Flight of the Phoenix
Art Type: Digital Art
Publish Date: 4-3-2024
Note: This is my first Behance Project... Constructive criticism is always welcome.
If you want to skip directly to the artworks, please scroll down to the RED TEXTS
General Information
The Phoenix is one of the most famous birds of ancient mythology. A beautiful and noble creature known for its extraordinary lifecycle.
It first originated in the ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, first mentioned by Hesiod in the 7th or 8th century BC at the dawn of Greek literature. However, Hesiod did not write about any specific myths associated with the bird.
Description
According to Herodotus, another Greek scripter said that the Phoenix was roughly the size of an eagle. It was far more brightly-colored with red and gold plumage that shone in the sun.
Ovid, the famous Roman poet, made the relationship between the Phoenix and the sun more clear. It ate no food, he said, but lived off the light of the sun and its eyes flashed with golden fire.
The Complete Story
In the 4th century AD, the Roman poet Claudian completed the legend of the Phoenix as we know it today.
The Phoenix, he claimed, felt old age come upon itself. So to Egypt where the Temple of Helios was present. There, it made its funeral pyre and prayed to Apollo for renewed strength and vigor.
The Phoenix willingly offered itself to be burned by Apollo. The god of light was pleased and rewarded the bird by allowing it to be reborn into youth as the flames burned.
Claudian claimed that the fire bird was native to India and flew to Egypt every thousand years when it was reborn. It carried the ashes of its previous incarnation and placed them with reverence in the great temple at Heliopolis.
The artworks start here...
Artworks
Rising from its Ashes
. . . . . . .
Under Layers of Ice
. . . . . . .
A Light in the Dark
The Making Of...
The first attempt of this project started 4 years ago when art was still a new skill to be built upon.
Flashing forward 3 years later, I decided to recreate the work digitally, Here is a screenshot of work in progress...
This eventually built up to the final works. I hope you enjoyed going through my work. This is my first Behance project. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Thank you.