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This has been a long-term project of mine for the past couple of years, which I’ve worked on on/off.
I really do hope to finish it one day soon, if I could ever get it started that is. My biggest problem is getting myself organized, and finding the motivation to work on it. I want to maintain some uniformity with regard to the drawing style, and the media used. Leonardo di vinci’s anatomical drawings were my biggest inspiration for these and I wanted them to have that kind of aged look about them. As time goes by though, my style changes.
For a while I was calling this project the Cyclopedia Anatomica Mythica (CAM), rather than “Bestiary”, because traditional medieval Bestiaries were less about being informative and more about being didactic. Their purpose was to use animals (and minerals) in nature to tell moral stories. On the other hand, calling it “Cyclopedia” makes it sound too much like the book that I use to reference musculature and the like. But since most people these days would call a big book of mythical animals a bestiary, I just decided to stick with it.
And it’s not going to be purely an anatomical book, since certain designs will get repetitive, but it will also talk about the biology/life histories of the species, in such a way that it explains whatever powers or interactions they have with humans naturalistically, such as the Chimera’s fire-breathing. They’ll also be arranged into family groups. For example, all the Unicorn-like animals will belong to the same family (Monoceras).
I haven’t made a list yet, there will be around 50 species of mythological animals in it, though that’s probably a gross understatement and it will include some of the more familiar creatures like Griffins and Unicorns, but also lesser-known creatures from other cultures, such as the Karkadan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karkadan…, Piasa en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasa, and Ahuizotl en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahuizotl….
Sorry guys, no dragons. I have my own theories on dragons, and they are just so ubiquitous, that I really don’t see the point.
For obvious reasons, I won't upload every image I'll be using in it, but I upload one here and there to give a sneak peak, or if I find one particularly interesting.
I really do hope to finish it one day soon, if I could ever get it started that is. My biggest problem is getting myself organized, and finding the motivation to work on it. I want to maintain some uniformity with regard to the drawing style, and the media used. Leonardo di vinci’s anatomical drawings were my biggest inspiration for these and I wanted them to have that kind of aged look about them. As time goes by though, my style changes.
For a while I was calling this project the Cyclopedia Anatomica Mythica (CAM), rather than “Bestiary”, because traditional medieval Bestiaries were less about being informative and more about being didactic. Their purpose was to use animals (and minerals) in nature to tell moral stories. On the other hand, calling it “Cyclopedia” makes it sound too much like the book that I use to reference musculature and the like. But since most people these days would call a big book of mythical animals a bestiary, I just decided to stick with it.
And it’s not going to be purely an anatomical book, since certain designs will get repetitive, but it will also talk about the biology/life histories of the species, in such a way that it explains whatever powers or interactions they have with humans naturalistically, such as the Chimera’s fire-breathing. They’ll also be arranged into family groups. For example, all the Unicorn-like animals will belong to the same family (Monoceras).
I haven’t made a list yet, there will be around 50 species of mythological animals in it, though that’s probably a gross understatement and it will include some of the more familiar creatures like Griffins and Unicorns, but also lesser-known creatures from other cultures, such as the Karkadan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karkadan…, Piasa en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasa, and Ahuizotl en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahuizotl….
Sorry guys, no dragons. I have my own theories on dragons, and they are just so ubiquitous, that I really don’t see the point.
For obvious reasons, I won't upload every image I'll be using in it, but I upload one here and there to give a sneak peak, or if I find one particularly interesting.
B.A.M. UPDATE + where I've been
First of all, I sincerely apologize to people who have messaged me over the years that I haven’t responded to. In the time since I was last on here, I graduated veterinary school and started working…a lot. Also, I got busy with training my new dog , among other activities. As a result, there has been little time and motivation for me to produce art worth sharing. However, I have not forgotten about Bestiary Anatomica Mythica. I have worked on it in big chunks here and there then taken time off of it between chunks (months to a year or more). Much of the delay was from me getting bogged down in trying to fit in a story outside of the compendium itself to keep it interesting. But honestly, I’m neither a good writer nor a good story teller, so have decided to drop that from the project and focus on the art itself. Here’s what I’ve done so far: Decided on all the species that will be in the book (scientific names, categories) Finished the base sketches that the final artwork will
Available prints, Cafe Press, etc.
Last week I came back from AggieCon and sold more prints at the Art Show than in years past :D But I still have plenty of them left, and if I can, would like to sell them. I'll list them at the end of the message if you are interested. Note me if you are.
My current financial situation compels me to find an extra means of supplementing my income. Personally, art is my means of release/expression, something I do for the shear enjoyment, but not something I ever really intended to make a carrier out of. I don't think I'm capable of rumbling with the big dogs, but I would like to try and do art on the side to make a little extra money.
D
Why I draw what I draw
A few minutes ago, as I was browsing some DA artists galleries, my husband commented, "I'm kinda tired of seeing 'animal people'." After which, I promptly stopped what I was doing and put all of my art stuff away (he apologized saying he didn't mean it that way), because, if you haven't noticed, I do draw a lot of animals and 'animal people'.
But his statement kind of posed a serious question for me: 'why do I draw the things I draw?'
I've never really sat down and thought about it. For as far back as I can remember, I have always drawn animals and humanized animals much more often than I ever drew people, and long before I'd ever
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Check out anything by dougal Dixon or Wayne barlowe.
Dixon's "the new dinosaurs" and" man after man" are a speculative evolution version of this and the former should be at most libraries. Barlowes guides to extraterrestrials and fantasy also have solid uniform layouts that could help you out... I realise I'm 8 years late to the party, but I'm no stranger to sitting on good ideas. Lol. Good luck.
Dixon's "the new dinosaurs" and" man after man" are a speculative evolution version of this and the former should be at most libraries. Barlowes guides to extraterrestrials and fantasy also have solid uniform layouts that could help you out... I realise I'm 8 years late to the party, but I'm no stranger to sitting on good ideas. Lol. Good luck.