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Ratshaman — On Wings of Gold: Simurgh - Kumai
Published: 2014-03-02 16:25:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 2434; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 17
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Description
So, this beastie is sort of a mix of a Simurgh, Persian mythical bird-dog, and a Kumai - a winged dog or "wolf-griffon" of the Turkic peoples. Both seem to be pretty similar, if not identical, concepts so I guess we could call it either way.Questions and comments welcome.
dip pen + Koh-i-noor inks (black, ultramarine, sepia brown, yellow)
personal logo added digitally
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Comments: 16
Seriously, wolf + bird of prey = total awesomeness!
Also, well done on the feathers. I love the colour pattern you've used for them.
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Good to know I'm also good at ousting, you never know when that might come in handy (eh, we really need an emoticon of a gentleman with silk hat and monocle sipping tea). And thanks, what's number one on that list anyway?
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You're welcome! And number one is the creature you've just drawn! It used to be the gryphon, now gryphon's second.
How's this guy? Not actually sipping the tea, but...
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oh, right, I misread it,
well.... I dunno, he kinda lacks that british nonchalance I was hoping for, more like he's hyperactive because of too much theine (=caffeine)
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Yeah, that's what I thought. He looks more like he's been drinking red cordial than tea.
Then of course I found this disturbing guy, nonchalance and all: ... but that's not tea!
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yeah, and he doesn't have the monocle
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Very lovely, the details in the feathers and their patterns are great. I really wish my world history teacher hadn't been so worthless, I've never even heard of a Simurgh or Kumai till now.
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Thanks, actually I never drew a bird or this much plumage before, so I'm just relieved I didn't muff it up completely.
I doubt ANY world history teacher would teach about these. They're not exactly "significant constituents of human past with a lasting impact" or "well known cultural features everybode should hear about". I knew there were various kinds of griffon creatures (not just the traditional lion-eagle ones) depicted in near-eastern and central asian cultures, but I knew very little about the names and terms used until about half-a-year ago. Simurgh can be googled, I even saw some other portrayals here on DA. Kumai is a trickier one, I only know about it from an article by D. V. Cheremisin ("On the Semantics of animal style ornithomorphic images in Pazyryk ritual artifacts." Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 37/1, 85-94.), I doubt you could find anything about these outside of specialized literature.
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Still the creatures of a culture's mythology are an insight into how they viewed the world and I always find that kind of stuff interesting. If I thought I could make a living as an anthropologist I'd go back to school and get a degree. Unfortunately the only way to make a living with that is forensic anthropology and work for a crime lab and the nightmare that is human behavior, or cultural and work advising governments before they bomb someone about how might be the best way to go about bombing someone. Because looking at another with respect and trying for peace is so damn inconvenient. Not exactly a winning situation.
Now for a brighter topic, I really hope you will do some more of these if the mood strikes you.
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Oh, I have mood here aplenty, it's a sudden preemptive strike of free time that I lack
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