Title: Irish Mythology-Balor
Size: 22.9cm. x 30.5cm. Medium: December 2016 Exhibition Text: For this drawing I focused on the Irish culture and I incorporated Irish mythology within this piece. The specific Irish myth that I focused on was the legend of Balor, who in the Irish legends is the Celtic Demon of Death or The Demon King. Through my research of Irish myths, I came across Balor. I chose him because I thought that making an interpretation of him would be interesting, while learning about the legend. In the final drawing to the right, there is one eye and a mouth with dagger-like teeth. In the background of the eye and mouth is the Irish knot, which displays the cultural heritage of the legend. |
Cultural Inspiration:
My cultural inspiration for this piece is the Irish culture. I was inspired simply by the myths and legends that are incorporated throughout the culture, which I find intriguing. The myths and legends give a detailed, description of what each character looks like, along with the whole story and background of each Irish legend. When I researched and came across the legend of Balor, I was interested in the name of him. I then researched him, and learned more about the legend and began to formulate my own interpretation of the physical appearance of Balor. The legend of Balor is that he is the Demon King of the Fomori (Demons who live in the depths of lakes and oceans), and he has one large eye. Balor could kill someone by opening his eye, but he kept it closed most of the time so there would not be several dead bodies everyone so he would not trip over them. He would then be killed by his grandson named Lug, who shot him with a slingshot in the eye. Balor being killed by his grandson was prophesised a long time before Lug was born.
My cultural inspiration for this piece is the Irish culture. I was inspired simply by the myths and legends that are incorporated throughout the culture, which I find intriguing. The myths and legends give a detailed, description of what each character looks like, along with the whole story and background of each Irish legend. When I researched and came across the legend of Balor, I was interested in the name of him. I then researched him, and learned more about the legend and began to formulate my own interpretation of the physical appearance of Balor. The legend of Balor is that he is the Demon King of the Fomori (Demons who live in the depths of lakes and oceans), and he has one large eye. Balor could kill someone by opening his eye, but he kept it closed most of the time so there would not be several dead bodies everyone so he would not trip over them. He would then be killed by his grandson named Lug, who shot him with a slingshot in the eye. Balor being killed by his grandson was prophesised a long time before Lug was born.
Artist Inspiration:
My artist inspiration for my piece is Jim Fitzpatrick, and he is an Irish artist who focuses on using Celtic traditions within his artwork. He wanted to spread the colorful history of the legends in Ireland. He used qualities of characters to create the artwork of legends, and to create a visual interpretation of how he sees these legends throughout his culture. He uses his artwork to retell the legends and myths of his Irish culture, and live out his Celtic heritage. I wanted to incorporate this into my interpretation based off of my research for Balor.
My artist inspiration for my piece is Jim Fitzpatrick, and he is an Irish artist who focuses on using Celtic traditions within his artwork. He wanted to spread the colorful history of the legends in Ireland. He used qualities of characters to create the artwork of legends, and to create a visual interpretation of how he sees these legends throughout his culture. He uses his artwork to retell the legends and myths of his Irish culture, and live out his Celtic heritage. I wanted to incorporate this into my interpretation based off of my research for Balor.
Process:
The sketch to the left is the eye of Balor. The eye is based off of my interpretation of what Balor has been physically described throughout my research. I wanted to make the eye look demonic, knowing that Balor was the Demon King. I wanted the eye to appear "evil" as described throughout the legend of Balor, and I incorporated this later when I add the color scheme for the eye. |
The sketch to the right is Balor's eye again, but I included and symbolized Balor's transformation of how he got the enormous eye. Balor got the enormous eye from the vapor of a poison his dad was making for a war, and a puff of this poisonous vapor went into his eyes. Balor then developed this huge eye. The transformation of this is represented by the cracking around the eye, and the shapes that revolve above his eye. Through this piece, I wanted to incorporate several of the characteristics of the legend to add depth toward the drawing.
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The sketch to the left is the mouth that I created for Balor. I created this mouth to ressemble Balor's hunger of destruction and power, which can be seen through the story of Balor. I drew dagger-like teeth, because Balor is the Demon King, and I wanted to incorporate demonic qualities toward my interpretation of Balor. I added a color scheme toward the mouth to capture the demonic presence of Balor, and contribute toward his hunger of power and destruction as it is significant toward the story of Balor.
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The image to the right is the full color scheme that I made for the eye and the transformation toward the single eye. I used warm colors for the eye to represent the rising of the Demon King. These warm hues allow for the demonic representation and add more tone toward the final image. It provides contrast to the colors that follow after this image to create my interpretation of Balor.
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The image to the left is the image of the finished color scheme for the mouth. I created the teeth to represent a sense of danger, and dagger-like teeth to develop this part of the representation. The mouth represents the hunger for power and destruction which is what Balor provided when he went to war. I wanted to incorporate the Demonic presence of Balor. The black in the mouth represents the endless pit that represents Balor's wrath of destruction.
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The image to the right is the Celtic Knot. I incorporated this because it is a significant in the Irish culture. This symbol represents the interconnection of all things and the continuous cycle of existence. I used the celtic knot in this piece to display how the Irish myths and legends interconnect within the Irish culture. The green and orange are two of the three colors in the flag of Ireland. I wanted to symbolize the Irish culture throughout my piece to show this interconnection, and where the legend comes from.
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The image to the left is my final piece, and interpretation of Balor. I fixed some of my process sketches to fit my interpretation to it's full extent. With all three of the elements that I incorporated into this final design, I wanted to put all of the three together to interconnect all three together. In the final drawing to the right, there is one eye and a mouth with dagger-like teeth. In the background of the eye and mouth is the Irish knot, which displays the cultural heritage of the legend.
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ACT Questions:
My artistic inspiration can be seen throughout the piece, as it incorporates and tells parts of the story of the Irish legend Balor. I used characteristics of the legend to be the basis around my own interpretation which is what my artist inspiration, Jim Fitzpatrick did in his artworks. Jim Fitzpatrick's use of his Celtic heritage was significant toward his development and design of his artwork. He incorporated his Celtic heritage through his use of colors and symbols that are present through the Irish culture which helped display these Irish legends. Fitzpatrick incorporated colors and symbols that are present in the Irish culture to connect to certain Irish legends, to create an aesthetic quality within each artwork. He also focused on telling and illustrating the stories of these legends through his own mind. The central idea that was in my research is the incorporation of the Irish legends throughout the culture to connect the current and past toward the basis of their heritage. Fitzpatrick utilized characteristics of each legend to tell the story of themselves, and to embrace the full strength of each one. The inferences that can be made from my research is that cultural heritage is significant especially in Ireland. The people of Ireland embrace their heritage and carry on these myths and legends to relive their experiences when they heard the stories.
Reflection:
Overall, I created my own personal interpretation of a famous Irish legend. I focused on the Irish culture and I incorporated Irish mythology within this piece. The specific Irish myth that I focused on was the legend of Balor, who in the Irish legends is the Celtic Demon of Death or The Demon King. Through my research of Irish myths, I came across Balor. I chose him because I thought that making an interpretation of him would be interesting, while learning about the legend. In the final drawing to the right, there is one eye and a mouth with dagger-like teeth. In the background of the eye and mouth is the Irish knot, which displays the cultural heritage of the legend.
My artistic inspiration can be seen throughout the piece, as it incorporates and tells parts of the story of the Irish legend Balor. I used characteristics of the legend to be the basis around my own interpretation which is what my artist inspiration, Jim Fitzpatrick did in his artworks. Jim Fitzpatrick's use of his Celtic heritage was significant toward his development and design of his artwork. He incorporated his Celtic heritage through his use of colors and symbols that are present through the Irish culture which helped display these Irish legends. Fitzpatrick incorporated colors and symbols that are present in the Irish culture to connect to certain Irish legends, to create an aesthetic quality within each artwork. He also focused on telling and illustrating the stories of these legends through his own mind. The central idea that was in my research is the incorporation of the Irish legends throughout the culture to connect the current and past toward the basis of their heritage. Fitzpatrick utilized characteristics of each legend to tell the story of themselves, and to embrace the full strength of each one. The inferences that can be made from my research is that cultural heritage is significant especially in Ireland. The people of Ireland embrace their heritage and carry on these myths and legends to relive their experiences when they heard the stories.
Reflection:
Overall, I created my own personal interpretation of a famous Irish legend. I focused on the Irish culture and I incorporated Irish mythology within this piece. The specific Irish myth that I focused on was the legend of Balor, who in the Irish legends is the Celtic Demon of Death or The Demon King. Through my research of Irish myths, I came across Balor. I chose him because I thought that making an interpretation of him would be interesting, while learning about the legend. In the final drawing to the right, there is one eye and a mouth with dagger-like teeth. In the background of the eye and mouth is the Irish knot, which displays the cultural heritage of the legend.