Nine Tails Sketch

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So I've been practicing sketching supernatural creatures and, keeping in line with the 'fox lord' sketch I did a few weeks ago, the first thing I decided to sketch - admittedly in the notebook I was also writing my ideas and such down in - was a nine tailed fox. The other reason I decided to focus on this was because of the character Huxian in the TanraStudios blog, who is one of these supernatural foxes himself

It wouldn't shock me if this is a supernatural creature you've heard about before. Foxes with supernatural gifts, not just nine tailed ones, are pretty common in media like anime, Manga and games, as well as appearing within Japanese, Chinese and Korean mythology, to name a few, though foxes have shown up in other mythology as well.

Notable examples in media are:

For anime, the ninetailed fox that was sealed into the title character in the anime/manga Naruto, the character Kurama from YuYu Hakushou, Shippo from Inuyasha, Tomoe from Kamisama kiss, Renamon and her various digivolutions in Digimon, to name just a few.

In games, Pokemon such as the Vulpix, Zorua and Fennikin lines are all based on foxes - even their pokedex entries seem to reflect some of the myths. Also, Tails from Sonic, Keaton in Legend of Zelda, the boss 'Ninetails' in Okami, Ahri from League of Legends and even the Hermit Social link in Persona 4 are all foxes that seem to have some inspiration from the mythologies. Once again, to name but a few.

As for the mythologies themselves, mainly if you heard of them through games and such, it's likely that the name 'Kitsune' has cropped up, which is the Japanese name for foxes, whether supernatural or otherwise, though this is not the only term they're known by. 'Nogitsune' and 'Yako' are usually what more trickster types are known by, who are more often than not mischievous at best and malicious at worst, whereas a 'Zenko' is a fox usually associated with the god 'Inari', and seen as said god's messengers and thus more benevolent. 'Tenko' are foxes that are considered celestial, having  gained nine tails after living for 1000 years and ascended to the heavens. These are the highest ranked kitsune.

In Chinese Mythology, supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Huli Jing' - fox spirits - and their nine tailed versions are called 'Jiuweihu'. Like their Japanese counterparts, Huli Jing can be good or bad spirits. Foxes also seem to be linked to divine beings as well, with forms of Huxian (Fox Immortal/ fox gods) that either are equivalent to Inari, or have an animal form of a nine tailed fox, though this can refer to several different beings, either individually or as a collective trio of fox god(desses).

(Ironically, when I created the character Huxian for Pandora, I actually had't known about the actual versions in the mythology, though when I found out, I saw no reason to change it. Hell, it even fits, given his storyline...)

Korea's version of supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Kumiho', litterally meaning 'nine tailed fox'. Unlike both Japanese and Chinese equivalents, which ca lean to any spectrum of a moral compass, Kumiho are almost unanimously malevolent and would feast on human flesh, specifically the heart of liver, depending on the tale.

Though these are some differences in mythologies, such as Kumiho having a bead containing knowledge that could be absorbed from others or, if swallowed by a human could give them gifts; Kitsune able to use fire or possess humans etc, there are many similarities to the mythologies where abilities are concerned. They are generally shape shifters that can take on human forms, mostly that of beautiful women, though sometimes older men. In Japanese and Chinese mythologies especially, they seem to even gain some magical power, especially as nine tails, and able to perform other feats such as divination or sorcery.

There are tons of stories about supernatural foxes, whether they have nine tails or not, all of them pretty interesting to read and these is a ton more information about foxes in mythology.

Honestly speaking, Foxes are my favourite (real) animal, with them being my second favourite supernatural one - that honour goes to dragons (I used to be really obsessed with those as a kid and still love them now). Still, I hope you liked the bits of info. I really would suggest looking them up for more in-depth stuff though, cause there are some really good bits of info on them and folk lore that I really couldn't get into without this blog ending up taking a week or so to read. Still, if you're interested, there are tons of places online to find out more :)

Until next time!

Tara

The Meaning of Nightmares

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So I mentioned that I was working on a bit more research last time, though admittedly part of that research was mythology in general. However, I have also been doing some more looking into dreams, nightmares, meanings and the likes, since that is a central part of Dreamwalkers.

For those who may not remember, or those just joining, Dreamwalkers is somewhat episodic in nature, at least somewhat. Despite an overarching plot, the main purpose of the SOS team is about saving people from monster controlled nightmares praying on the sleeper's subconscious desires, fears etc. As such, a lot of character to the side characters and even a bit on some of the main characters themselves is told through the types of things they dream about and an interpretation of them - its not everything about the characters, of course, but just additional titbits about them. As such, looking up nightmares and meanings will certainly help to improve on character development, especially for episodic characters you only have short times to get to know.

While researching, I came across a video on YouTube that popped up on my suggestions feed that was only uploaded a week or so ago which covers ten common nightmares and meaning, and thought it was pretty interesting, not to mention very relevant, and thought I'd share it with you guys.

All credit for the video, of course, goes to Alltime 10s. Give them a like on YouTube if you enjoyed what you saw here and, if you like what they do, subscribe to their channel, too. If nothing else, I found it really interesting! :) Who knows, you might find a nightmare you've had and now know the meaning, or maybe one of these nightmares may show up in Dreamwalkers.

Until net time!

Tara

I Have A Plan!!!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, I've been thinking of a little project to do on the side, mostly in relation to the blogs, mainly because my wrists have been a little on the sore side and I'm being careful in hopes I dont end up with Tendonitis again. As you may remember, a while ago, when I was last suffering pretty badly from tendonitis and unable to really draw, I explored different myths and legends about dreams, with a touch of dream interpretation. While I would never class myself as an anthropologist (though that sounds like an amazing job, not gonna lie. Respect to those training in or working in that field) I've always been interested in mythology and how people interpreted various things that created the myths in the first place. Without things like that, we might not have so many diverse beliefs in the past and such rich mythologies in different countries.

Essentially, I was considering doing something similar to what I did with the dream based myths, but with my drawing, sketches or interpretations of different myths, with a bit of information about them. The reason I was thinking this is because of the other comic I'm joint working on with my partner in crime in TanraStudios is heavily based in mythologies, being at its core about a supernatural detective agency. Since I'm doing the research anyway, it would be killing two birds with one stone. I know that we've touched on them in the script based side stories that are posted on the TanraStudios blog. So, I'm thinking that, in-between my usual blogs, I might do some info and sketches about some of the myths and legends I look up. It could be a ton of fun, to be honest, especially when there are myths that cross over different countries and have somewhat different takes to them. Who knows, some of these creatures may even end up popping into Dreamwakers, because hey, in dreams, anything is possible.

In the meantime, I'll admit that I've not been particually busy on the drawing front, as I mentioned (fingers crossed on the wrist thing) but I did a little doodle here and there just to keep my hand in.

Is anyone ever inspired to doodle just because they happen to have a pet? I certainly know while I was at university, one of my comic ideas (which I didn't get to do in the end) was going to be about the antics of my, at the time, new puppy and the cat I had. They used to sleep together and get up to mischief. My cat even taught my dog how to beg. Pretty funny thing to see.

I do still want to do a comic about those two, even though my cat passed away before I finished uni. Their antics should be remembered!

But anyway, once again, with just pen, I decided to do a sketch inspired by my dog!

Admittedly, it's without the particular markings in his fur, so it kinda looks more like the dog from the film Up. But for a drawing that took only a minute or so, it came out pretty good. Maybe I'll do a full body one and do shading too. Or try to do dogs in lots of different styles. I suppose it would all depend on if I'm trying to take it easy with my wrists, or if I'm focused on one of my projects again :)

Either way, if all goes well, I'll see about doing some blog posts based on the mythology thing with images, if not I might just talk about them, or I'll be doing my usual thing. Its all the change things up a little bit and make it fun for all of us, especially you guys who read my rambles each week. Thank you!!! You're all awesome!

Until next time!

Tara

Fair Days Faire

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

I don't know about anyone else, but where I live, we've been having some really nice weather, which is kinda weird around the May Bank Holiday. The last few years at least have been pretty gloomy weather wise, which is kinda ironic, considering every May Bank Holiday, my town has a faire that shows up with rides, live music, game stands, food stalls and a market. Its nothing huge - my town isn't particually a large one - but its still nice to see since it only really shows up once or twice a year. It also really livens things up a bit too, though bad weather sometimes screws up the turnout.

This past week and today, though, has had pretty great weather! Blue skies as far as the eye could see. Aaaaand, of course, that meant I was working inside a pub most of the time since, where there is a large turn out of people for a local faire, it also means that pubs get busy too. Still, I did have a bit of a look around when I could. I even took a few pictures, though it didn't really get the full scale of everything. Beware my horrible phone photo taking skills! lol.

So firstly was the market - took the photo from a bit of a distance - but there was some pretty fun stuff going on. There were some people dressed up as Stormtroopers and were probebly boiling, but they were taking photos with people. There were lots of stands selling various things from food to toys to hand made items. Beyond the stalls were some of the rides, such as the waltzers - you can see the back of that on the picture - the maroon coloured thing on the right - though there were more rides and stalls just beyond the town hall - the building on the left.

One thing I did find funny was there was that really small gazebo that you can see on the left. I found out that was a paddling pool for dogs so they didn't overheat. That was nice of them! I know while I was working a fair number of people brought their dogs with them, so at least they had ways to stay cool when not getting bowls of water when they're brought into the pub.

Along with Waltzers, bumper cars, and what looked to be some kind of haunted house (didn't get close enough to know for sure on that last one), intermingled with food stalls, there were some of these rides, like the spinning one at the top where they strap you in and you spin around while it tilts you at different angles. There was a kid's Ferris Wheel and a fun house, or 'Crazy Cottage' as it was called. There was game stands sort of like the Ducks one, where you had to hook a duck to get a prize.

It wasn't just games, rides and food stalls, but there was a car show going on, showing pretty old styled cars to newer kinds. I'm not a big car person, but I'll admit it was pretty cool to see the older styled cars. I don't know about anyone else, but I think they have lots of character :)

Though there was no photos of this (mostly as nothing was playing at the time I wasn't working) there was also a stage that would play live bands, make announcements etc, and would play music in the middle of these times for entertainment.

There's one thing I was sad not to get photo's of, though, and that was that they made a huge sand pit for people to build sandcastles and stuff as if on a beach, and to make it that much more authentic (in a purely British holiday feel), they even brought donkey's for donkey rides. If nothing else, I would have loved to see the donkeys. Donkey's are cute.

Its a shame it doesn't stay for too long. By the time I was finished at work today they had started to pack up to move on to....wherever they go when not in my town - as you can tell, I know little about fairs. lol. But still, it was fun while it lasted. I just hope the next time it rolls into town, the weather will hold up just as well.

Though it'd be nice if it was advertised a bit more, next time. If I didn't work in a pub in town, and thus passed the signs on the sides of the road, I might not have known it was going to be there at all. Usually there's a bit more advertisement. Though since we have it every May Holiday, maybe they assumed we'd guess it was there? I dunno. Either way, should be fun when it comes again. Hopefully bringing the great weather too!

Until Next Time!

Tara