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browngirlSo while I was perusing the listings at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
livelongnmarry I shopped for someone I might ask to do this, but I didn't win any of the art auctions I entered (I was trying to bid conservatively so I wouldn't bite off more than I could chew). I've been thinking of this image for awhile, and I'm willing to pay a fair rate to see it drawn (and maybe make postcards of it).
What I want is a color drawing of Death of Neil Gaiman's Endless (I like the perkygoth avatar of nonexistence, ok?) as a Minoan lady, holding the hand of a bull-leaper. It was a dangerous sport, after all. I have a slight preference for a male bull-leaper, but if the artist wants to draw a female one that would be nifty as well. I don't actually want a background, unless the artist really wanted to draw a thousand horrified Minoans staring down at a bleeding, gored body; I think a simple shading of grey, from black at the bull-leaper's side to white at Death's, would emphasize both the bull-leaper's bright colors and the otherworldly nature of the destination Death will guide him to.
Details of the bull-leaper: like I said, he should be colorful. Ruddy tanned skin, a loincloth patterned in red, yellow, and/or blue (stripes, spirals and Greek keys are accurate patterns), wearing soft leather boots laced up to the knee, at least one arm-ring, strings of blue and/or red beads around his wrists and maybe his throat, his hair long flowing black curls. A female bull-leaper should be dressed exactly the same way, and should not have anything on above the waist except jewelry, including beads in her hair. No, really.. The first comment to this entry will be a compilation of links, which will include some links to Minoan images of bull-leapers and modern art based on the same, to give an idea.
Details of Death: She, meanwhile, should be all in black and white and gray, as if someone photographed a brightly dressed Minoan lady with black and white film. She should have bracelets and necklaces made of strings of beads, and strings of white beads in her hair, and definetely should wear her ankh necklace, same as always. The Snake Goddess is probably our most famous Minoan depiction of a lady/priestess, so modelling her clothes after this would certainly work. Also, I have books of my own about the Minoans, including their clothes, and I could certainly photocopy or scan some of the diagrams and snail mail or email them to an interested artist.
[Besides that I'm asking for fanart, yadda yadda.] Did you see how much I just wrote? I've been interested in the Minoans for decades, I have lots more information where that all came from. The thing is, this feels like a hell of a lot to ask of someone. I'm not sure any fanartist would be willing to do read through a pile of research, even if I provided it. And the drawing won't, well, it won't work for me if they don't actually look Minoan. Maybe I should be seeking an Egyptian Death with Tutankhamun or somesuch, at least more people are likely to know enough about the Egyptians to draw that without doing any homework. I don't know.
So, I might be a madwoman to ask, but I figured it was worth asking; at worst, I'd be answered with silence. However, if people reading this are, or know of, fanartists with an interest in archaeology and/or the Sandman graphic novels, who'd be willing to do some research, please point them in the direction of this entry.
livelongnmarry I shopped for someone I might ask to do this, but I didn't win any of the art auctions I entered (I was trying to bid conservatively so I wouldn't bite off more than I could chew). I've been thinking of this image for awhile, and I'm willing to pay a fair rate to see it drawn (and maybe make postcards of it). What I want is a color drawing of Death of Neil Gaiman's Endless (I like the perkygoth avatar of nonexistence, ok?) as a Minoan lady, holding the hand of a bull-leaper. It was a dangerous sport, after all. I have a slight preference for a male bull-leaper, but if the artist wants to draw a female one that would be nifty as well. I don't actually want a background, unless the artist really wanted to draw a thousand horrified Minoans staring down at a bleeding, gored body; I think a simple shading of grey, from black at the bull-leaper's side to white at Death's, would emphasize both the bull-leaper's bright colors and the otherworldly nature of the destination Death will guide him to.
Details of the bull-leaper: like I said, he should be colorful. Ruddy tanned skin, a loincloth patterned in red, yellow, and/or blue (stripes, spirals and Greek keys are accurate patterns), wearing soft leather boots laced up to the knee, at least one arm-ring, strings of blue and/or red beads around his wrists and maybe his throat, his hair long flowing black curls. A female bull-leaper should be dressed exactly the same way, and should not have anything on above the waist except jewelry, including beads in her hair. No, really.. The first comment to this entry will be a compilation of links, which will include some links to Minoan images of bull-leapers and modern art based on the same, to give an idea.
Details of Death: She, meanwhile, should be all in black and white and gray, as if someone photographed a brightly dressed Minoan lady with black and white film. She should have bracelets and necklaces made of strings of beads, and strings of white beads in her hair, and definetely should wear her ankh necklace, same as always. The Snake Goddess is probably our most famous Minoan depiction of a lady/priestess, so modelling her clothes after this would certainly work. Also, I have books of my own about the Minoans, including their clothes, and I could certainly photocopy or scan some of the diagrams and snail mail or email them to an interested artist.
[Besides that I'm asking for fanart, yadda yadda.] Did you see how much I just wrote? I've been interested in the Minoans for decades, I have lots more information where that all came from. The thing is, this feels like a hell of a lot to ask of someone. I'm not sure any fanartist would be willing to do read through a pile of research, even if I provided it. And the drawing won't, well, it won't work for me if they don't actually look Minoan. Maybe I should be seeking an Egyptian Death with Tutankhamun or somesuch, at least more people are likely to know enough about the Egyptians to draw that without doing any homework. I don't know.
So, I might be a madwoman to ask, but I figured it was worth asking; at worst, I'd be answered with silence. However, if people reading this are, or know of, fanartists with an interest in archaeology and/or the Sandman graphic novels, who'd be willing to do some research, please point them in the direction of this entry.
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A List of Links
Date: 2008-07-17 04:14 pm (UTC)A detail from the "Toreador" fresco. (http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/images/murex/article5_img5.jpg) Shows the colors --- clear blue, rich red-brown, warm white--- and what a female bull-leaper would wear.
This poor statuette is badly weathered (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Bull_Leaper_Knossos_1500BC.jpg), but it gives an idea of the lithe grace of a bull-leaper.
The "Priest-King" fresco. (http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Minoan/ThMinoan3.jpg) Included here for the clothes, the tight wide belt, the codpiece, and the way his loincloth falls along his near thigh. Ignore the flounced thing on his far leg for the moment.
A page about bull-leaping (http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/MinoanBullJump.htm). Includes the 'Toreador' fresco, a diagram of a jump, and a piece of recent art.
A figurine of a male worshipper (http://www.scholarsresource.com/images/thumbnails/192/j/jgc0943.jpg). Not a great picture, but it shows the clothing and stature.
From the same site (http://www.scholarsresource.com/browse/period/53), Jewelry of gold beads (http://www.scholarsresource.com/images/thumbnails/192/j/jgc0936.jpg) and suchlike.
For Death, the Minoan Lady:
Two images of the (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Snake_Goddess_Crete_1600BC.jpg/250px-Snake_Goddess_Crete_1600BC.jpg) Snake Goddess Figurine (http://inanna.virtualave.net/minoan9.jpg); A couple of (http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1079132-Travel_Picture-The_Minoan_Serpent_Goddess.jpg) modern reproductions (http://www.magus-paganus.com/MinoanSnakeGoddess.jpg). Note the wide tight belt, once again, and the small waist curving out to the wide hips. A surprising number of modern depictions omit that, I don't know why.
A palace scene (http://www.thomasbakerpaintings.com/images.html/minoan_costumes/knossos_palace_scene.jpg) and a detail from it (http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2020/minoan20board9dq.jpg) painted by a current artist. I like this reconstruction except for the 'quilted' texture of the cloth on the sleeves. Yes, that's a persnickety detail, I know.
Digital art of a Minoan lady watching the Thera eruption (http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/minoan_volcano_eruption_big.jpg). I quite like this image, and this is kind of the style I'm thinking of, a colored drawing rather than a painting.
The 'La Parisienne' fresco fragment. (http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/images/minoan.jpg) The thing on the back of her neck is a sacral knot, if you were wondering.
A fresco called the 'Ladies in Blue' (http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/ladyblue.html) (the source of this icon). Note the curving rows of beads in their hair. Another image of the same fresco. (http://www.hellenic-art.com/statues/blueladies.htm)
Re: A List of Links
Date: 2008-07-19 06:19 pm (UTC)http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/28647/minoan
no subject
Date: 2008-07-17 04:56 pm (UTC)He's a friend of mine in NH and fairly familiar with the fannish community. He's also a darned good artist!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-17 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-17 06:03 pm (UTC)I don't mind trying to follow someone else's style, but wanted an idea how much you were wanting to pay for this, 'cause that'd dictate how many hours I can put into it.
Feel free to contact me at rick_vs (at) yahoo.com
no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 05:56 pm (UTC)*drops you a line*
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Date: 2008-07-17 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 12:25 pm (UTC)