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

Available a T-shirt on Printify.
Available as laptop skins, stickers and more on redbubble.com.

11"x 8.5"print available on storenvy.

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

Available as stickers, magnets, prints, and more on RedBubble.

Available as a T-shirt on Printify.

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 :-)

Three Tales of Children Born from Plants

Folktale	Country	Mode of Child's Delivery
Timun Mas	Indonesia	Cucumber
Meng Jiang Nu	China	Gourd
Kaguya Hime	Japan	Bamboo Stalk

In one version of Timun Mas (Golden Cucumber), a giant gives a childless farming couple some magic cucumber seeds. In another version, it was a childless widow who accepted the giant's offer of help. The farmer(s) carefully cultivate the plants, which yielded a large cucumber. On cutting the vegetable open, the prospective parent(s) was/were delighted to find a baby girl inside. But the giant's help came with strings attached...