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Published: 2007-06-22 21:55:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 3530; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 68
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Midsummer’s Eve 2007 - ‘Residents of the lofty places’Depending where you live, tomorrow night is Midsummer’s Eve —The legendary evening of magic & faerie mischief centered upon the summer solstice weekend. For centuries, this longest day of the year, has been frequently associated with sorcery, dancing, bonfires, and enchantment ...all richly wrapped around the celebrations. pranks, and travels of elves and faeries who abound this night more than any other. Just be careful before you go joining in on some strange dance tonight, my friends. We may not see you again.
I based this picture on a more centuries' old ancestral depiction of the ‘wiskies’ (Or ‘wispies’; to which I’m pretty certain now that Íþróttaálfur (Sportacus) is) What I mean by this is that I wanted to depict how a child of .. let’s say, of the 19th century might have envisioned a visit from the Íþróttaálfur, and coincides with the more common and traditional reported sightings made of these fast moving elfin beings ---That they lept down from the treetops to play with children who were alone in the fields. Because of that I tried to make this look like a illustration you might find in a old Victorian children’s book of fairy tales.
Wisks are usually defined as, “any fast, fleetly moving wind sprite., a nimble elf." . Flitting all about, this particular elfin creature is perfectly at home in lofty places overhead: Sprinting across roof tops, through trees, or even riding the backs of birds, etc. They are classified with liosalfar (light-elves) that are typically Scandinavian in appearance and characterized by light brown to blonde hair with pale complexions and blue eyes. Here, the Íþróttaálfur looks down upon a group of children at play.
Oh, interesting note here. Do you know that there exist an opposite natured wisp that are .. well .. not as sweet and innocent as their bright and shiny cousins let's say. The direct negative opposite of a wiskie is a Gremlin! ..yup, them fabled nasty hobs of the sky thought to be an aviator's worse nightmare should one decide to get in your plane.
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This piece took 4 days total w/ a combination of traditional mediums and Adobe Photoshop ‘Mystical lighting’. I’ll be putting several screen captures I took of myself during the creation of the piece in my scraps.
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Comments: 18
Shinjuchan In reply to Jukesette [2007-07-03 22:10:18 +0000 UTC]
Considering it's meant to be/reflect him .. yes.
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EjoRune [2007-06-24 04:07:00 +0000 UTC]
Aww it seems so innocent, unlike me >-< but it's very cute almost like it's a guardian or something. It's almost soothing *^-^*
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Loralit [2007-06-24 01:04:09 +0000 UTC]
Sportacus, did you know that you're nake?!
XDDDD!! Beautiful Piece!! It cool to read about these tales from you ! Very interesting and I get to see your inspiring artwork too :3!!
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Shinjuchan In reply to Loralit [2007-06-24 17:59:38 +0000 UTC]
Long before I even knew what LazyTown even was, I had already been huge into involvements concerning the paranormal, occult, and my own Celtic ancestry. Just like in Iceland, the subject of faeries was always a very dominate fixture in Irish lore. A huge Brian Froud fan as it is since I first laid eyes on his work as a result of the movie ‘Dark Crystal’ at age 7, learning LT’s history was just something that was very easy to jump into.
I think I have always had this very deep rooted desire to have the fullest possible understanding with the things and subjects that are of interest to me. I want to see passed the surface.. I want to see what’s underneath or in between, and interestingly enough I discovered quite a few things that were hung right in front our faces, but never once picked up on ever while watching the show. Ideas that were actually quite old and even commonplace in Icelandic tradition. It’s just been a very fascinating journey to say the least and this picture was another example of those personal, one on one studies.
First time that Lilja mentioned the wisps to me (about 2 years ago now) she said ‘the residents of the lofty places’, and how generations of children for centuries spoke of elfin beings who sat high above in the branches watching and even lured by children’s games of play. I didn’t make the connection to the airship however until just this April. I’ve been wanting to draw a picture of that depiction ever since. ^^
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Loralit In reply to Shinjuchan [2007-07-04 06:00:25 +0000 UTC]
Yeah, I think I remember you talking about that to me about the paranormal you have incounter before hand. Very interesting stuff, I have to say.
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wizard55 In reply to Shinjuchan [2007-06-26 06:31:12 +0000 UTC]
Wow Shinju_chan (this is merlin55 from LJ) I love this piece and I love your interest in fairie lore. I also never realized the connections between LT and those things you mentioned above. Very interesting indeed.
I have a wonderful book called "Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia." which features descriptions of hundreds and hundreds of these types of beings from all parts of the globe. I love it.
anyways, if your ever interested, I would love to see more artwork of early versions of Sportacus. Maybe an 17th/18th century Sportacus floating in a crude early airship, above a colonial town or something. IDK just thinking of silly ideas in my head.
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astakaren [2007-06-23 09:32:37 +0000 UTC]
Aww thats so cool ^w^
Reminds me of something I've seen in a book...dont really remember what it was but oh well...
"Það er komið sumar! Sól í heiði skýn...tilveran er þín! teygðu bara upp hendur! sólskinið í...því að sumarið er komið enn á ný!"
It's summer!
But I work in a mall so I stay inside
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StarbearerTM [2007-06-23 03:19:46 +0000 UTC]
Very high quality here. It looks hand done like a classic illustration from a novel/fairytale volume or 'book about elven folk'. Very impressive.
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Jyueru [2007-06-22 23:10:27 +0000 UTC]
I love the tree shading on his body, represented the sun and wind, the reflections, as he tenderly watches the children. Good job Mum
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claudiall [2007-06-22 23:09:50 +0000 UTC]
Eh. It's winter solstice where I live. As magical as a muddy yard and getting wet when your bus runs over a puddle next to ya...^^
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Kelonerd [2007-06-22 22:24:55 +0000 UTC]
Ah yes, Midsummer.. my friend from Finland told me all about it. x3
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