November 1999: Ancient Ones

O ancient and beloved, reveal your secrets to us. In Gargoyles the tv series during the 10th century, gargoyle inhabited a castle in the wilds of dark ages scotland. Later from the Avalon journies the story showed that they were by no means the first to seek out humans and share their culture. But what were the rest like ? As artists and humans we are connected ancient cultures by our ancestors and still find ourselves influenced and inspired by them today. And one of the most intigral parts of those cultures and the lives of their people were the gods and heros they worshiped. So, before we look forward into the new century, we should look back into past, welcome...ancient ones! Bottom Line: 1) design 1 or more gargoyle characters based on the gods and myths of ancient cultures (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian etc). 2) include in your description information about the basis for your picture, especially for the less well known mythological figures. 3. do not base your character on a current fictionalized version of a myth. (ie Xena, or Disney\\\'s Hercules). 4. do not illustrate a figure from one of the religions practiced today without first checking with us!

Entry		Artistic Votes	Creativity Votes
	Title: Moloch Artist: Litazia OK, well, I was thinking about what I was gonna do for this month's MGC entry... I decided against doing Greek/Roman characters, cause I figured most people would do them. Egyptian deities would seem too simple (add a pair of wings to most of them and you're done!) And I wanted to do Quetzalcoatl, but he'd probably end up looking like Zafiro ^_^ So I was perusing about a mythological listing on the Web, and came across a name I recognized, Moloch. (I recognized it cause I'm a NetHack addict, but...) So in any case, Moloch was this Ammonite god, worshipped as a sun deity, but he wasn't a very nice god, as evidenced by, um, people sacrificing their kids as burnt offerings to him O_o Oh well, I think he turned out well :)	0	0
	Title: Iðunn and the Apples Artist: Eva Sólveig [Eva's Webpage] HI everybody! here is my picture of the month.. Iðunn and the appels! On the picture are Tyr and Iðunn. They are Norse gods. Iðunn did give the old ones applels so they could be young again hmm.. can I have a apple to keep?	0	0
	Title: Medea Artist: Lady Shadow [Lady Shadow's Webpage] My sister studied the text Medea this year and got me hooked into this stuff, so when this month's topic come up I just had to do it...its not the best I've done but my thesis is due at the end of this month and I really, really wanted to do a pic for this month. I drew her with Demona in mind as I thought that they have similar qualities...very strong women...but very lonely in the end... For those of you not fimilar with Medea, she is the chick that after being used by Jason to get the Golden Fleece and who left her for the King's daughter, she got revenge...Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!!	0	0
	Title: Minerva Artist: Elsa This is the Roman goddess, Minerva(or also Athena in Greek) as a gargoyle. I ran fresh out of ideas, so I chose Minerva. Her story sets back in ancient Rome where this girl, called Arachne bragged about challenging the goddess. So Minerva disguised herself as an old woman challenging Arachne. When Arachne won, and somehow Minerva revealed herself. Arachne didn't "respect" the goddess so the goddess got really angry and turned Arachne into a spider!	0	0
	Title: Beowulf and Grendel Artist: Lacey (aka Sphinx) [Lacey's Webpage] This is my first entry to the MGC. When I saw the topic, I just couldn't resist. Most of the time, when folks see mythology, they think of gods and goddesses. I took a different route, however, and went with a mythological hero. This pic features none other than Beowulf battling Grendel in Hrothgar's hall!	0	0
	Title: Quetzalcoatl Artist: Kessalia [Mel's Messy Room] CREATIVITY WINNER Well, when Si told me what the topic was, I instantly thought Aztec, and when I got bored and was randoming linking across cyberspace on Mexican mythology sites and came across the line "Quetzalcoatl's ceremonial regalia included a red mask in the shape of a bird's beak," I figured it was fate. :P Quetzalcoatl has always been my favorite mythological diety - His name roughly means "Feathered Serpent" and he's associated with wisdom, teaching, wind, and the Morning Star (Venus), among many many other things. He's one Aztec god who preferred self sacrifice to the ritual sacrifice of victims. I packed every symbolic thing i could find into the details of this pic - the spike on the headdress is a catcus thorn, symbol of self sacrifice; the Wind Jewel is the wavy looking thing at his waist; the symbols in the wing and along the right side are Aztec Calendar day-glyphs... in the wings are Wind and Water, along the side, top to bottom, are Serpent, Eagle, Rain, and Flower.	0	0
	Title: Medusa Artist: Sapphire [The Isle of Coloden] uhm, at first i wanted to draw King Tut, but since prys and ithil used him as the side bar, i felt kinda dumb doing that, so i tried to draw aphrodite, and quickly realised that i cant draw beautiful human faces, let alone APHRODITE's so i drew medusa (using spike's advice on coloring with colored pencil) thanx spike!	0	0
	Title: Valkyrie Artist: Stormy [Stormy's Webpage] My original plan was to do my Clone Wars character, Kyrie, as a sort of Aries/Mars figure, but it wasn't quite working out...then I remembered that her given name was Valkyrie, and sudden clarity ensued... So here's Kyrie, Guardian Sentinel of Valhalla (looking considerably different than when Wagner and Caligo took her trick or treating in Cyrway's Halloween pic last month!!)	0	0
	Title: The Danaids Artist: Shing Khor [Shing's Webpage] The Danaids were 49 sisters(and I obviously didn't draw all of them; I drew...3) who were sentenced to carry water in jars w/ holes in them in Hell b/c they killed their husbands.(there were 50 Danaids but one did not kill her husband). Anyway, I just liked that myth so I drew them. The picture came out a little stylised (definition:a lil' strange); but I like the colours.	0	0
	Title: Pegasus Artist: Mare Ann [Mare Ann's Webpage] I chose as my myth that of Pegasus (if that wasn't obvious) admittedly, I am fairly new to this (gargoyles fan-art etc.) however I have yet to see a garg-horse, so I decided to roll with it :) I attempted to capture Pegasus' wild and fierce spirit in the picture. Hope I succeeded and that you like it :)	0	0
	Title: Nine Muses Artist: Avalon Well, my scanner didn't scan this sketch too well, but I fiddled with the contrast until it looked decent...I'm really going for creativity here, so I guess a screwy scanner doesn't make much difference anyway. In case you couldn't tell by the title, these are the nine Muses of Greek mythology. Back row: Terpsichore, Muse of dance; Thalia, Muse of comedy; Melpomene, Muse of tragedy; Clio, Muse of history; Urania, Muse of astronomy. Front row: Polyhymnia, Muse of songs to the gods; Calliope, Muse of epic poetry; Euterpe, Muse of lyric poetry; Erato, Muse of love poetry.	0	0
	Title: Manticore Artist: Celano [Harpy's Nest] A gargoyle based on the mythical beast of heraldry, with a man's face, the body of a lion, wings of a dragon and the tail of a scorpion. The heraldic model I used also had cool horns and flock around it feet, which I incorperated.	0	0
	Title: Valkyrie Artist: Karlyl [Karyl's Webpage] In Norse Mythology, Valkaries choose from among the dead the warriors they will take back to Vahalla so that they may fight with Odin when Ragnarok comes. The Valkarie is a virgin warrior, who usually doens't carry weapons but is often depicted with spears of some sort;) Any who, enjoy my first submission to MGC;)	0	0
	Title: Kali Artist: Flynt [Flynt's Webpage] Hmmm not much to say really. It took a while to decide what to draw. i didnt want to go with the Greek or Roman gods so I started looking at the Asiatic gods. The Hindu goddess Kali really stood out in my mind, and here is the result :)	0	0
	Title: Cupid Artist: Tahiti Analae [Tahiti's Webpage] Okay, where to begin. Well, I used two chat room characters to do this pic, and it's my first MGC submission. The characters are my Lupo (as Cupid) and my own Tahiti (as the unsuspecting victim). Now, as legend goes, whoever Cupid's arrow hits falls in love with the first person they see. Well, it just so happens that Taho was interested in discovering who hit her. (btw, this was his 5th attempt-- prior to hitting his target he hit the tree twice, knocked out a squirrel and killed a flower. But finally, he was successful). My attempt was mostly to be cute (I think it's kawaii) and comedic.	0	0
	Title: Osiris and Isis Artist: Vulcan M. [Vulcan's Webpage] This is Osiris, Egyptian god of agriculture, and god of the dead, with him is is wife and sister Isis, goddess of magic. This scene is of them together forever, eternally in LOVE. ^_^	0	0
	Title: Pan Artist: DH This is my first time submitting something to the Monthly Gargoyle Contest! I'm really excited and I worked really hard on my picture! smile* The one I did was the Nature god, Pan. He was often seen as half Goat/Half Human. He always carried a set of Pan pipes with him to spread his beautiful music to the world. I hope you enjoy it!	0	0
	Title: Genie Artist: Dirce [Dirce's Webpage] Spirit of the desert fire Land of burning sun and sand Rub the lamp, state your desire Let your wish be my command	0	0
	Title: Weather Goddess Artist: Sarah Finally got my computer back (almost two months of being computerless will really do it to you) and got a chance to borrow Adobe for about an hour (which explains why it's a lil.. well, nevermind). This is a Khandromas- Tibetan rainbow clad sky going goddess. It's basicly your run of the mill imping, weather messing with, riding rainbows and being good at illusions, the only way they can be caught is with a shakpa-special rope. Found it in a really old book.. looked too cool. :) Hope you all like it.	0	0
	Title: Morrigu Artist: Amy K. Cyrway [Amy's Webpage] Morrigu, the Celt/Welch Mother Goddess, Goddess of Battle, Patron of priestesses and protector of women. Her animal is the raven, and she always carries two spears. A deity who is more towards balance than good or evil. This aspect shows her battle-ready, cronish self. I'm REALLY please on how this came out. And, sadly, Vig's won the bet...for now... >:)	0	0
	Title: Sekhmet Artist: Aimee Major [Aimee's Studio] From Egyptian mythology... Sekhmet is a lion-headed goddess of fire, destruction and the sun. :) she drinks blood (COOL HUH?!) ahem Driven by rage and discust she trys to destroy humanity (now doesn't that sound like another hot-blooded female gargoyle we know?) and humanity is only saved by someone spiking the blood Sekhmet drank. (YEAY!) anyway... to quote "Walk Like an Egyptian",... "Sekhmet is passion run to it's extremes: love into hate, fear into histeria, pain into rage,... passion into obsession." She's not all bad though, her passion is not just rage, but a passion for life, and culmination of the spirit energy of the soul. oh and the colors used are HER colors. Red and Green. Ok I've babbled enuf :)	0	0
	Title: Iris Artist: Pathrell [Pathrell's Webpage] The Greek Goddess Iris is the rainbow personified. She was Hera's messenger, and regarded as an advisor and guide by humankind. When a quarrel arose amongst the Gods, Iris was the one sent to the underworld to fetch the Oath of the Gods in a golden jug. Despite being a sister of the Harpies, she was drawn as a beautiful winged maiden. I did much research for this pic, and found some wonderful examples of Greek art, and the wings are inspired by a painting of Iris on a jug. Excuse the humaness of her, but she felt more fae then Gargoyle. =D	0	0
	Title: Pandora's Box Artist: Xei [Xei's Webpage] Siryn made me do it! This is all HER fault! And the story/myth behind this is pandora's box, or, the one where pandora was given a box to watch, but never open, and well, curiousity killed the cat, and there ya go. . the darkness flees from the box of pandora, leaving the golden glow of hope behind. . .	0	0
	Title: Pandora's Box Artist: Brian "Colonel" Vigue [Vigistry] For a limited time only, the Colonel Mint is offering its newest collectors' plate, "Pandora," by artist Brian Vigue. Each piece, hand signed and numbered by the artist, is a must-have for the gargoyle buff. Partake in the perils of Pandora as she desperately tries to replace the lid of the forbidden box only after death, despair and plague escape into the world, however retaining the spark of hope. Everything from the shock in Pandora's face to the intricate carvings on the ancient box are captured in fine detail and are accented by the 24-karat gold rim around the plate. Collectors hurry, because at three easy payments of $417, this plate is going fast! Operators are standing by.	0	0
	Title: Persephone Artist: Ylla [Ylla's Webpage] Greek myths tell a story of goddess Persephone who caught the eye of Hades, lord of the underworld, and he went to Zeus and got permission to take her from some field where she was playing with her girlfriends. He took her, her mother, the goddess of fertility got upset, there was a famine, many people died, eventually Zeus wrote up a contract where Hades gets Persephone for half a year and her mother gets her for half a year. The half the year that Persephone is underground is what we now call winter. Well that's all fine and dandy and the mythical explanation for winter works, except nobody thought of poor lil Persy herself! So there she is, all sad in the underworld, looking at the moonlight that's seeping through the rocks, awaiting for Zeus's judgement over what's gonna happen to her... ^_^_^ So wutcha think, kewl huh? Additional Entry: detail of face	0	0
	Title: Selene Artist: Sanjana [Sanjana's Webpage] Selene, the greek goddess of the moon, fell in love with the 'babe-elicious' Endymion, who was a real spunk. She would come down every night to visit him, and every night he would eagerly wait for her. One night, instead of visiting Endymion, Selene cast a sleeping spell on him. She did this because she didn't want him to become old and lose his beauty. When the spell was cast, she couldn't come down to earth anymore. So now she rides in her silver chariot, silently admiring the beautiful Endymion. This was my first attempt to use Photoshop, so its not very well done :)	0	0
	Title: Shiva Artist: Amelia "The Elf" Showalter Well, here's my first entry in the MGC! :) My inspiration came from a variety of hindu deities, specifically Shiva. I hope you like it! This is one of the first pics I've done using Photoshop. What a keen program! Cheers!	0	0
	Title: Anubis Artist: Stephanie Lostimolo [The Nethersphere] ARTISTIC WINNER Well, this is my first take on anything MGC-related. I actually had TIME this month! Special thanks to Aimee Major for inspiring me with her Sekhmet pic. :) I actually like this one a lot...maybe I'm biased because I've been fascinated with Anubis since childhood? Hmmm. >:)	0	0
	Title: Goddesses of Celtic Mythology Artist: Iyashi Worlds ago, when the land was still untamed, the Tuatha De Danaan, the People of Danu, roamed freely. Fodla was Queen first, followed by her sisters Banba and Eriu, the Rising Queen. When the Tuatha De Danaan became as Sidhe (shee), the three Queens became goddesses. The land became known as the land of Eriu, or Eire: Ireland. True to my ancestry, I did goddesses of Celtic mythology. The runic writing in there reads 'Mo ainm 's (my name is)', and then the goddess' name. The border knots were inspired from knots from the Book of Kells. Hope ye like it! =^_^=	0	0
	Title: The Birth of Venus Artist: Spike [The Rockaway] I was really stumped about what I wanted to do for this month's MGC. I went through several different designs -- Athena, St. Francis, the heroes from "Clash of the Titans" -- but none of them really seemed worth working up into a final pic. Finally, Kanthara [Thanks, Karine!!] suggested Aphrodite rising from the sea. This reminded me of a term paper I'd written for Art History (way back before the Internet) on Sandro Botticelli and his very famous painting "The Birth of Venus." I've taken the basic pose from Botticelli's painting, "The Birth of Venus", 1480, and altered it, correcting the glaring anatomical nits. (True fact: Botticelli was one of the few Renaissance artists that painted emotionally, not adhering strictly to the set standards of the day.) The result, I think, has the result of innocence mixed with sensuality that the Goddess of Love was noted for.	0	0
	Title: Cleopatra Artist: Asthildur Teitsdottir young Cleopatra as a gargoyle the most powerful and famus queen of all.	0	0
	Title: Athena Artist: AngelicBard This is a pic of the Greek Goddess Athena posing as a gargoyle and while holding her trusty spear. She is also reading poetry while her friend (the lil goat-man) plays a flute. I hope you like it because I had fun drawing it. :o)	0	0
	Title: Badb Artist: MAui [The Roost] Badb is the Irish (Celtic) goddess of war. She often assumes the form of a raven or carrion-crow (her favorite disguise) and is then referred to as Badb Catha, meaning "battle raven". Not only did she take part in battles themselves, she also influenced their outcome by causing confusion among the warriors with her magic. The battle-field is often called 'land of Badb'.I did this With a black pen <:} then kinda photoshoped it and made it half spiffy for the net...gonna put the originalin my portfolio ^_^	0	0
	Title: Posideon Artist: Sara Berkeley [Imaginator Central] All hail the ancient Greek God of the Sea, Posideon!	0	0
	Title: Underwater Panthers Artist: Heather H This is my first submission so don't laugh. Umm... I picked Indian mythology for my picture. This god or gods are known has "Underwater Panthers". Indians of many tribes called them that for they, the gods, were known has evil gods of the water. At the same time though they were known to be healers and searchers of wisdom. Why I made my gargoyle look so feline like is to match with the name and the part of the mythology where it came from. So it looks like a big blue cougar with a thin loin-cloth. Umm.. I hope you guys like it. ^_^	0	0
	Title: Quetzalcoatl Artist: Shawn Luke [Shawn's Webpage] This is Quetzalcoatl, also known as "Feathered Snake". He was one of the major deities of the Aztecs, Toltecs, and other Middle American peoples. He is the Creator sky-god, and wise legislator. He organized the original cosmos and participated in the creation and destruction of various world periods. He is described as a light-skinned and bearded man. He is also a god of the wind.	0	0
	Title: Ares Artist: -Dusk- [Dusk's Webpage] God of War, eh? Garg-er-ized. :) Aries is creepy to come up against in battle anyway, but how about those spikes! That'd make you soil yourself. :) Have fun.	0	0
	Title: Rhiannon Artist: Heather Q [Heather's Webpage] Rhiannon was the Welsh goddess of birds and song, who was wrongly accused of killing her son. This is my first submission, and I was just playing around with PrismaColors. Note to self: pencils do not scan well...oh well. Here she is.	0	0
	Title: Isis Artist: Pixee^ [Pixee's Webpage] This is my first ever gargoyle, and so obviously my first entry into the contest... This is the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Goddess often represented with cow's horns holding the morning sun. Besides being the Goddess of life, magick, and the Mother Goddess, she was also known as a kind of patron saint to the death--thus, the black shroud. I've always had a special respect for Isis, and I tried to bring that across in this (incredibly simple) picture.	0	0
	Title: Manticore Artist: Alison Wilgus [Alison's Webpage] "The manticore, considered to be the most dangerous predator in these regions, has the body of a lion and a head with human resemblance. The mouth is filled with three rows of razor-sharp teeth and the scaled tail ends in a ball with poisonous darts. The monster stalks through the forest in search of humans." (Encyclopedia Mythica) Gah, I just love these guys ^_-	0	0
	Title: Izanagi and Izanami Artist: Kanthara [Kanthara's Loft] Well, looks like I went in a direction completely different that everyone else. I chose the Japanese Creator Gods, Izanagi and Izanami. I'm pretty happy with this pic, not to mention it's the first thing I've drawn well in a week... I got the idea from a Ninja Turtles comic book where Splinter was explaining the mythology of Japan to the Turtles as they were on their way to Hiroshima... So I verified that this was true, and found out all I needed to know in my trusty "Répertoire des Religions Orientales" book from High School. :)	0	0
	Title: Paul Bunyan Artist: Seraphim Well, not my best art, by far, but pretty good for a novice artists' pencils. Eden was giving me some tips on how to do better shading with pencils, and I'm going to play with those later - thanks, you :) We'd been talking and realized there were no American Legend submissions - well fooey on that ;) She didnt have time to do what would have been, I imagine, an AWESOME Paul Bunyan-esque pic., and i dropped my depiction of Gilgamesh & Enkidu to pick up the thought and run with it. At any rate, I hope you all have enjoyed it :)	0	0
	Title: Andromeda and the Nereids Artist: Jade Griffin Callimach sometimes tells the tale of Andromeda and the Nereids-- a gargoyle version of the Perseus/Pegasus/Andromeda/Medusa/Cassiopaea story, where she is all those roled into one-- to his small clan. 'She was a vane one, as were the child-like nereids. Who won in the end? That remains to be seen.' Additonal Entry: calimak.jpg	0	0
	Title: Sakhmet Artist: Jen De Salme aka Mercedes [Mercedes' Webpage] This was the best of many sketches I did when trying to come up with an idea for this contest. Sakhmet, the lion-headed goddess of divine vengeance, war, and destruction in ancient Egypt. Once she almost killed every human being on earth, but they managed to stop her by getting her so drunk that she couldn't continue. Additional Entries: Ammut: Ammut, "Dead-Swallower", the monster who ate the heart of those unworthy of eternal life. Gluskab: Gluskab is a Spirit of the Abenaki Indians(Native American tribe in New England). In some myths he is the son of the Creator; in others he IS the Creator. Inari: Inari is the Japanese god of food and rice. He is often said to be both male and female, and always has a beard. He can change shapes into a fox, which is why he is fox-like in my pic. Loki: My interpretation of Loki, the Norse trickster god. Poker: This was the original idea for this month's entry; the one that couldn't make the deadline. Loki just won, Sakhmet is yelling at him, Gluskab is confusedly looking at his cards, and Inari just returned to the table with refreshments. Ammut is a garg-beast, she's just watching. I wish I'd been able to finish it, but oh, well, can't win them all...	0	0
	Title: Badb Artist: Corriander [Corriander's Webpage] "Badb is the Irish (Celtic) goddess of war. She often assumes the form of a raven or carrion-crow (her favorite disguise) and is then referred to as Badb Catha, meaning "battle raven". Not only did she take part in battles themselves, she also influenced their outcome by causing confusion among the warriors with her magic. The battle-field is often called 'land of Badb'." (quoted from: Encylopedia Mythica) When I read this description, I saw exactly the image I wanted in my head.. It didn't come out exactly, especially as I saw her with waves of flaming red hair and.. well lots of differences.. but I like it ;)	0	0
	Title: Pele Artist: Titania [Titania's Webpage] Erm Basically I love volcanoes and when I saw the months topic o start with I couldn't think of anything till i saw an advert for my fav film volcano on tv.. then it hit me..Why not do Pele :)	0	0
	Title: Echo Artist: Selena Michelle Di Zazzo Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved hearing greek myths. My favourite is the tragedy of Narcissus and Echo. In a nutshell, Echo was a beloved wood nymph who, in helping the god Zeus one day, enraged his wife, Hera who layed upon her a curse that forbade her from ever using her beautiful voice execpt to repeat the last words spoken. She soon after metup with a beautiful boy who, in rejecting her love, led her to beg Aphrodite to make her disappear so that she would suffer no longer. Aphrodite, however, kept her voice alive, to echo forever... I tryed to desmonstrate that last image by overlaying Echo onto the forest scene...the person is gone, but the spirit remains. Hope you like!!! :)	0	0
	Title: Orion Artist: Norcumi [Surrealia] Well, this is supposed to be the Greek hero Orion as created by Artemis (that's her page below). I'm pretty sure you all know the myth; demi-god that fell for Artemis the Huntress, then killed by a scorpion sent by her jealous brother. This Orion is made of copper and silver (patinas are EVIL!), leather, and lots of glue gun glue and invisible thread (also not something you want to use often).	0	0