Shi-Gu - Itzcacalotl

Mysticism of a Hopeless Atheist - Developement of an Obsession - Mexican animator and wanna be story teller. Working on my webcomic Codex Black.

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Evil Donají be like... hold on... 🤯

I was inspired by Setzeri's recent art of his characters' evil versions, and felt like doing it with Donají, but upon thinking of her opposite personality traits, suddenly it's unclear which one is the evil twin.

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15th vs 21st centuries Donají

No matter the era, Donají always getting in trouble with authorities.

This is an idea I had in my head for several years already. It's actually a redraw of a panel from Codex Black's chapter 7 (book 2), where she's forced to fight a group of Mexica warriors without her poncho.

You could say this is how Donají ended in jail.

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A piece of useless trivia: When designing Donají's mom, Béelia, aside from a single unruly curl, I drew her hair with all the same basic elements of Donají's hairstyle. Though instead of fluffy/pointy, she has straight ends, contrasting their opposite personalities.

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New art for you-know-what-site 🌬

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There's a town in the Cuicatec Highlands named Chiquihuitlan, "Place of Baskets" (also known as Chivine). In ancient times, its inhabitants were abducted and eaten by monstrous two-headed eagles, so they started wearing large baskets on their heads so that the eagles would snatch those instead.

Its other name, Chivine, is Cuicatec for "Extinct Lagoon." Thing is, the eagles would mostly attack the people who approached a lagoon that existed beside the town, so aside from wearing baskets to protect themselves, the townspeople decided to dry the lagoon through offerings and rituals. The lagoon effectively dried out, and with it, the two-headed eagles eventually vanished. Chiquihuitlan is a Nahuatl name, so it was imposed on the town much later under the Triple Alliance's expansion into the region, so some people think that the Nahuas might have seen the people of Chivine still wearing baskets over their heads, thus naming it "Place of Baskets" or "Where Baskets Abound."

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Xolotl, god of twins, monsters, deformities, and the personification of the Evening Star (Afternoon Venus). Very quick doodle (?), speedpaint (?)

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Design I drew for an Ex libris (bookplate) stamp I'm planning to carve on linoleum.

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Donají 🌼🔥

Just isolated this Donají from her family portrait drawing. I always liked how she looks here, but I had drawn all characters in the same layer, so I finally separated her to use as reference/official art.

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A new exclusive pin-up 🌊

Early access to this Xolotl illustration 🐕

These and more available you-know-where!

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Para seguidores en Ecatepec y alrededores, este domingo estaré en el Museo de Vestigios Arqueológicos de Ecatepec, donde daré una pequeña plática sobre Códice Negro, mi novela gráfica, y sobre mi trabajo. ¡Ojalá puedan asistir!✨

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March 21st is Donají's birthday!

Since my tablet isn't working at the moment, I did a traditional watercolor. Donají is holding a quecholli (Platalea Ajaja).

And some photo close-ups:

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Codex Black Height Chart!

Not all characters are here yet, but I'll be adding them as the story progresses. Character ages represent their age by the last day of 1493 (or at time of death if applicable). For example, Itzcacalotl is 18 here, but still 17 in the comic, since his birthday is in December, while the story has developed between March and May so far.

Also, some character variations:

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Citlalmina & Tlazolteotl at the temple's entrance

It's not that Citlalmina is tiny, but Tlazolteotl, as a goddess, can appear whatever size she pleases, in this case enormous.

There's an alt version you-know-where, related to the "bunny on the moon" motif 🐰👯‍♀️

The temple entrance is based on my own speculative design of Tlazolteotl's temple:

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I made a "blueprint" for my design of the temple, so that I can later make a 3D model of it. It's quite massive, but it's supposed to be Tlazolteotl's main sanctuary in a fictional Huastec city so I don't mind it being exceptionally imposing. I'm very rusty on my 3D skills, so I dunno if I should do it on Blender or Sketchup. Either way I'll have to learn again from scratch.

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Immediately thought of the main trio of Codex Black

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Huntress-Warrior Donají 🦌🏹🐆

Donají with the attributes of God of Hunt, Mixcoatl. This drawing is full of symbols related to Donají's past, present and future, as well as to Chicahualizteotl, but I won't go into much detail. It took much longer than usual!

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Warrior-Hunter Donají sketch. Been entertaining the idea of a possible sigil for Donají being a jaguar with deer antlers. I was mainly inspired by a strange depiction in Codex Bodley of a jaguar with what look like "horns."

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Sketch of a two-headed monster eagle