I decided to play around with Crowley's image.
In my gaze you shall become a guest,
Freed from all that once burdened thee.
A tender shoot you'll rise anew,
Rooted deep within my land,
Feeding it with thine own blood
For my favor, freely granted by my hand.
I am not one known for mercy—
Why such unease? Why such distress?
Take my hand. Do not be afraid.
I shall lead thee home to rest.
Every fear, every doubt, every memory...
So, I have to say that Crowley's character feels very strong and straightforward to me… The only thing more straightforward is a brick flying straight at your head. The raven holds sacred meaning in mythologies around the world. The most famous example is Huginn and Muninn (Odin's ravens) — "thought" and "memory." These birds have always been associated with magic, gods, the otherworld, and knowledge. So, as soon as I saw Crowley, I thought: "Aha, this gentleman is no fool."
That's why from the very beginning, Crowley has been a "little pie with a surprise" to me — I expect something chthonic from him. In this artwork, I wanted to explore how I imagine the image of a raven as an arcane mage, and I also added a certain idea by combining it with the image of the valravn.
(An online explanation: according to various versions of Danish sagas, the valravn came into being like this — a knight (or, according to other sources, a king) fought and died on the battlefield. Ravens came to the corpse and began to peck at it. The raven that ate the knight's heart became a valravn — a bird endowed with human intelligence, memory, and experience. The valravn is also gifted with special powers. The legends say that the valravn "can lead people astray" and "commits great atrocities.") I also found a ballad that mentions the valravn drinking human blood in order to become human himself. "Valravnen" is classified as type DgF 60/TSB A 17 (1555–1559):
"...Then they brought out that little child,
Who lay on his mother's breast and sucked milk.
The raven pierced his chest,
*Drank half his heart's blood: *
Then he became the most beautiful knight
That could ever be found on earth..."
And I thought: what if Crowley came into our world for some selfish purpose and is pretending to be this irresponsible director? Besides, ravens are among the most intelligent birds — but if they're bored and have no training to expend their energy, they start destroying everything around them.Initially, I planned to make just empty shards, but then I came up with the idea of filling them with the characters of my close friends. In doing so, I wanted, firstly, to express my affection and tender feelings for the girls; and secondly, to show that this universe has brought us together, and we're living out the story in our own way — but together. And most importantly — every story matters.
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