#inspomasterlist

Myrtles (flowering plants most common in the color white) were sacred to the Goddess Aphrodite because they represented love and beauty. They were frequently planted in her temples, and she was often depicted with a myrtle crown in Ancient Greek art. I decided to add myrtle earrings and a crown to the painting as symbols of Piper’s mother, Aphrodite. 

Nikon D5600 to take this photo at the Cougar Mountain Zoo (Issaquah, Washington). It was used as a reference for this tiger painting! Bagheera is a very good model.

I was heavily inspired by this painting! I think Marzewski does a fantastic job at creating a vivid atmosphere and making the intense yellow really pop. I feel like this artwork instantly draws the audience in and I tried to replicate that in my own painting.

Since I primarily used cool blues and purples for Annabeth’s painting, I instinctively went for much warmer colors in Piper’s! It ended up looking like a warm sunset vs. Annabeth’s calm sunrise. Someone on Twitter said they look like the “sun and moon” 😊.

One of my favorite parts of my Annabeth fanart was her armband, so I decided to create a similar one for Piper! This stater, produced by the Greek city of Sikyon, was used as my reference. A chimera and dove are depicted on reverse sides of the coin. Doves were commonly regarded as peaceful and affectionate animals, and the Greeks and Romans felt they were symbolic of Aphrodite for these reasons. The dove’s juxtaposition to the monstrous chimera makes this coin a depiction of “war and peace”. I felt that this iconography went well with Piper McLean’s personality. 

Drawing clothing has always been pretty difficult for me, so I studied ancient Greek statues for help. The Greeks put great care into carving statues, so it’s easy to understand how these fabrics were draped on the human body. This particular statue is wearing a “peplos” body-length garment and a “kolpos” for the top. I painted Annabeth in a similar fashion, but ended up customizing it as I went along. 

(PS, if you haven’t listened to this song, you definitely should. It’s absolutely beautiful)

I based Annabeth’s metal band on this ancient Athenian coin. I wanted to include two symbols to honor her mother Athena: An owl was an embodiment of Athena’s wisdom, and an olive tree was seen as a symbol of peace and prosperity for the Greeks.