Just call me old Grandma Changes, Pencil drawing

Krytios Soto

Just call me Old Grandma Changes

Pencil on paper

8 x 10 inches

October 2013

I needed a break from my cartoon-styled illustrations. I've been working on a children's storybook for over a year and a half now (a totally independent project, so there's no rush) for which I've made about 40 sketches that have been further developed into about 24 full color illustrations. I may not use all 40 but either way, it's the biggest project I've ever done. So I really, really needed a break not just from the book itself, but from the large-headed simple cartoon figures. Obviously something like "Old Grandma Changes still retains some of that. It's made by the same person and my style always stays within the realm of illustration. I'm quite aware of that. But she still felt like a departure when I made her. 

I drew her back in October of 2013. The first thing that comes to mind when I try to look at her from an outsider's perspective, is that she reminds me of Bjork and her Biophilia project. I won't deny that Bjork is probably my favorite musician. I've even drawn Bjork before. But masked figures with gigantic hair and macrocosmic elements have been a recurring motif of mine since 2004, seven years before Biophilia. There is a belief among some that the Jungian collective unconscious can be seen in the works of creative people, famous or unknown. It happens all the time.

Sorpho the Atlantian

I went back to my fantastical treatment of Plato's account of Atlantis. I had made this particular character and similar ones before in pencil and now he's on canvas. Personally, I'm a big Atlantis aficionado. And there have been recent trends in archaeology that are suggesting it was a very real place. These findings point to Thera and Crete, home of the mysterious Minoan culture. 

There's a really interesting documentary on the subject hosted by historian Bettany Hughes. You can catch it here on Youtube. Her shows are hard to find here in the U.S. They're quite informative. 

And she's so cultured and knowledgable.

For Sorpho

Acrylic on Canvas

March 2014

Pallas Athena

I've been making a lot of images depicting gods and heroes from ancient Greek mythology lately. I've published close to none of them so far as I want this series completed and I don't feel it's time to let the cat out of the bag just yet. They are mostly an attempt at a Mycenaean or Minoan interpretation, style-wise, as most of these stories were said to take place in the late bronze age. This image of Athena, one of my favorite Goddesses of all time, is an exception. She's fully a familiar figure from classical Greece. I needed a new business card and web banner so I put her on it. Obviously this isn't the finished card.