South American Guard

South American Guard
Medium: digital painting

Just in time for summer, here is South America's guard! We have Kion the jaguar (the fiercest), Fuli the vicuña (the fastest), Bunga white-nosed coati (the bravest), Beshte the tapir (the strongest), and Ono the toco toucan (the keenest of sight.)

Kion of course had to be a jaguar (what other animal was there for him?), but the others were harder. South America has a lot of birds, jungle, and mountainous animals, but not much in the way of fast runners or exceptionally large, strong animals. I decided to go with a tapir for Beshte because they're sturdy and tough, and a vicunga for Fuli because they're plains/mountain-dwellers and can run reasonably fast. Herbivores that live out in the open must be speedy or they'll be killed off by predators. As always, Bunga was the hardest. Bravery is subjective. I decided to go with an animal that often hangs around humans, because in my opinion, an animal must be pretty "brave" to live so close to humans. And a toucan was a must for Ono, because...toucan!

Ocean Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar… 
Asian Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
North American Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
Arctic Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
Australian Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
South American Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…

Non-Verbal Learning Disorder

NLD
Medium: oil on canvas

An oil painting depicting non-verbal learning disorder. NLD people are very literal, so much so that others often misunderstand them by reading unintended meaning into their words. To an NLD person, understanding normal human speech is like constantly trying to crack a code. Interacting is exhausting, and while many NLD people truly love others, they usually need significant amounts of time alone to “recharge.” NLD people often hold views which many people consider to be contradictory because of the associations normal people make with those views. However, NLD people look at the views themselves rather than what people generally associate with them, and thus their views are not contradictory at all, but rather complimentary, like the colors in the painting.

Traditional Artwork

'Tis a Head
Medium: charcoal on paper

For Karissa
Medium: gouache on unprimed canvas

Goldfish
Medium: oil on canvas

Wolf

Dirty Paws
Medium: digital painting

Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slope.
The forest of talking trees,
They used to sing about the birds and the bees.
The bees had declared a war,
The sky wasn't big enough for them all.
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow.

So for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes.
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines.
But she and her furry friends
Took down the queen bee and her men.
And that's how the story goes,
The story of the beast with those four dirty paws!

-"Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters And Men

Springtime Horse

Spring Blossoms
Medium; digital painting

Pull out the tissues! Spring is here! And Happy early Easter, everyone!

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