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Submitted: September 21, 2011
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The Children of Lirby ~MissAisling

Digital Art / Drawings & Paintings / Illustrations / Storybook

Two days form now (23rd of September ) is Culture Night here in ireland. It's an annual event where people all over the country take part in events to celebrate irish culture and heritage.

is having a sort of contest for culture night, and since I wont be able to do anything on the night for it, I decided to get mine in early (even though group admins cant win, but hey I like to participate!)

Anyways, The contest thing is to show in your chosen medium what you love about Irish culture. And I have to say, I love mythology in general... and digital painting. When I was a kid my grandmother gave me a book of Irish myths and legends, and the one I loved the most was The Children of Lir. It is a very sad, yet strangely beautiful story. And when I imagine the four swans out on the water, they always have an ethereal pressence in my mind, so I hope that comes accross in this.

If you are interested in finding out about the story of The Childrne of Lir, go here : [link]

it's long so I will try to summarise as best I can.

Basically, Lir was a king, and he had four children. Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn. Upon giving birth to the last two, the twins Fiachra and Conn, his wife Eva died. After a time Lir married a woman named Aoife (Eva's sister) and they were happy for a time. But Aoife became jealous of Lir's children and the attention he gave them, and she was a witch. So one day she lured them to the lake to swim, and while they were in the water she cast a spell on them, turning them into swans.

They spend the next 1000 years or so roaming the lakes and seas in exile and misery. At the end they reach a monastery and are treated well. When the spell wore off they turned into four withered and aged creatures, and are baptised before dying a peaceful death.

Tools:
Photoshop CS3
Intuos4
3 hours.

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~giessen Sep 24, 2011 Professional Photographer

This is lovely! Well done

~MissAisling Sep 26, 2011 Student Digital Artist

Thanks

~shirowwolf Sep 22, 2011

That's pretty keen! I have Irish ancestry, but I don't think I'll be able to come up with something to post. D8 Aw well..

This is a story I had not heard before, but I agree that it is somehow 'strangely beautiful.' I suppose because the children/swans wander for so long, with nothing, but eventually find not only a place they are finally treated well, but return home, to God, and I imagine their parents as well, upon death. They find true peace. There's just....something about that to truly appreciate. I do, anyway.

I didn't notice the tears on the first swan's eye when I first looked at this! D8 I also didn't originally notice the tears in the girl's reflection either! But you know...then I did. 8P And those eyes....always watching in the background....They do seem pretty sinister. I like the eyebrows close down to eyes, making them seem more piercing and well, sinister, like I said. The swans themselves look good, too!

I also like how there seems to be some fog on the lake (or...smoke? 'Smoooooooooke oonn theee Waaaaaaaaaaaateeeerrrrrrrrrr!' Sorry. >D). It's a nice effect, and adds to the moodiness and sadness!

...hey, this is something you should consider; write a book about Irish mythology and old stories and illustrate it like this! Doo eet. DOO EET. 8D

~MissAisling Sep 23, 2011 Student Digital Artist

Thanks, xD and yes there is fog.

I would love to illustrate those stories for publication, but I would not be one for writing them up.

~NervousTuna Sep 21, 2011

I've never heard this story before -- sure not a feel-good bedtime story, but maybe an inspirational one. The eyes in your piece definitely say "I'm a vengeful, spell-casting witchy type". I think it's something about the angle of the eyebrows? I don't know, I'm not so good with pointing out why I get the vibes I do from pictures, but I imagine you know why the eyes are saying what they're saying, because obviously you made an artistic choice to make them as such... I love how the tears turned out for the swan in the foreground, they're very bright, but very delicate; great balance there. Also great that that's there, because that informed me as to what the position of the swan in the background said. The position itself might have been saying "Yay, I'm a happy flapping swan", but the tears of the other swans (and the general mood created by the ominous eyes and the muted lighting/color) turned that position into a sort of heartbreaking expression of grief and almost hopelessness... there's a word I'm looking for, and it's not coming to me. Well, I'm going to assume you get what I'm saying. I think this is a very thoughtful and successful composition!

~MissAisling Sep 22, 2011 Student Digital Artist

Thank you for the detailed comment

I am really glad all of my subtle things did not go unnoticed.

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