#africanvampires

[cloudyskycomics]

For this Halloween I'm diving into mythological creatures of Africa. First up is the Obayifo, a vampire/witch-like mythological creature from West Africa coming from the folklore of the Ashanti. In Ashanti folklore, obayifo are very common and may inhabit the bodies of any man or woman. They are described as having shifty eyes and being obsessed with food. When travelling at night they are said to emit a phosphorescent light from their armpits and anus.

[paraparaisland]

Iya sketches !! Top circa 2019 and Bottom January 2021. 

Iya is a Manananggal and a film student, she makes small indie horror movies inspired by 80s gore and Japanese horror films. She is quite introverted and lacks self confidence, and struggles with depression and anxiety in ebs and flows. However she loves her craft, constantly writing and daydreaming about scripts, she is at her happiest behind a camera directing her actors. She works in big spurts, writing and sketching until 3 am, black circles under her eyes, for 5 days non stop, and then will not touch anything for 2 weeks.

She struggles with her bodyimage, and likes to emulate pretty women from anime she grew up with, with a modern streetstyle twist. She wears purples, neon yellows and pinks mostly. 

She takes terrible care of herself, generally favouring helping other people and her friends than actually worrying about her own issues. She mostly lives off instant ramen, fried octopus, boba tea and pretty much nothing else.She is very funny, but nervous around other/new people. It takes a while to really get to know her as a person. 

Top sketch: Iya & Qued. They were “platonic” best friends who took art class together.

Bottom Sketch: Iya and her best friend Akua! Akua is a vampire than runs a vegan african food truck on the beach. She is very loud and impulsive and gets drunk a lot but has the best intentions and is very sweet.