2011 retrospective

I have been reworking some of last year's illustrations over the past few weeks. Some of the changes were relatively minor tweaks based on critiques for the recent Pineapple Girl and shapeshifting canid series. A shout out to the my fine artist and illustrator friends who took the time to make detailed observations, and provide thoughtful, useful comments. You are an awesome bunch. Thank you.
Most recently I finished updating the mermaids series. making enhancements to the color and shape design.

Latest version of Duyung

Summer 2011 version

Pineapple Girl

Inspired by, but NOT claiming to be an authentic representation of, the "Pineapple Child" folktale from the Ga people of Ghana.

One version of this story is retold in West African Folktales (collected and translated by Jack Berry) as "Adene and the Pineapple Child."

Synopsis:

An old woman counsels a childless couple to pick a talking pineapple and take it home. Three days later, the pineapple transforms into a beautiful baby girl, whom the couple adopts.

The parents raise the child with love and care. All is well until one day the child is left at home while her parents are at the farm. Adene, an older girl who lives with the family, taunts the child about her non-human origins...

Removing unwanted kinks in Adobe Illustrator's gradient mesh

Here is what worked for me on Adobe CS4:

1. Select the gradient mesh
2. Select the Add Anchor Point tool. Now the invisible 'helper' points that cause the kinks will become visible.
3. Add 2 anchor points, one on either side of the 'helper' point that you want to get rid of.
4. Select the 2 points you just added. (When you use a selection tool, the 'helper' point will become invisible again. Don't worry, it's still there.)
5. Hit the Delete button. (When you delete the 2 points on either side of the helper point, the helper point will also be deleted.)
6. Now select the gradient mesh again. You will see that the kink is gone.

Background and acknowledgments:

White Fox Woman

Inspired by, but NOT intended to be an accurate representation of, the Inuit folktale The Fox Woman. (This is the third and final illustration in my series inspired by folklore about wild canid spirits that shapeshift into human form.)

In the original tale, the fox sheds her skin to take human form, and resumes her fox skin to leave when her human husband complains about her.

Another retelling of this Inuit tale is available in World Folklore for Storytellers: Tales of Wonder, Wisdom, Fools, and Heroes.

Coyote Transforms

Inspired by the Wasco myth Coyote and Multnomah Falls, as well as other stories about coyote the shapeshifter from various Pacific Northwest tribes. In this story, coyote turns into a young man to propose marriage to a young woman.

The myth was set in "that long ago time before this time, when all the people and all the animals spoke the same language." The clothing references used for the illustration were from the 19th century. No claims are being made to cultural authenticity or period accuracy here ;-) The lives of Plateau people were already changed by indirect European influence long before anyone first set eyes on a person of European descent.¹ For example, horses broadened the trade network of tribes and spread fashion influences from the Plains to the Plateau.²

That said, The Museum at Warm Springs on the Warm Springs Reservation, where the Wasco tribe now lives, is an excellent resource.

The Fox Phonologist

Chen Pengnian (961-1017), Chinese courtier and scholar, was labeled a nine-tail fox.¹ The 11th century Chinese court history document Rulin Gongyi states: "Chen Pengnian had a talent for interpreting omens concerning the nation, and was skilled at flattering and misleading (the emperor), therefore people of his time saw him as a nine-tail fox."²

Print available.

The excerpt above probably refers to Chen's term as the vice-chair of the Department of Augury, the post he held prior to his death.³ The editor of Rulin Gongyi was Tian Kuang (1005-1063).⁴

Apparently, "nine tail fox", as used during the Song period, was not intended to be a flattering metaphor. But things had not always been so.

The 3rd century BCE text Annals of Lu mentions how Da Yu, founder of the ancient Xia Dynasty, encountered a nine-tail fox at Tu Mountain (in present day Henan, China); he regarded it as a good omen, and so married a woman of the Tu Mountain tribe.¹ During the Han Dynasty, the 9-tail fox was still seen as an auspicious creature, portrayed together with other mythical beasts in the entourage of the goddess Xi Wangmu.¹

Merfolk from non-European mythology

Was reading up on merfolk mythology from around the world while working on my series of three mermaids from non-European cultures. Here is a partial list of mermaids I encountered during my research: