Okay, this time I've got a quick note on "draw impulsively," a drawing, and plans for a dress.
First of all, I think I need to make some kind of change to my "draw impulsively" motto, because I've found a major flaw. I was working on a certain drawing all week. Friday night: "I want to draw such-and-such." *Draws impulsively* Saturday afternoon: "I want to draw so-and-so." *Draws impulsively* Sunday: "I have three drawings going on... at the same time... I don't know how to handle this situation!" But I'm drawing! That's the important part!
I finished the first of the three Sunday night. Then I looked on it with fresh eyes the next day and actually questioned whether or not I want to post it online. It's not that the drawing is bad, but that it could very easily be misinterpreted, and I don't want anybody to get funny ideas about me. Let me explain.
Trigun (yes, it's Trigun fanart. Are we surprised?) is a story with a lot of religious references worked into it. Religion doesn't play a role in the story itself, and it's not an allegory by any means, nor is it trying to make commentary on religion. It's just that the author had Christianity very strongly on his mind when he made it, and he doesn't care how obvious the inspiration is. Angels get a mention in the anime and are referenced all over the place in the manga. Some characters like to throw around the word "Eden" as a synonym for "utopia." Oh, and crosses. There are lots and lots of crosses. It kind of has the weird effect of making Trigun feel like a religious story, while having a storyline that has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
There's more than one character who could arguably be labeled a Christ figure, and, ironically enough, the villain, Knives, is one of them. (Yes, I know how corny the name is. The Japanese loooooooove pun-y names.) The anime gives him pitifully little character development, but in the manga, he's wonderfully done. I'll spare you from hearing me gush, but the short of it is, from his own point of view, he's doing the right thing, he's the real hero, and in his egotistical views of himself, he practically is deity, using his great power and wisdom to rescue the innocent and punish the wicked. (The problem is, he views the entire human race as being inherently wicked. Sucks to be us.)*
I thought it would be cool and kind of ironic to draw Knives, deified. So I did. I'll post it, since you guys have put up with my ramble thus far.
Aw, I just realized what a terrible scan this is. I didn't bother to clean it up at all. This is what laziness and inattention gets you. Crappy scans. Learn from my mistakes. Anyway, he was loads of fun to draw, I gotta say, with his crazy clothes and his super powered arm. His main power is that he can change the shape of his arm to make long, sharp, pointy things grow out of it. (Remember what I said about names and puns?) It's useful for killing humans. Making it into a halo was my idea, although Knives would probably wonder why he didn't think to do it himself. The funny thing about the halo was that I hadn't thought of it at first. Then I was sitting at the table reading Hunger Games, looked up and saw the sketches of the drawing sitting on the table, and thought, "arm... halo," sketched the rough idea so I wouldn't forget later, and then promptly went back to reading. Yeah, I have no idea what my brain did there, but I'm glad it did it, however random it was.
Anyway, the drawing's not half bad, and I still like the idea of it, but when I looked at it again afterward, I ended up thinking, "I think I just drew Evil Jesus," and that was a bit awkward. I'm a little afraid that if I post it anywhere else, people will either think I'm trying to praise the villain, or I'm making a really strange and unflattering statement about Christianity.
So, yeah, that's my drawing for this week.
In other news, I've purchased a pattern and fabric for a dress that's intended for a Renaissance fair.
I guess technically, it's much more of a fantasy genre dress, than an actually Renaissance dress, but seriously, who cares about historical accuracy at a Renaissance fair? (Besides Sheldon, from "The Big Bang Theory," and I'm sorry I couldn't manage to post a youtube clip of that one. Blogger was being uncooperative.)
I meant to have some of the dress started by now, but my old enemy Laziness got to me. Next time, I'll have something worth showing off.
Ok, see ya, guys!
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*Along with Knives' own ego, there's also this: the identity of Knives' father is never explained, but with all the religious inspiration evident, you could easily argue that there was no father. He just happened. He has super powers. He wants to protect the innocent and punish the wicked (although his definitions of who the innocent and wicked are probably aren't shared by anyone else on the planet). His gang of lackeys in the anime are twelve in number. The manga kinda throws that off by making it fourteen, but it does give him a small cult. Yes, he has his own cult. Although he might actually be oblivious, since he can't be bothered with silly religious notions from stupid humans. And he comes so near death that when he's brought back from the brink, the word "resurrected" is used.
On the other hand, there's Vash, his twin brother, who would also share claim to a virgin birth and to super powers. He practically oozes "love thy neighbor/enemy," and repeatedly reminds his friend, "Thou shalt not kill," (using those exact words.) He has scars, although they're hardly limited to his hands and feet. And if you really wanted to, you could claim that, in the manga, he dies and comes back to life... although only long enough to have a near death experience.
Don't get me started on the rest of the cast.
Man, I love Trigun!
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