Iconography Research
August 30, 2023 17:13 BSTI’ve been looking at some Orthodox iconography. The icon you see here represents gnostic wisdom Sophia and her daughters Faith, Love, and Hope. She’s having a discussion with St Christopher (navigator, strongman and psychopomp) who is depicted with dog head. This is common in Bulgaria and Greece, it’s probably the only Christian Saint who has animal head like Egyptian gods. In my opinion, St Christopher hearkens back to Hermanubis, the combined Greek Hermes and Egyptian Anubis of late antiquity. The official line of the Church is that “he is from a tribe of dog-headed people” which I find rather unlikely.
Dog-headed St Christopher was suppressed by the Church in some countries, but he is popular in Greece and Bulgaria. At the margins of the icon you see scholar St Katherine, and saint of hospitality and food St Martha. Jesus is perched on a cloud at the top edge.
Quick Sketches
July 21, 2023 18:54 BSTHere are some sketches of Egyptian art. I was at the Dundee McManus museum, they have cool Egyptian and Greek stuff. There’s both some watercolour and some watercolour pencils in these sketches. Also showing a quick watercolour sketch of the male head in profile.
Survival Item Icons
June 12, 2023 10:00 BSTHere are my icon designs for various survival items. I used a perspective grid in Adobe Illustrator to help me draw the shape consistently in 3/4 perspective. I then applied a consistent graphic style with red drop-shadow effect, to give them slightly more 3D feel.