Shiny new designs!

[merimask]

Oh...I'm in love with my newest mask design.  Ouroboros.

This is the first one I did.  I wanted it to be snakelike only in color, so I initially chose to pattern it like a diamondback rattlesnake.  The design, though, is a bit less snake-like and a tad more dragon-like.  Also I added the fins to give the whole design a triskele shape (traditional Celtic symbol).  I was happy...but I had to keep playing...

...so I did this one, with the pattern of a Southern Copperhead (which is funny since rumdiculous was just saying how pretty those snakes are!).  I just loved the pale neutral browns against that black mask, but I wanted to keep playing so I did this...

...which I just finished today.  It's a false water viper...I have NO idea where they're from but they sure do have pretty patterns.  The monochromatic blue-grays really grabbed me.  This was a whim but now I really like it...it's growing on me.

The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of cyclicality and primordial unity.   I have more related ideas...one which has the serpent coiled into the symbol for "infinity" (which isn't technically an Ouroboros anymore but it'd still be pretty neat)...but that one's still in the works. 

Okay...back to work!

Comments

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

Those masks kick so much ass! I love the reptiles faces. And the pattern wrapping around the mask. And yay! The copperhead! So pretty!

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the Neverending Story? (I'm sure you have.) The Auryn is two snakes twisted very prettily...sort of a multiple infiniity symbol...biting tails.

Oh, look at that...handy internet! http://www.ketzer.com/prop_replica/auryn.html Anyway, those masks really are spectacular. The contrast of the patterns and scales is very dramatic, placed against the smooth blackness of the rest of the mask. And I love the shape.

[pzb.livejournal.com]

*bows to the leather goddess*

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, it's me again. You need a lock for your LJ door to keep people like me out. ;) I'm kind of like one of those door-to-door people, whether religious or sales...except I peddle art ideas. :P

Anyway, when I got out of the shower, the pattern/colours on the kingsnake kept occuring to me because it reminded me of something...then when I was drying off (why do so many new thougths happen in the shower anyway?) I realized: it's the clown fish!

And that got me thinking. Tropical fishes are just as beautiful and brightly coloured as the most exotic snakes...have you ever made a fish mask before?

That's probably not very practical. Though I really hate snakes (even the pretty ones...I still find them horrifying, no matter how nicely coloured) I admit that they're easier to do art with since they're LONG and you can bend them (and dragons) into other shapes and make them all graphic. The only thing you could likely shape about a fish would be the fins of many types.

But still, I was curious. Ever made a fish mask before? I love fish because they're in water, and so brightly coloured...they're like water birds. And the colours are so amazing. Queen Angelfish: http://www.theoceanadventure.com/VIie02/images/queen.jpg

I couldn't believe the colour of this picture. Can you DYE fish? I mean, that's what it looks like they've done! http://www.haywardyoga.com/pictures/tropical%20fish.JPG

[zipis1.livejournal.com]

Those are GORGEOUS!! They most certainly appeal to my obsession with snakes (dragons, snakes, lizards...I'm obsessed with reptiles in general, I suppose. ...better make that anything with scales. I love fish, too XD). My favorite's the silver one. I really really wanna touch it. ;P

Your talent is simply amazing, m'dear. *bows*

[firegazer.livejournal.com]

Pretty. Very pretty. My brain is shot, and that's all I can say, but I mean it emphatically. *goes off to have a big headache*