Tag Archives: Yokai

Gateway Creature Acrylic on vintage catalogue page

Oddment103-Otoroshi-LeahPalmerPreissLately I get the feeling that Illustration Friday has been making up topics just for me! I love painting creatures of all sorts. I’m actually working on a new piece that fits the topic AND the last, but until that’s done, I’m offering Otoroshi, as previously posted in my Oddments blog (which is chock-full o’ creatures, by the way):

“This week’s entry for AlphaBeasts is Otoroshi, an exceptionally hairy, tusk-bearing, gate-guarding monster. Normally he hangs out on temple gates, but this time he’s gracing a Marvel-ous wire number from Jim Brown’s Catalogue, 1939.”

 

Namazu Acrylic on paper, ~6.75" x 4"

Oddment99-Namazu-LeahPalmerPreiss

I painted this last year as part of the AlphaBeasts! series.

From my old Oddments blog:

This week’s critter for AlphaBeasts! is Namazu, a giant catfish monster who causes earthquakes & tsunamis whenever he manages to wrestle free from his usual captive state. I thought it was interesting that catfish do tend to abandon their normal bottom-feeding habits when they feel tremors; their unusual activity at such times probably led to this legend.

Acrylic on illustration scanned from Cornell’s Primary Geography, 1873. (And yes, I know catfish don’t live in the ocean. Namazu is a river-beast. But I figured he might wander seaward when he’s in mid-mischief.)

Prints are available in my Etsy shop!