Laka

Laka is the Hawaiian goddess of forest, plenty, song, and dance - namely the hula. The name "Laka" means gentle, docile, attracted to, and to attract, and thus she is also considered to be the goddess of love. I thought that was appropriate with Valentine's day coming up and all:) She is also the first of two new Hawaiian god prints that I will be bringing with me to Wondercon, so I hope to see you there! And if you can't make it, no worries - she will go up in the Etsy shop post-con as well.

I'm late again this week, but I will definitely have another post later this evening. Yesterday was a landmark day for me, because I FINALLY got myself to a performance of Wicked. Because my collective self is currently a jumbled soup of Wicked geek-outery, all I can say is if you happen to be in the Bay Area, do yourself a favor. Go see it. Now. More to come later.

New Sketchbook + Studies

Well, this sketchbook isn't all THAT new.


I've had this Fabriano for at least the last six months, but I haven't paid much attention to it. I still have a few pages left to fill in my Fabriano from last year and have been slacking on my figure drawing attendance which is the bulk of what I put in these babies. But today my new one got a shiny new cover/binding! Hooray! Fabrianos typically have pretty flimsy covers, so I took some scrap board and fabric and gave it a little extra protection and style.


And in honor of the new look of the outside of the book, I thought I should probably display a bit of the inside. Here is a little watercolor of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Having the opportunity to paint this remarkable place was really a dream come true.

And here is a teeny-tiny color study I did this evening for my next Hawaiian goddess painting. I would have liked to spend a bit more time on her this weekend, but I have been busy with a few other projects. More on her to come, but until then, have a happy week!

Hina

Hina is the Hawaiian goddess of the moon, death, and rebirth. One particular legend that I enjoy is that Hina lived in the sea and was tired of her toilsome underwater existence, so she left the water and escaped to the moon. Another interesting story about Hina is that she is linked to the God Ku by the sun. Ku is in charge of the rising of the sun and the early hours of the day, and then he passes the sun on to Hina who sets it in the West. Pretty neat, huh?

Print #5 of 6 that will be available at APE next weekend. Ohmygoshihavesomuchtodo! Until next time, enjoy!

Pele

The bitter rival of Poliahu. She reigns over Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii, and is the goddess of fire, lightning, dance, volcanoes, and violence.

This will be my second print available at APE in November. I am having trouble deciding whether I should post the rest of the prints as they are finished, or wait until after APE to post them all together. In any event, I still have a ton of other things to be working on, so I should still be posting regularly. Again, if you have a chance to come to APE, please do!

Poliahu

Hooray for good news! Bill and I will have a table at APE (Alternative Press Expo) in November, and thus will be selling our stuffs there. That means that from now until the end of October, neither of us will be getting much sleep in order to make said stuffs. I know it will be a blast though, so I can't wait!

That being said, this will be the first of several prints I will make available at APE. Her name is Poliahu, and she is the Hawaiian goddess of snow-capped mountains. Snow-capped mountains in Hawaii? Yep, namely Mauna Kea - a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii, which, when measured from its base at the bottom of the sea floor, is the tallest mountain in the world. Poliahu is the bitter rival of Pele, the goddess of fire, and uses her chill to keep Pele confined to Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the southern end of the island.

I have always been fascinated with Hawaii and its culture, so I will be making a series of illustrations of Hawaiian gods and goddesses for APE. If nothing else, it will give me an excuse to do some reading/research. If anybody is looking for something fun to do on November 1st-2nd, please come on out to APE and say hello! Good times will be had by all :)

Update: I added this post to IF because it fits the topic better than my posts normally do. She is an island goddess - perfect fit!