Of tawny owls and early birds
Added 2018-10-14 11:38:39 +0000 UTCThis is what I can do at 8 AM. I've never drawn at 8 AM in my life, but it looks as if transmogrifying into an early bird might be worth a shot!
Those of you who have followed me for longer than ten years will remember this guy - he's Llelo, or Llywelyn, a major character in a story I was writing/devising between 2001 and 2009, at which point I decided it was just too unremarkable to go forward with. Since then, I have at times thought along mythological lines to spice it up, and at some point, I wanted to add helpful animals, but it felt random and never went anywhere. Mostly, it was lacking any meaningful female character.
Yesterday, looking at the little owl I'd taken from my brother's house as a remembrance (seen top right), I realised that at least one reason why it felt *right* was that it was a tawny owl*, which I'd used as reference for the legend and painting of Blodeuwedd - the Welsh legend of a woman formed out of flowers to marry King Llew, and who betrays and murders him, then being transformed into an owl.
Today, Blodeuwedd is often seen as a sympathetical figure, and I thought to add her in that role - atoning for her deeds and growing far beyond her punishment.
There was my mythological connection of legend, a meaningful female character, and helpful animals. I'm not sure yet whether this will go anywhere more promising than the last installments of The Rhyddion Chronicles, but at the very least, it's resulted in a great inked drawing of one of my favourite cutie-pies!
*Latin, strix aluco, one of the owl names my brother loved to say as a kid.
Comments
As a morning person myself, welcome to the club. :D
Gwendolyn
2018-10-16 11:18:04 +0000 UTCI don't draw but I write a bit, and I can confirm that being creative in the morning is a peculiar (and very often a good) experience! this is a lovely anecdote, and a beautiful drawing! Unfortunately I haven't been following you for 10 years (shame on me) but to be honest, I'd love to learn more about this story of yours! And actually, animals are always helpful, even when they don't do anything but snooze around <3 anyway, thank you for sharing all of this with us. All the best to you <3
Litsen
2018-10-15 18:49:45 +0000 UTCI was afraid someone'd say that. I probably had too much Hedwig on my mind. Can I just say she's huge, because partial conservation of mass? XD
Jenny Dolfen
2018-10-14 16:39:07 +0000 UTC(aren’t tawny owls even smaller? :D) Anyway, I love this, and yes, dontgiveuptober sounds good
Franziska Wenzel
2018-10-14 16:25:49 +0000 UTCCool. (And I look at the owl paperweight and I remember buying one as a gift. . . )
Mary Catelli
2018-10-14 15:06:38 +0000 UTCNot until there's a revised version - the last one dates from 2008/9, and I haven't read it since, so I'm keeping that one well under wraps ;)
Jenny Dolfen
2018-10-14 11:58:31 +0000 UTCStill I'd like to give it one more try and read what you have 😀
Damako
2018-10-14 11:57:10 +0000 UTCIt never was a whole thing - the very first incarnation, in 2002, had around 300 pages which literally did not go anywhere at all. There have been two rewrites since; the last one I quite liked, but my problem is that I never really do any serious plotting. ;)
Jenny Dolfen
2018-10-14 11:54:38 +0000 UTCLovely! I remember I started reading your Rhyddion Chronicles, but didn't finish it. Also if I remember correctly, I could find only a few chapters. But I'd love to read the whole thing!
Damako
2018-10-14 11:52:08 +0000 UTC
