Thunder Bird	Description
Anishinaabe	Animikiig	Animikiig ("thunderers", singular animikii)1, are immense birds whose beating wings cause thunder.2
Lakota	Wakinyan	These Thunder Beings manifest as Thunderbirds, enormous creatures whose voice is thunder and whose eyes flash lightning.3 Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird. has children, the smaller thunderbirds, whose calls are the small rolling thunders that follow the loud thunderclap of the Wakinyan Tanka.4
Quileute	Tistilal	This giant whale-snatching bird's yellow feathers are lightning and its flapping wings are thunder.5
Makah	Tatoosh6	This thunder-and lightning-deity is a humanoid giant who dons the head, wings and feathers of a great bird when he goes whale-hunting. He ties lightning-fish around his waist and throws them to make lightning.7
Chinese	Lei Gong	This Daoist deity, 'Thunder Duke', is described in the ancient book Classic of the Mountains and Seas as "having the body of a phoenix and the head of a human." He makes thunder with a drum and mallet, while his wife 'Lightning Mother' creates lightning with her flashing mirrors.8

More cultures with thunderbird myths:

Ndlulamithi Redux

Inspired by the late Ndlulamithi, a famous large elephant whose name means "taller than the trees" in the Tsonga language. (See Kruger National Park - The Magnificent Seven.)

Additional influences: Japanese giant mecha comics and anime. :-)

Many thanks to the kind friends who helped with modeling and critique :-)

Get the print on storenvy!

Also available on RedBubble as stickers, iPad skins and more.

2012 Retrospective

Been thinking of reworking last year's "The Djinn's Tune" for a while. Got the idea of adding butterflies after a long walk along some waterways. Went back to look up the species of butterfly that lived in Mali. Choose the Hypolimnas misippus as a reference. No claims made as to accuracy. Artistic license taken with color. ;-)

2012 version

Latest version

Cables

Print available.

Also available as laptop skins, stickers and more on redbubble.com.

Character's hairstyle influenced by Peul (Fulani) hairstyles from the Malian period costume movie Yeelen. Clothing inspired by (but not intended to be an authentic representation of) attire of nomadic Fulani.

The Fulani, a widely dispersed ethnic group, are among the many ethnic groups inhabiting the city of Timbuktu.¹ A center of scholarship from the 13th-17th century,² Timbuktu presently has more than 2 dozen libraries of medieval manuscripts.³

Facial tattoos from Africa, Asia and the Americas

Got sidetracked into this topic while doing research for the previous illustration. :-)

Wodaabe woman in Niger (detail from photo taken by Dan Lundberg)
Other African ethnic groups that practice facial tattooing include the Bini (Edo) of Nigeria,¹ the Tsemai of Ethiopia,² and the Amazigh people (Berbers) of North Africa.³

Atayal woman from Taiwan (View image in Digital Museum of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples)
Other Austronesians that practice the art of facial tattooing include the Kalinga of the Philippines,⁴ the Ukit of Malaysia,⁵ and the Maori of New Zealand.⁶

Mohave woman in the United States (View full size image on Fort Mohave Indian Tribe site)
Other peoples in the Americas who practice facial tattooing include the Kayabi of Brazil,⁷ the Aleuts of the US,⁸ and the Matsés of Peru.⁹

Circuit

Combining influences from Japanese cyborg comics and the metalwork of Fula (Peul) people, and circuit boards I ripped out of (old, non-functioning) computer accessories.

Hairstyle, costume and accessories inspired by (but not claiming to be an authentic representation of) Fulani clothing, facial tattoos and jewelry. The Fulani, a widely dispersed ethnic group, are by no means homogeneous in terms of dress styles. Fashions vary according to geography, as different Fulani communities absorb influences from other ethnic groups around them.

Many thanks to the kind friends who helped with modeling and critique :-)