Lavinia...
For my last piece, I chose this entry from Lovecraft's commonplace book:
"An sint unquam daemones incubi et succubae, et an ex tali congressu proles nasci queat?"
I guess I was attracted to the semi-obscurity of Latin, and a challenge to make the best of whatever the meaning ended up being. Using an online translator, it crudely breaks down to:
"Have there ever been demons, incubi and succubae, and from such a union can offspring be born?"
or
"Can it be that demons, incubi and succubi were to be at some time, in such encounters so as to be able to give birth to offspring."
Still a bit vague, then I remembered that two of my friends studied Latin, and this is one of their replies:
"My translation works out to something like, "Have there existed spirits (or demons), incubi and succubae (crazy medieval sex demons), and can progeny be born of such congress?" Basically, "are there demons, and if we have sex with them, what kind of crazy-ass babies will that make?" It was a wild time, that sixteenth century."
The Latin phrase itself ended up in Lovecraft's short story, the Horror at Red Hook. ( wiki page) The actual line wasn't a very integral part of the story, so I didn't feel bound to illustrating a specific scene. I pondered about how I would portray the concept, and after a while I settled on an image of the demon/human as an embryo. After a couple days of painting, it just wasn't doing much for me. Maybe it felt too much like an editorial piece, I don't know, but my heart just wasn't in it. But, then what? I was suffering a bit from painter's block, and I was feeling pressure from both time and the idea that this was my last piece... my last chance to make an impact at the show. As the last two pieces were only loosely 'Lovecraftian'. I had the urge to have the painting more tied in with his well-know works. Then, it hit me, there is another story of his that has a human breeding with something quite inhuman.... the Dunwich Horror. In this story, the Outer God Yog Sothoth (a link to a previous painting of mine) impregnates the albino backwater witch, Lavinia Whateley. Perfect, I had always loved that story, and had hoped to return to it in some way.
And, so after a couple day's of work, I give you an in-progress shot of Lavinia at the point of conception:
As much of my 'Mythos' art is greyscale, I thought it might be nice to have that represented in my contribution to the show. Classically speaking, an incubus/succubus is a demon or spirit that assumes a seductive form and uses that diversion to drain sexual energy from their human victims while they sleep.
As a related side, some years ago I was introduced to Robert Bruce (not to be confused with Robert the Bruce), the foremost authority in astral projection. We had talked about collaborating, I would illustrate what he saw in his astral travels. As a visual aid for the publishers, he described one of the entities... an incubus/succubus. Mr. Bruce told me that they are the same thing, and they assume the appropriate form during that seduction. However, their true form is more like this:
Unfortunately, illustrations were simply not in the budget for that project, but we have chatted about other ones in the future. Hopefully an opportunity will present itself. What made that project so interesting is that it reminded me of the very early wildlife illustrations before cameras, where the creatures were described firsthand from the explorers.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
~Paul
I guess I was attracted to the semi-obscurity of Latin, and a challenge to make the best of whatever the meaning ended up being. Using an online translator, it crudely breaks down to:
"Have there ever been demons, incubi and succubae, and from such a union can offspring be born?"
or
"Can it be that demons, incubi and succubi were to be at some time, in such encounters so as to be able to give birth to offspring."
Still a bit vague, then I remembered that two of my friends studied Latin, and this is one of their replies:
"My translation works out to something like, "Have there existed spirits (or demons), incubi and succubae (crazy medieval sex demons), and can progeny be born of such congress?" Basically, "are there demons, and if we have sex with them, what kind of crazy-ass babies will that make?" It was a wild time, that sixteenth century."
The Latin phrase itself ended up in Lovecraft's short story, the Horror at Red Hook. ( wiki page) The actual line wasn't a very integral part of the story, so I didn't feel bound to illustrating a specific scene. I pondered about how I would portray the concept, and after a while I settled on an image of the demon/human as an embryo. After a couple days of painting, it just wasn't doing much for me. Maybe it felt too much like an editorial piece, I don't know, but my heart just wasn't in it. But, then what? I was suffering a bit from painter's block, and I was feeling pressure from both time and the idea that this was my last piece... my last chance to make an impact at the show. As the last two pieces were only loosely 'Lovecraftian'. I had the urge to have the painting more tied in with his well-know works. Then, it hit me, there is another story of his that has a human breeding with something quite inhuman.... the Dunwich Horror. In this story, the Outer God Yog Sothoth (a link to a previous painting of mine) impregnates the albino backwater witch, Lavinia Whateley. Perfect, I had always loved that story, and had hoped to return to it in some way.
And, so after a couple day's of work, I give you an in-progress shot of Lavinia at the point of conception:
As much of my 'Mythos' art is greyscale, I thought it might be nice to have that represented in my contribution to the show. Classically speaking, an incubus/succubus is a demon or spirit that assumes a seductive form and uses that diversion to drain sexual energy from their human victims while they sleep.
As a related side, some years ago I was introduced to Robert Bruce (not to be confused with Robert the Bruce), the foremost authority in astral projection. We had talked about collaborating, I would illustrate what he saw in his astral travels. As a visual aid for the publishers, he described one of the entities... an incubus/succubus. Mr. Bruce told me that they are the same thing, and they assume the appropriate form during that seduction. However, their true form is more like this:
Unfortunately, illustrations were simply not in the budget for that project, but we have chatted about other ones in the future. Hopefully an opportunity will present itself. What made that project so interesting is that it reminded me of the very early wildlife illustrations before cameras, where the creatures were described firsthand from the explorers.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
~Paul
You got me hooked on this one already... I'm betting it'll be my favorite. OK, I'm looking at it on my home monitor but at this early stage I doubt that matters. The witch is... enchanting, if I dare reuse a descriptive. Young, beautiful... and I'm itching to know what is issuing forth. There is serious potential for twisted here. I expect short on gross, long on OMG.
...and I wait impatiently...
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Thanks, Rich!
I was very curious to hear your reaction, as it is considerably different thean the previous three. I've used a bit of artistic licence in this one. Lavinia, at least in the short story, is not known for her beauty. From the Wikipedia page:
"Born circa 1878, Lavinia Whateley is the daughter of Old Whateley and a mother who met an "unexplained death by violence" when Lavinia was 12. She is described as a
Elsewhere, she is called "slatternly [and] crinkly-haired"
Well, clearly I've taken some liberties here and there.
She's probably not twelve in this image (actually, she'd need to be eleven at the oldest at this point in the story). But, because of the nature and nudity of the piece, it seemed to make the most sense to portray her as a more mature woman. I chose the idea of nudity (not often a common sight in Mythos related art) to convey the idea that it is something sexual in nature, she's not being injured, eaten and so forth. For the same reason, I have chosen to not make whatever deformation she may have glaringly obvious. Sure, she's not a runway model, but there is still a sensual element.
~PaulReply to this
Looks like you are off to a nice start, Paul.
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Thanks, Duffy. It was a slow journey with some frustrating false starts, but I think this one has some potential and was worth the struggle.
~Paul
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Ewww, tentacle hentai.
Looking good as always! As long as you don't go into any unnecessary anatomical detail with how Yog Sothoth would actually do the deed then it should be great.
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I promise it will be tentacle free, as Yog Sothoth is comprised of bubbles and spheres. It will be PG-13 tops, as the center of the lightsource will be where the mass covers the womb... hardly graphic.
~Paul
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Ah, good. Glad to see you're not one of those fantasy artists who gets rather carried away when it comes to drawing female anatomy- you give it the same grace and realism as the rest of your art.
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Thanks for the kind words. Though I can't honestly say I am entirely against stylized or exaggerated anatomy in certain kinds of art and illustration (I think in a more fun context, tongue and cheek, it is appropriate. Simon Bisley, one of my favorites, is really know for his over the top anatomy), I'd agree that this isn't the place for that style.
~Paul
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I think the Astral projection discription and painting are interesting. very peculiar, that image. the succubess in progress looks good, this is an old entery so I will go and try to find the finished piece
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