Art Inspiration: Pandora; A Gift From The Gods: Final

 

For the past four months I have been posting different elements of a project I have been working on. This has been an independent project that I worked on in my spare time. Yet over the past four months my spare time has been very limited. It took longer to complete than I realized but finally I have finished it.

In my life there have been moments that inspire me to create and wonder about different possibilities. Working with children has always been a catalyst for these moments. On numerous occasions I have provided a drawing or art class for the children and their curiosity has inspired many ideas and creations. Some of these inspirations have produced scenes of me drawing them camping, or as characters from Harry Potter, but the majority of them enjoyed me creating a scene based on the Greek gods. I have posted this work so titled “The Greek Gods, Distraction on Olympus”.

This experience was so enjoyable that I have been thinking of creating another scene from Greek Mythology for some time. I have always enjoyed Greek Mythology and a friend has been asking me questions about Greek myth while we have been going to art exhibits. Our discussions and these different excursions to art institutions inspired me to come up with a new scene.

It began at an art exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) were we attended the works of Henry Moore and Francis Bacon. In the exhibit I saw a sketch by Moore called Pandora. It caught my eye because if you have every seen Moore’s works, it is about the human form but the heads are small and the focus is on the body itself. Yet in this drawing he drew Pandora with a full head and face to proper proportion. This was Moore’s idea or take on the legend of Prometheus and Pandora, my favourite Greek Myth story. It made me wonder what would my take or depiction of this story be if I drew it. With that thought in mind I began the journey to create my depiction of the creation of Pandora.

From those humble beginnings, the idea was translated onto paper and then I redrew them on the computer as the images I posted. I must emphasize that these drawings are not for the children in my school but an independent work I undertook for my own enjoyment. It is from my imagination and may be a bit adult. I must state this because in the past I have done some creations for and with students. This project and the individual images within it are not intended for children. I so enjoy creating and this piece particularly because it is my favourite Greek Myth that I had to let myself go and create. I wanted to express myself without any limitations from others.

 Final

 

This piece is a culmination of the months of work and the assembly of the nine individual images to create this final piece. The only semi new part is the background where I drew the Parthenon temple as a representation of Mount Olympus in the sky.

All the different characters of the Pandora story are present for the final scene. I assembled all the characters and I also made sure that their eyes are all looking on their creation, Pandora. We can see then all from, right to left;

• Hephaestus, created Pandora from clay
• Athena, gave the gift of needlework and weaving
• Hermes (flying), gave the ability to lie and cheat without remorse, to have the nature of a thief
• The Kharties (The Graces) Algeae, Thalia, Euphrosne; they placed gold necklaces upon her and other gifts to make her irresistible to men
• Aphrodite, bestowed upon Pandora the beauty, the mystery of sexual attractiveness and desire and the pain that goes with it
• Zeus, if you look closely Zeus is holding his gift to Pandora. The Jar/Box/Urn with all the evils and plagues of humanity and of course Hope too.

 

I hope you enjoy my depiction of the final image of Pandora: A Gift From The Gods. 

Pandora: A Gift From The Gods

Art Inspiration: A Gift From The Gods; Pandora: Hephaestus

In my life I have had moments that inspire me to create and wonder about different possibilities. Working with children has always been a catalyst for these moments. On a number of occasions I have provided a drawing or art class for the children and their curiosity has inspired many ideas and creations. Some of these inspirations have produced scenes of me drawing them camping, or as characters from Harry Potter, but the majority of them enjoyed me creating a scene based on the Greek gods. I have posted this work so titled “The Greek Gods, Distraction on Olympus”.

This experience was so enjoyable that I have been thinking of creating another scene from Greek Mythology for some time. In the next few weeks I will be posting the different characters of this scene and a little background info on each one. I must emphasize that this drawing is not for the children in my school but an independent work I undertook for my own enjoyment. It is from my imagination and may be a bit adult.

 

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a lame god and the son of Hera and Zeus. His mother, ashamed by his disfigurement, cast him out of Olympus. On another occasion his father hurled him down from Olympus because he interfered in a fight between Zeus and Hera. Yet he always returned, I would imagine because of his skill with the forge.

He was married to the gorgeous Aphrodite, some would say this was an insult to him because of his disfigurement or others would say it is a mating of intellect and craftsmanship with sensuous beauty, the nerd and the sexy bombshell.  In either case, it was a challenge for him to keep his wife from playing the field, if you know what I mean. She would always “entertain” different gods and mortals but mostly would pair up with Ares who she had several children with. This enraged and embarrassed Hephaestus who built ways of capturing the two in the act. On one occasion he created unbreakable chains that was as fine a spider silk and he caught the two and displayed them for his amusement.

Hephaestus was the great artisan and blacksmith of the gods, a working Joe like many of us. He has the 3 Cyclopes helping him in his workshop. He makes the most amazing creations, a true artisan whose talents have created wonderful masterpieces including the following …

• The Shield of Achilles
• The Silver Bow and Arrows of Artemis and Apollo
• A chain net of unbreakable chains as fine a spider silk
• The chains that bound Prometheus
• The Spear of Athena
• The Breastplate of Hercules
• The Specter of Zeus
• The battle armor of the gods
• Jewelry
• The first robots that helped him get around.

 

His talents were not only in the craft of metal work. In the story of Pandora, Zeus ordered him to create a beautiful woman out of earth and water. Once done, Zeus ordered the gods to bestow on her many gifts and talents to make her irresistible to men.

I drew Hephaestus as a very muscular man. Anyone working construction or in any form of physical labour would build up a large upper body. Yet in many instances he is depicted as having a hunch or deformity with a dirty look about him who is unworthy of an Olympian god, but I did not want to show this. He is lame and by definition means the inability to walk normally because of an injury to the foot. I wanted to show him as a strong well-proportioned man. I did give him scruffy, messy hair but I think it does not take away from the fact that this god is one of the lest liked of the Olympian gods but most talented.  

I hope you enjoy Hephaestus from The Gift From The Gods; Pandora.  

Hephaestus – The Artisan and Blacksmith to the gods.

Art Inspiration: The Greek Gods Distraction on Olympus: Final Product

 

For the past three months, I have shown you the different parts or elements of a project I worked on with the children from my Drawing Club class.  Below is the final work from the fruits of our labours. 

We put all these different elements into a scene. We added the grassy mountaintop, sky and the clouds to give it that final touch.  The children asked me what is the story behind the scene.  I told them…

It is another day on Mount Olympus. There is beauty everywhere and the gods are engaged in their pursuits.  In the background you see the Palace of Olympus floating, Hephaestus is busy making armor and arms, Dionysus has indulged in some wine and is sleeping it off, Hermes is delivering a message but stops to see the commotion below.  The Muses are singing with Apollo as he sings to Aphrodite.  Athena and Artemis are enjoying the music as is Aphrodite and she is moved my Apollo’s singing.  However Ares is not too happy with this wooing of Aphrodite by Apollo.  His dogs of war are not too happy either but are distracted by Artemis’ hunting dog. 

While this is going on, a large Titan named Prometheus is concealing a fennel stalk, which has fire.  He is intending to give the fire to humans for he is their champion.  He is grateful for the gods distracting one-in-other to make his escape with the fire. Therefore the title of the scene is “Distraction on Olympus”. 

The children, as did the parents, all loved the scene, however they also enjoyed the stories about the Greek Gods.

I hope you enjoy  “Distraction on Olympus”. 

Distraction on Olympus

Art Inspiration: The Greek Gods Distraction on Olympus: Prometheus

“Distraction on Olympus” is a project I worked on with my students at the school I work in.  It was the final project for the drawing club where I taught the children how to draw in the style of comic and cartoon characters.  The class had decided to go with the theme of the Greek gods and I would help them draw a scene around that idea.

In the process of creating the scene, the children asked to be represented as the gods in the project.  They would choose whom they wanted to be drawn as from the Greek gods.  Since this was to be a full class effort, I decided to draw myself in the scene too.  I thought, whom could I be portrayed as. The first name to come to me was ‘Prometheus’.

The story of Prometheus is my favourite mythical story.  He is the creator of humans and our champion.  He brought us fire and began teaching us how to use the fire and provided the building blocks of our civilization, in short, the very first teacher.  Being a teacher myself you can probably see the appeal.  The class wanted to know about Prometheus so I told them as I draw the character.

Prometheus was not an Olympian God but a Titan.  He is one of four sons of the Titans Iapetus, his father and Themis his mother.  His brothers were Atlas, Menoetius and his twin Epimetheus.

During the Titanomachy, the war against the titans, Prometheus and his mother Themis sided with Zeus and the Olympians gods.  Prometheus’ name means “forethought”, therefore seeing that there was a new force rising, took the side of the Olympians.  After the war Prometheus was allowed to stay with the Olympians and this would have great impact.

For you see, man was not created by Zeus; he was created out of clay and molded by Prometheus.  It was the task of Epimetheus and Prometheus to give traits that would give the animals on earth an advantage.   Epimetheus gave out all the traits but when it came to man there was nothing left because Epimetheus name means “afterthought”.  So Prometheus gave man the traits of knowledge from Athena and the craftsmanship from Hephaestus.

Prometheus is seen as the champion of humans, which then put him at peril.  He is placed in direct conflict with the gods, particularly Zeus, when it comes to making a sacrifice to the gods.  In his pursuit to assist humans, he prepares a sacrifice of an ox, to Zeus.  He makes two sacks for the sacrifice.  The smaller has the rich meat parts and in the larger, the bones and discarded parts of the ox.

Prometheus wants to trick Zeus into choosing the bones, therefore he offers him the small sack and Zeus says that Prometheus has divided the sacrifice unfairly.  He then offers Zeus a choice of which sack he so desires.  Zeus chooses the larger sack with the bones and is enraged by Prometheus’ deception.  Zeus them takes fire away from humans, thereby having the humans eat their meat raw.  Prometheus resorts to thievery and steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans.  Upon discovering the truth of the theft, Zeus is set to punish the humans and Prometheus.

For the humans, Zeus makes a woman named Pandora, who is bestowed with gifts from the gods to make her desirable to men.  She is then presented to Epimetheus, as a gift.  However, Prometheus warns his bother not to accept the gift, but he does not heed his bother’s warning.   She carries with her a jar, which contains all the evils and plagues of the world, yet she is told not to open it.  Of course when someone is told not to do something they inevitably do that thing.  She opens the lid and releases the evils and plagues onto the earth, but holds back hope that is still in the control of humans.

Prometheus’ punishment, for the theft of fire, is more excruciating and without end.  Zeus has Hephaestus chain Prometheus to a rock with the help of Force and Power/Strength.  There, an eagle everyday would visit him and feed on his liver.  However, because Prometheus is an immortal, his liver would grow back or regenerate and therefore the suffering would continue with the return of the eagle the next day.  Eternal punishment for stealing fire from the gods and teaching humans how to use it.

But there are indications in other literature in antiquity that Prometheus is freed from his bonds.   Prometheus has a powerful weapon against Zeus, knowledge.  He knows a secret that will bring the downfall of Zeus.  Prometheus won’t tell Zeus and not until Zeus’ son Hercules comes and kills the eagle and breaks the bonds does Prometheus tell the secret.

The secret is that if Zeus mates with Thetis a sea-nymph, he will produce a son greater than the father.  So with this information Thetis is married off to Peleus and they do have a son that is greater than the father, Achilles.

This is basically the story of Prometheus.  Many also see him as the first teacher of humanity.  Placing humans on the path of discovery in science, art, literature and ultimately our entire civilization.

I drew Prometheus bigger than the Olympian gods because his is a Titan.  I gave him the same basic clothing and looks except I gave him a Van Dyke.  Prometheus was modeled after me, I am taller than the children and I have a Van Dyke.  I did add the fennel stalk that had the fire in his hands and he is trying to conceal it from the rest of the gods.  If you look closely he is wearing a necklace with the symbols of man and woman, a tribute to his creation of humans.

Whenever I do mythology with the children, I usually recite the basic story I wrote.  The children in the class loved the story and the depiction of Prometheus.

Please enjoy Prometheus the Titian God. The creator of humans, stealer of fire, champion of humans and the first teacher.

Prometheus the Titian God. The creator of humans, stealer of fire, champion of humans and the first teacher.

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• Prometheus gave us fire, and we don’t know what to do with it. (littlebitsofinsanity.wordpress.com)
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A painting of Prometheus chained to a rock for haven stolen fire from the gods and delivering it to humankind. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Prométhée enchaîné (Prometheus Bound) by Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, (1762). Prometheus chained to a rock having his liver torn out by an eagle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan by Dirck van Baburen (1623) Oil on canvas, 202 x 184 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Art Inspiration: The Greek Gods Distraction on Olympus: Hephaestus

“Distraction on Olympus” is a project I worked on with my students at the school I work in.  It was a final project in a drawing club the children where in when I taught them how to draw in the style of comic and cartoon characters, they were most familiar with.  The class had decided to go with the theme of the Greek gods and I would help them draw a scene around that idea.

In the process of creating the scene, the children asked to be represented as the gods in the project.  They choose their own character of who they wanted to be.  No one choose Hephaestus but I modeled him after a child in the class.  He wanted to be Zeus or Poseidon, but we weren’t using them or Hades in this project.  I wanted the children to learn about different Greek gods and not just the six original Olympians.

The child did not know much about Hephaestus but I told him that he was the god of the forge and creator of arms of the gods.  After I told him a bit more about Hephaestus he was all right with the choice and felt a bit pleased with it.  You see the child was a good artist and great with his hands.  You give him a project to do and he will create wonderful things out of anything. Once I told him that Hephaestus created beautiful pieces of art out of almost anything, he was hooked.

I did not tell him the whole history about Hephaestus.  Hephaestus had a rough ride from the beginning.

Poor Hephaestus was a lame god and the son of Hera and Zeus, or sometimes the son of Hera alone.  His mother, ashamed by his disfigurement, cast him out of Olympus.  On another occasion Zeus hurled him down from Olympus because he interfered in a fight between Zeus and Hera.

He was married to the gorgeous Aphrodite, but she would always go to Ares and had “encounters” with him.  This enraged Hephaestus and he built ways of capturing the two in the act.  On one occasion he created unbreakable chains that was as fine as spider silk. He caught the two and displayed them for his amusement.

Hephaestus was reinstated to Olympus and became the great artisan and blacksmith of the gods.  He had the 3 Cyclopes help him in his workshop and he created wonderful masterpieces including the following.

–       The Shield of Achilles

–       The silver Bow and Arrows of Artemis and Apollo

–       A chain net of unbreakable chains as fine a spider silk.

–       The Spear of Athena

–       The Breastplate of Hercules

–       The Specter of Zeus

–       The battle armor of the gods

–       Jewelry

–       The first robots that helped him get around.

I drew Hephaestus working on a sword and with a forge that looked like the top of a volcano.  In many stories he uses volcanoes as his forges.  If you think about it, Hephaestus is the only Greek god that is in manual labour.  Poor Hephaestus is just a working Joe like many of out there.  However, he works hard for his craft and makes the most amazing creations.  A true artisan to be revered for his talents.

Hephaestus
The Artisan and Smith to the gods.

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