Mythical Creatures Through Eyes Of Digital Arts

Griffin

The griffin (griffon or gryphon (see below)) is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.

Most contemporary illustrations give the griffin legs like an eagle’s legs with talons, although in some older illustrations it has a lion’s forelimbs; it generally has a lion’s hindquarters. Its eagle’s head is conventionally given prominent ears; these are sometimes described as the lion’s ears, but are often elongated (more like a horse’s), and are sometimes feathered.

Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings (or a wingless eagle-headed lion is identified as a griffin); in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an alce or a keythong. In heraldry, a griffin always has forelegs like an eagle’s hind legs; the beast with forelimbs like a lion’s forelegs was distinguished by perhaps only one English herald of later heraldry as the opinicus. The modern generalist calls it the lion-griffin, as for example, Robin Lane Fox, in Alexander the Great, 1973:31 and notes p. 506, who remarks a lion-griffin attacking a stag in a pebble mosaic at Pella, perhaps as an emblem of the kingdom of Macedon or a personal one of Alexander’s successor Antipater.

Image by: hibbary

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Another one. I’m trying to get a better handle on the application of this media. It’s fun, but slow. Then again, most real media takes more time than digital work (for me, anyway)

Image by: caladar

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some say it’s not, you know who you are!, but this is the way a book i was reading said their griffin looked liked. it came out to be a nice drawing

Image by: teggy

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i suppose i get a little obsessed when i start a project i know will look reasonably good when its finished, this one took two days ^^”’ yes i did cheat with the background… i tried my hardest but i just wanted it finish it.

Image by: ceara-finn24

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I’d love to know what you think…

Pan

Pan (Greek Πάν, genitive Πανός), in Greek religion and mythology, is the companion of the nymphs, god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein, meaning “to pasture”. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring. The ancient Greeks also considered Pan to be the god of theatrical criticism.

In Roman mythology, Pan’s counterpart was Faunus, a nature spirit who was the father of Bona Dea (Fauna). In the 18th and 19th centuries, Pan became a significant figure in the romanticist movement of western Europe, and also in the 20th century Neopagan movement.

Image by: ooannioo

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Pans Labyrinth
PhotoShop/wacom intuos3

Image by: inertiak

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Pan in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. His name originates from the word paein, meaning to pasture. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. He is recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring. (Wiki)

Image by: decrepitude

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Here is my last submission for a while. Uni just started and I’ll open photoshop just for commissions.

So much and so little going on in this one…
The armour is made from lots of pics of my mother’s jewels, and a helmet from *Peace-of-Art (thanks!)

Image by: taurina

Chupacabra

The Chupacabra or Chupacabras (pronunciation: /tʃupa’kabɾa/, from the Spanish words chupar, meaning “to suck”, and cabra, meaning “goat”; literally “goat sucker”), also called El Chupacabra or El Chupacabras in Spanish, is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter’s Latin American communities. The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail. Biologists and wildlife management officials view the Chupacabra as a contemporary legend.

Image by: kodriak

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Wow, two submissions in one day.

Man, do I ever love cryptids. Creatures that may or may not exist. Such as the chupacabra, bigfoot, or the Loch Ness, to name a few.
I want to get into cryptozoology.

The Chupacabra, translated to “Goat sucker”, is often described as a reptilian looking canine with a forked tongue and long spikes sticking out of its spine. It is extremely thin, and has exaggerated claws and teeth. Hairless and can be scaly, it also has eyes that emit a faint red glow.
There is another appearance, alien like creature, but that didn’t appeal to me quite as much.

So here’s my interpretation of a Chupacabra. I think I leaned a little too much towards that canine side, much to my dismay. But I still like the result.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can add in the background. Its lacking something.

Someone should start a club that is all about cryptozoology. I would join.

Image by: ninjatron

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This was done a few months ago for some kind of book about creatures that may or may not be real. I have no idea if it is going to be published, but I’m tired of waiting and it’s not like I got paid for this artwork anyway. Hopefully it will be published someday though.

There are different interpretations of the chupacabra. I went with the “alien monkey” approach. This artwork was a pencil drawing that I painted in Photoshop and then added a lot of photographic texture elements to.

Image by: delic

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yet another version

Image by: speedmunky7

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I AM CHUPACABRA NOW.

Fear me.

Image/Character (c) Me

Medusa

In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa), “guardian, protectress”) was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity and today, the image of the head of Medusa finds expression in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion. She also has two gorgon sisters.

Image by: genzoman

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A old draw for Myths & Legends TCG… this pic was a bit more special, cause i LOVE castlevania and more than the myth, forme she is one of the big boss of the game XD,lol, sry… also, is inspired in one of the movie character who scared me the most when i was a kid (lol), the Medusa from Clash of the titans OMFG, i cant take it away from my nightmares XD stop motion rocks over CG.

Photoshop CS/Intuos/7 hours and a half/music: bloody tears-castlevania (haha, sry,when i sit to draw this pic, this song was stucked in my head XD, for every castlevania fan this song is THE SONG!!… btw, castlevania IV is still my favorite on the saga :p)

Image by: shutupandwhisper

Image by: clute

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So this was a project that I had been slaving over with a colleague of mine in an attempt to establish a project for Sony’s Gods & Heroes and happens to be my second project using PSCS2. After many renditions and attempts to make Medusa seductive and perhaps slightly attractive… I settled for what you see here. If any of you had a chance to see the in game model of this character.. you might see how difficult it was to make her feminine and still retain the original design elements. After all was said and done, the project and game was shelved and ol’ pineapple cans here never went past first submission. Alas, I digress… it was fun to play with the colors and still keep a small pallette of colors. Enjoy.. :)

Image by: bakanekonei

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A quick paint to Adam Warren’s con sketch of medusa. I tried to make it as polished as possible. And I must say, when I asked him if I could color it my next question should have been what kind of snakes those were….haha

Rangda

Rangda is the demon queen of the leyaks in Bali, according to traditional Balinese mythology. Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evil witches against the leader of the forces of good – Barong.

Image by: adhytcadelic

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Rangda, “queen of the leyaks (witches)…the blood-thirsty, child-eating…wich widow mistress of black magic (Miquel Covarrubias, Island of Bali)

Image by: shtl

Image by: durgas

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Techniques:
Black pens, colour pencils, washed colour pencils, dot works/pointilism on paper, hand drawn leafs decorative, many steps on photoshop.

Los Angeles, 2007.

Image by: unded

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the stripes on her body is replaced by hollow stripes

Korrigan

In Breton folklore, a Korrigan ([kɔˈriːgɑ̃n]) is a fairy or dwarf-like spirit. The word means (Korr dwarf, ig is a diminutive and the suffix an is an hypocoristic) “small-dwarf”. Their name change according to the place. Among the other names, there are kornandon, ozigan, nozigan, torrigan, viltañs, poulpikan, paotred ar sabad…

Korrigans have beautiful hair and red flashing eyes. They are sometimes described as important princesses or druidesses who were opposed to Christianity when the Apostles came to convert Brittany. They hate priests, churches, and especially the Virgin Mary. They can predict the future, change shape, and move at lightning speed. Like sirens and mermaids, they sing and comb their long hair, and they haunt fountains and wells. They have the power of making men fall in love with them, but they then kill the ones who do. In many popular tales, they are eager to deceive the imprudent mortals who see them dancing or looking after a treasure, and fond of stealing human children, substituting them with changelings. On the night of 31st October (All Souls’ Night), they are said to be lurking near dolmens, waiting for victims.

According to the Breton poem, Ar-Rannou, there are 9 korrigan, “who dance, with flowers in their hair, and robes of white wool, around the fountain, by the light of the full moon.”

Korrigans are also characters in the Book of the Stars trilogy by Erik L’Homme. In the books they are described as wizened dwarf-like creatures with cats’ paws fond of playing pranks on humans.

Image by: ionus

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That’s with Painter. This picture is based on a clay head very cool that I have at home, I like this little rogue!

Image by: elfenn

Image by: kromdor

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I did thi one for an illustration book for Soleil Publishing…

Photoshop on pencils…

Image by: ty-forkboy

Qilin

The Qilin (Chinese: 麒麟; pinyin: qílín; Wade-Giles: ch’ilin), also spelled Kylin, Kirin, or Kỳ lân (Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings rui (Chinese: 瑞; pinyin: ruì; roughly translated as “serenity” or “prosperity”). It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body.

Image by: grimrippy

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One of my favorite mythical creatures. The Qilin or Kirin as most commonly known. Asian Unicorn… ur mom… whatever.

Actually was one of my second choices instead of the panther for a familiar.

I also noticed I had lots of blues in my gallery lately, and I love warm colors. Reds, golds, browns… <3!!!

Image by: wasil

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Ummm
I never submitted this lol :C

I should probably draw a background or crop it in some magical way.

Image by: blackunigryphon

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This is a kind of Chinese god called a Qilin, and this one is a Unicorn type, called a “Dujiao Qilin”. (Doo-Djyaow Tschee-Leen)

I really don’t feel like explaining the entire thing… And, I know most people don’t have a clue about real Chinese mythologies and so on… So, if you wanna know more about them just ask.

*sigh*

Anyway, I did this with graphic markers, and color pencils. I also uploaded it to Epilogue.net…. maybe I’ll luck out and have it published there… *fingers crossed* I may also adjust this in the future…

Image by: tb-samurai

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Qilin are one of my favorite mythical creatures. It’s been a while since I drew one, though. The last time I drew a qilin, it was a gift for Shally, a friend on another site that I go to.

I think that this is one of my best drawings. I really like how this one turned out.

Text Source: Wikipedia

Collection made by Jovan Marić @ sessionmagazine.com