Happy Valentine's Day!

Be My Unicorn
Medium: digital art

The Fall of Lucifer

Defeated Foe
Medium: digital painting

Depicting the fall of Lucifer, this painting seeks to portray Lucifer as very real, but that  he is a defeated foe. For all his talk, he's nothing more than a created being completely under God's control. His halo, which was used in traditional Christian artwork to portray purity and innocence, is shattering, and his wings are being burned black. In the background, another angel has already made the choice to be burned and is being chased out of Heaven.

A fair amount of research went into this painting. According to Ezekial 28:14, Lucifer is, or was, a cherub (singular of cherubim, and not to be confused with the secular Putti, nude infants with wings). Fortunately for me, cherubim are one of the few angelic creatures that the Bible actually gives us a description of, however vague and confusing it may be. Ezekial 1:4-28 and Ezekial 10 describe cherubim as having four wings and four faces - human, bull, lion, and eagle (interestingly enough, avian, bovine, human, and feline features appear frequently in pagan religious artwork, leading to the theory that many pagan gods may actually have been fallen cherubim, perhaps Satan himself. Seeing as he wanted to be like God, it stands to reason that he would want people to worship him as a god.) It's not said what their bodies look like, but Ezekial does describe them as having human hands. They are described as having calf's feet, and, while his feet are in shadow, I do paint him with cloven feet. It's speculated that the satyr image of devils originated with the calf foot description. Ezekial also describes them as sometimes being accompanied by concentric wheels which are "full of eyes," and that the spirits of the cherubim are within the wheels (perhaps some sort of angelic external hard drive?), but as it's uncertain if the Ophanum, as they are called, are part of the cherubim or simply another creature that typically accompanies them. In Luke 2:18, Lucifer is described as falling from Heaven "like lightning," which I incorporated as God's judgment taking the form of lightning.

Lion King Horses: Nuka

Lion King Horses: Nuka
Medium: digital painting

I had a request to draw Nuka from Lion King II: Simba's Pride as a horse, so here he is!

Fire Alicorn

Sparkling Flying Unicorn
Medium: pixel art

Arctic Wildlife

The Arctic Guard
Medium: digital painting

Just in time for the new year and winter, here is the arctic continent's guard, the Arctic Guard! We have Kion the polar bear (the fiercest), Fuli the snowshoe hare (the fastest), Bunga the arctic fox (the bravest), Beshte the musk ox (the strongest), and Ono the snowy owl (the keenest of sight.)

I picked a musk ox for Beshte because they are strong and tough. I almost made him a reindeer, but I decided to go for an ox because they are stouter than reindeer, which works well for Beshte. Kion is a polar bear because they're big, fierce, and they're iconic for the polar/arctic regions. Fuli is a snowshoe hare because they are incredibly fast runners (or hoppers?) over land and snow. Unfortunately she probably wouldn't be able to take on an enemy animal in one-on-one combat, but who knows? Maybe this bunny has a black belt. For Ono, there were many arctic birds to choose from, among them eagles and skuas, but I settled on a snowy owl because they are known for having more powerful night vision than other birds. Bunga was tricky, as he always is, (what exactly is bravery in the animal kingdom?), so to pick an animal for him, I watched nature documentaries and watched to see which types of animals were more likely to put themselves in danger. A lot of animals do that, naturally, especially birds, but one animal that I noticed always running into chaotic situations was the fox. Foxes frequently brave battles between larger predators in order to snatch scraps of food. While there are undoubtedly other animals that can be considered brave, I liked the idea of having a fox in the guard.


Ocean Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/08/marine-animals.html
Asian Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-asian-guard.html
North American Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/06/north-american-wildlife.html
Arctic Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2017/01/arctic-wildlife.html

Christmas Horse

Frosted Pine
Medium: digital painting

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

Castiel

Castiel
Medium: digital painting

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." - Castiel, Angel of the LORD

For those who don't know, Castiel is a fictional angel from the television show Supernatural, and arguably the fanbase's favorite character. There's speculation about whether he's based off of the angel Cassiel (Quafsiel, Mocoton, etc.) in extra-Biblical lore, but the show's writers haven't revealed that yet, so it’s most likely that the Castiel character was inspired by Cassiel and other angels, but is not meant to be any particular angel in lore. I made his wings white with rainbow iridescence, because I don’t think of his wings as black, dark gray, or blue (that was just their shadow in season 4). I didn't want to make them just plain white, however, because Revelation and other books of the Bible describe rainbows in Heaven. It's not clear where the rainbows are coming from, but I figured iridescent wings would look fabulous either way! I also took inspiration from Mrs. Whatsit in A Wrinkle in Time. I suspect she was representative of an angel.

“Now, don’t be frightened, loves,” Mrs Whatsit said. Her plump little body began to shimmer, to quiver, to shift. The wild colors of her clothes became muted, whitened. The pudding-bag shape stretched, lengthened, merged. And suddenly before the children was a creature more beautiful than any Meg had even imagined, and the beauty lay in far more than the outward description. Outwardly Mrs Whatsit was surely no longer a Mrs Whatsit. She was a marble white body with powerful flanks, something like a horse but at the same time completely unlike a horse, for from the magnificently modeled back sprang a nobly formed torso, arms, and a head resembling a man’s, but a man with a perfection of dignity and virtue, an exaltation of joy such as Meg had never before seen. No, she thought, it’s not like a Greek centaur. Not in the least.

From the shoulders slowly a pair of wings unfolded, wings made of rainbows, of light upon water, of poetry.

Calvin fell to his knees.

“No,” Mrs Whatsit said, though her voice was not Mrs Whatsit’s voice. “Not to me, Calvin. Never to me. Stand up.”

- A Wrinkle in Time, chapter 5


I wouldn't recommend Supernatural for everyone, certainly not underage people or those trying to figure out what they believe, but it is a fun show when taken as what it's meant to be: fiction. The characters are very interesting and well-written. None of them are 100% good or 100% bad, except maybe some of the monsters, of course. The show definitely has a sense of humor! It knows how to laugh at itself.

I haven't decided what I think of the show's portrayal of angels. Its portrayal of God is, well, how about NO, but with angels, it got some things right and some things wrong. One thing I definitely appreciated is how angels are portrayed as fearsome warriors rather than the fluffy fairies that pop culture depicts them as. 2 Kings 19:35 pretty much lays it out nicely. Angels are beast.



As with all my artwork, I don't mind this being shared on Pintrest, fansites, or other like websites, but if you see this picture anywhere without my signature and website URL in the bottom right-hand corner, then it has been stolen.

The Asian Guard

The Asian Guard
Medium: digital painting

In my next installment of the Lion Guard as animals from all the different continents, here is the Asian Guard! It's Fuli the blackbuck (the fastest), Beshte the Asian elephant (the strongest), Ono the tarsier (the keenest of sight), Bunga the Asian palm civet (the bravest), and Kion the tiger (the fiercest).

Asia is such a vast continent with so many different ecosystems that I almost feel like it should have several guards. Most of these animals are from India. I chose a blackbuck for Fuli because they're among the top ten fastest animals in the world (as in running from point A to point B.) She's a doe, so she's neither black nor a buck, but that's life. Kion is a tiger because, well, it's a tiger! Beshte is an Asian elephant because what else would he be? Bunga is an Asian palm civet because they are typically pretty solitary like honey badgers, and they can be very tough when they need to be, and because I thought his colors would transfer well. I had planned on making Ono a bird of prey, but then as I was doing my research I started reading up on tarsiers, and they have incredible eyesight. They have possibly the best night vision of many animals in the world, and their distance vision isn't half bad, either.

Ocean Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/08/marine-animals.html
Asian Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-asian-guard.html
North American Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/06/north-american-wildlife.html
Arctic Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2017/01/arctic-wildlife.html

Rose Dragon

Rose Dragon
Medium: digital painting

Rose Dragons are gentle herbivores. They are secretive and are rarely seen, living in the most remote mountain forests. They have the magical ability to spread love. They live in pairs. They are associated with love and romance, and courting couples will often seek out a Rose Dragon as an omen of good fortune on their future marriage.

Although gentle by nature, they are capable of defending themselves and their homes. Their thorny claws, horns, and spines are very sharp and strong, and although they rarely flame, their fire is extremely hot.

Rose Dragons are most often seen in the springtime when young males collect red objects to decorate their dens. Once he's satisfied with his decor, he flies to high ground and fans his wings to spread his blossom-scented pheromones. Females can smell him from miles away, and those without mates will generally arrive to inspect his handiwork. If she's pleased with his den, the two mate for life. Rose Dragons lay a single egg once every 50 years.

Disney Princess Ponies (post #1)

Disney Princesses as my little ponies! I'll be drawing them all, hopefully, but these are just the ones I have so far.

My Little Ariel
Medium: digital painting

My Little Pocahontas
Medium: digital painting

My Little Anna
Medium: digital painting

My Little Elsa
Medium: digital painting