Art blog of Nina Maaranen

Hi guys! I'm an archaeologist, I like to dig holes and analyse human remains, but on my free time I draw. I do traditional and digital, hopefully improving in both as I go :) 

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I finally had time to open my Purgatory package from @hollycbrown!! This looks amazing I can’t wait to read the comic!

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Never underestimate the power of glitter.

- Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington from Blacklist.

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Posting some old stuff before I’m able to get something new up!

Felix from Orphan Black.

Ink drawing, colored in Photoshop.

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Inktober drawing set 5/5

It was so much fun (and so much work) doing a drawing a day. Looking forward to next year!

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Inktober drawing set 4/5

It was so much fun (and so much work) doing a drawing a day. Looking forward to next year!

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Inktober drawing set 3/5

It was so much fun (and so much work) doing a drawing a day. Looking forward to next year!

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Inktober drawing set 2/5

It was so much fun (and so much work) doing a drawing a day. Looking forward to next year!

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Inktober drawing set 1/5

It was so much fun (and so much work) doing a drawing a day. Looking forward to next year!

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Day 31 of Inktober!!! A rendering of the statue of the Thinking man, I call it Moping Min, who is all bummed out the artist refused to draw his boner. Min was a fertility god who was depicted with an erection to enforce the point. Egyptologists in the good old days used to censor their photos of wall inscriptions with some 'strategic' ID plaque placement. Holidays are all about tradition, right? So why not some good old-fashioned primness to celebrate 😉 HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba6VAVqlEti/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 30 of Inktober: Khnum en route to a buyer with his blue painted pottery (a type of pottery manufactured during the New Kingdom, between 1400-1200 BC). 

One of Khnum's titles was 'Divine potter'. He moulded the first humans from clay and then continued to do so with children, placing them in their mothers' wombs. However, Khnum was originally connected to Nile inundation and fertility, which is why he is often depicted with the head of a ram.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba38a5Dgao-/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 29 of Inktober: Mr Ibis from American gods, aka the Egyptian god Thoth (couldn't resist). Thoth was a mediator, a god that would maintain balance. He was the scribe of the gods and the inventor of writing which is why he was particularly worshipped by scribes who wore amulets with Thoth in either ibis or baboon form.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba1qeP_g2uC/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 28 of Inktober: Hippopotamus goddess Taweret. Her name literally means 'she who is great'. 

Taweret was a protector of fertility and childbirth. She was worshipped throughout Egyptian history, and hippopotamus amulets have already been found from the predynastic period around 5000 years ago.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BazgwPWA7u5/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 27 of Inktober: Montu hasn't grasped that raging in the phone doesn't have quite the same effect as it does in person. Montu was a war god, usually depicted as falcon-headed but when he got really mad he was bull-headed. The greatest warrior kings called themselves Mighty Bulls or sons of Montu.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bawh871Amhh/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 26 of Inktober: Mother superior, I mean Mut (which means mother). 

Mut was a primal deity that created herself. In Thebes, she was established as the wife of Amun but she also had a strong cult of her own. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bat2TGlAyPS/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 25 of Inktober: crocodile god Sobek. Much like a crocodile, Sobek's nature is aggressive however is also protective. His epithets include 'he who loves robbery' and 'pointed of teeth'. Sobek was worshipped especially in the Faiyum region and Kom Ombo, and his temples had sacred crocodiles that were mummified when they died.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BasOt3vgrlh/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 24 of Inktober: Sedna, goddess of the sea. I am off to see family in Canada so I’m celebrating by posting a piece inspired by Native American mythology! There are also some incredible artists using old patterns to create new imagery. There are several versions of Sedna's story but in the one I read as a kid she marries a dog to spite her father for the unappealing suitors he’s brought her. Angered, his father throws her off a boat and into the sea and then proceeds to cut off her fingers when she clings to the side of the boat. As she sinks to the bottom, her fingers turn into different sea creatures and Sedna becomes Mother of the Sea. When hunters have bad luck catching game, it is because Sedna has been angered and she can only be soothed by the shaman traveling to wash and comb of her hair.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BanpaQBAgOe/?taken-by=nm.illustration

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Day 22 of Inktober: Serket got a new pet! Serket was a scorpion goddess of magic and medicine, and her priests were medical magicians rather than servants of the temple.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BajnWqXgF1o/?taken-by=nm.illustration