Research in the Name of Om

[tealin]

We sang 'Be Not Afraid' this morning at church, which served to remind me that I meant to do some visual development on Small Gods after finishing work. After a couple of amusing hours on Google Image Search I've decided to go with a mix of Moroccan and ancient Persian architecture for the Citadel of Om with decorative elements from Babylonia and Assyria.

Visual Aides!
The Citadel of Bam (and a dome)
Persia and Morocco
Assyria and Babylonia
Turkey and stuff

I also found the Oriental Institute's website which is extremely cool if not particularly useful. Apart from the cool Indiana Jones-era photos, check out that image on the front page: is that not Johnny Depp? My sister pointed out the obvious but unbelievable truth: Mr Depp (or should we call him Ivanni Diepuvic?) is a VAMPIRE. It all makes sense. His mysterious and nearly universal allure to women. His almost imperceptible aging. His stature – people were shorter in the middle ages. His habitual inaccessibility. Perhaps his 'tan' is just a sort of sunblock. This dark secret must not remain buried!

Oh yeah, and here's technically Yesterday's Sketchbook even though I drew most of it today. Heh. more examples of Bad Habits Resurrected: Angua has Running Into Bottom of Page Syndrome (RIBoPS). Seriously, this is a first-year-of-college problem. How quickly we regress. I was kind of proud of this design (aside from her lower half) but now I'm not too sure; she looks too young or something. Oh, and there's a Viking mascot for my dad ... it needs improving but I'm waiting for feedback before I do anything. Page Two: I watched The Tower of London today and found some interesting faces, including a man with the most amazingly sculpted beard, another man with an unusually pointy nose, a man with unusual lips, and some girls who were pretty in a 1960s kind of way.

Comments

Leftouters

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

You did not add "ing" to the last of your "Visual Aides" list.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Angua images. I really like how you are making her look. Her hair length and the uniform and her figure really indicate someone who is very athletic and strong, but she is also gorgeous to make the criminals line up to be arrested.

I also hope to see some more images of Angua in her lupine mode, too.

Thanks the image inspirations, too. I am glad to see you are thinking of Turkey and ancient Persia/Babylon/Assyria in your images. Those areas have some awesome architecture and art. The Persians, especially, had some cool images of deities. They did not use statues, rather wall reliefs, but the way they depict animals like bulls and lions and horses is so awesome. Plus the terrain is beautiful in a rugged sort of way.

I actually did wind up on a horse trek in central Turkey where we wound up riding through some pretty exotic desert-like landscapes and visiting old churches and underground cities If you like I can email or post on my LJ some of those images. What a country! I hope to get back there on that riding tour again. There was so much cool stuff going on there.

[(Anonymous)]

I adore it all, as usual, being your long-term devotee. A creative suggestion on the Viking. When I first saw him, I thought, "Omigosh, Santa"! Then I thought, "Hm, Viking with beard. One can't get past that look, can they. Oh well."

Then! Ooo oo, watch my train of thought - it's pure GENUS! (hee) "But what if the mustache was droopy..."

AIGH! *claps hands*

That's my meager offering. Feel inclined to ignore me - I am so low. *bows*

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

My specific direction was to make it look like Elmer Fudd as a Viking, and I got the distinct impression they were going for 'cute' and 'stereotypical.' I'm also trying to fight 'cartoony company mascot' setting which automatically makes it ugly and painted in garish colours... I really like the idea of the droopy moustache, personally, but would that be too solemn for the cute happy Viking Fudd?

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

The Citadel of Bam is now earthy rubble. I know what it looks like now because there's a poster up in our Geography corridor showing the sort of damage an earthquake can do. It's quite sad, really.