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synnabar — Aztec Cat
Published: 2007-01-10 16:43:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 43306; Favourites: 599; Downloads: 18103
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Description
Aztec Cat: Based on a 1994 pen sketch (here: synnabar.critter.net/Images...… ) that I re-did in RSVP pen and submitted to Fang, Claw & Steel for its final issue (*sniff*). I had been doing research for my senior thesis project waaaay back then, and this is what sprang to mind. He was a model for the "J for Jaguar" piece I did later, but his body here is more stylized, and lithe, not really very jaguar-like I admit, but he was not really meant to be a specific kind of cat - just done for fun. The 7 rings on the tail and eyespots are symbols specific to me, and don't (as far as I know) appear in authentic Mesoamerican art.The original 1994 sketch was the basis for a Senior Project Thesis piece that I completed in 1995, in full color: synnabar.deviantart.com/art/J-…
RSVP pen. 2006.
NOTE: As I see this image floating all over the internet (and in tattoos, referenced in other art pieces, etc.) I have to say I'm really, really honored that people like it that much! However, if anyone's using it as a reference, I must mention that the ornamentation is my own design, and not based off of any *specific* Aztec, Olmec, Mayan, or other Mesoamerican art, sculpture, or ornamentation, so if you are looking for authentic pieces, please do research; there are so many great pieces in museums, books, and photos!
A note about the tail-rings: the rings on the tail are not Mesoamerican at all, at least not in that style and in that number; the rings are strictly a symbol specific to me. They're seven in number because that's a number I use often in my work (and seven for the seventh month, July, my birth month).
If you like this piece, and would like to see more of my Mesoamerican-inspired art, please see here:
Tepeyollotl II: fav.me/dmerss
Sun-Stealer: fav.me/dmerzu
Aztec Cat (1994): synnabar.critter.net/Images...…
J is for Jaguar-Man (1991): fav.me/d4w4ioj
J is for Jaguar-Man (1995, Senior Thesis): synnabar.deviantart.com/art/J-…
Tezcatli III: synnabar.critter.net/Images...…
Tezcatli IV: synnabar.critter.net/Images...…
Related content
Comments: 41
Omg This is so magnificent. Can I use it for coloring? I'll leave credits to you.
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May I use this to color? I'll make sure to give you all credits.
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Hi would you mind if used this as a reference for an Egyptian cat tattoo? I'm struggling to design the tattoo I want of Bast
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Sure thing! Thanks for asking, I don't mind at all - I'm honored. Would love to see the final piece!
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Thanks for the heads-up! Yup, looks like it referenced this.
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i thought it would make a good tattoo also. so i got it on chest mirror image right represents me and left my wife. jewel on cat chest is our birth stones. i am of aztec decent and brown so mine is darker. my wife is half korean so hers is lighter. i also have an aztec back piece.
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Check out my version here:[link] and tell me if it's okay.
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LOLz, saw you website. DA is kinda cool cuz people can comment your work now. pretty cool, eh?
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Dang, I love this picture. xD
You're a really great artist. ^^
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Ooh...the design can be really helpful to those who want to do Aztec characters.
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His body type reminds me of the Onza cat. Absolutely gorgeous linework. The musculature erally adds weight some weight to the piece!
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I really like this picture, good job. I own three cats, which I really really love.
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omg SIN ARTS
<333
you are amazing, I worship you =O
jk but you still rock!
I draw for you. yessssss
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Great stuff. I love the trappings and the way those fore paws look like they'd be dextrous enough to weild the knife. I remember seeing the original and liking the form a lot - great to see the update!
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I like the nice solid ink art here, and the muscular form, I just love the details you made in this piece. Strangely, I thought it was a different form of Bsett (sp?) the Egyptian goddess...kind of feel silly now sorry
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You asked for spelling. Well the spelling for the Egyptian cat goddess is Bast. I think if Egyptians were beastialists they'd probably really like cats, simply for how they describe and worship Bast.
Aren't many animals sacred to egyptians though? It would then be impossible for them to have any ideas of beastiality, thus nullifying my idiotic thought.
Bast is a cat goddess related to beauty, grace, etc. The crocodile god/goddess(egyptians didn't know what gender a crocodile could be, so they didn't know that god too well), forgot the name, forgot what he represented. The Hippo goddess represented birth, fertility, agriculture, and enviromental ethics. Anubis the Jackal god represented embalming, death, afterlife, peace, and gaurdians. Horus-Ra the eagle god was the mightiest god, and ruled over the domain of the sun, which to the egyptians brought all energy and life to the earth (which is 99% scientifically true, the Sun is needed for all animals and plants to live, but certain fungi, bacteria, and protists can live without it). Horus-Ra also ruled over time, the other gods, and a bunch of other things.
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No no, don't feel silly! First off, the feline is just a generic cat thing I doodled while researching for a thesis, and then put Aztec-like ornaments on, and secondly: There are a number of similarities in Egyptian and Mesoamerican art, actually! Some people even thought some Mesoamericans were descendants of the Egyptians, based on similarities in the art - it turned out to be just a coincidence, but still - some of the similarities are striking, so don't feel silly at all!
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That explains it! Interesting though...how would one think that Mesoamericans were related to Egyptians 
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There were some similarities in the art, among other things, I've read. One set of statues thought to be Olmec had headresses that looked quite Egyptian, but it was a coincidence - they were realyy just representative of the folded paper headdresses some Mesoamerican rain gods wore.
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Ahhh, I see. Yes, like their pyramids, even though both are quite different in structure.
thanks again
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This looks great, awesome work on the musculature. It feels very solid.
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Nice, nice. Your creatures and characters make me feel whimpy with their bodys and all x.x
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Ooo lovely. I've always liked Aztec/Mayan-based art.
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ah, wow, the body flows so graciously, perfectly like a cat. I love mayan and aztec mythology, I want to do a picture of quaetzcoatl one day... this would make a great tattoo, or sticker or something... ^.^
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YAAAY! Synn arts!
I love this piece. The curves of his neck, back & tail...I dunno it just flows so nicely
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I looks a bit like a Jaguarundi to me, did you base it on a speicfic species of cat?
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Nope! In the original I was just researching all sorts of Mesoamerican (Olmec, Aztec, Mayan, etc.) works of art and mythologies, and he just slunk into my mind. No particular cat, and no attempt at realism: pure fun.
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oh mmm wow, this ish great.
the whole thing holds up nicely and it's just a wonderful pic.
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