04-19-2011

whoa! long time no update! sorry about that. the research project i was doing got real busy, and i had to rush around the city and had to hop to Camotes Island to gather data. everything's settled now, so here i am. although i didn't have time to update my art blog, i did have some time to do art.

Leonard Katsuyama (c) J. L. Malgapo/Ruin of Eden
Commission by Dan Arrojado 2011

first of three steampunk commissions for Ruin of Eden. this was mad fun to do because there were a lot of things i've never done before. waves, birds, painting islands. it took me a while but i finished it and loved the result.

Honor Suico (c) Dan Arrojado, 2011

i decided to continue painting an old drawing i've had lying around but couldn't actually finish the thing. the anatomical errors drove me nuts and i was in no mood to correct them. this was the only part i still liked. honor has an amazing nose. <3

Kaban (c) Dan Arrojado, 2011

i recently entered a monster man design contest on Ygallery on a whim. i figured, why not? i love monsters and my experiences with contests have been less than fabulous. no harm in trying again. lo, something amazing happened and i won first place! this is Kaban, my hoarder monster. have some copy pasta regarding his origins:

When the human plague of the west reached the shores of the beastlands, villages and tribes were crushed under ruthless human swords. The beastkin cried out to their gods to deliver unto them a savior; unto their shaman was delivered Kaban, a powerful but newly born earth spirit. But before Kaban could bond with his shaman-summoner, an act that would make Kaban a single-minded and unstoppable force, the shaman was slain.
Without a point of focus, Kaban finds his young mind wandering. It certainly doesn’t help that Kaban discovered he had a powerful attraction to all things that glitter, precious stones and precious metals of all forms and mold, shapes and sizes, and possibly even tin foil. This crippling obsession and the need to hoard his treasures makes Kaban forget his purpose and furthermore, makes Kaban forget that he is not flesh and bone.
Over the years, he’s wandered away from the voices of the beastkin that could possibly guide him back to his path and into the deep and treacherous forest and the marshes past it. He currently lives in a cave that is difficult to located, right at the border of the forest and the marshes. From a formless spirit, he’s started believing that he’s actually alive, just as the animals around him are. His physical body has started to form the organs of living creatures, things that are necessary for the physical functions Kaban is not supposed to have. Currently, he has internal organs, blood flowing in his veins, and a solid bone structure and if left to his own devices, without a new shaman to bond with him, Kaban will slowly and surely become “mortal”.
*
Contrary to having razor sharp claws and two sets of jaws with ferocious bite power, Kaban is actually a gentle soul. He enjoys being able to hear himself think as well as being able to hear the forest and the marshes around him. He can be easily excitable, especially when he’s just acquired a new piece of jewelry to his collection. He’s slow to anger and to invoke his wrath takes some creativity. Certain death comes to those who touch his collection, however.
Kaban’s six eyes have the ability to go in different directions at the same time, greatly enhancing his perception of his surroundings. He abuses this to examine more than one piece of jewelry at the same time. His two jaws don’t just contain teeth; they’re both capable of speech, unfortunately they like to talk over each other. It’s common for one mouth to talk over the other. He sometimes likes to tell jokes but his jokes don’t carry through very well when his other mouth gives the first mouth’s punchline away. Not to mention he has a tendency to get distracted easily.
He has some magic in him but he’s never used it in his life. It’s believed however that it’s powerful magic and perhaps the key to driving the human plague away.
Humans and beastkin who have come very close to finding him have described a heavy “smell of new rain and soil” in the air. When someone will find him (and that’s if they survive the forest and the marshes), they’ll see Kaban with moss on his belly and legs, leaves and twigs in his hair, examining his latest acquisition.
*
Trivia: Kaban’s name is from the Cebuano/Bisaya word for “treasure chest” or “trunk.”

Fan art for Inception
Dan Arrojado, 2011

last but not the least, i also participated in the Inception Reverse Bang! i did art for The Azure Blue's Undercurrent. it's my OTP of Eames/Robert and it involves dissassociation, dark themes, bondage and violence. you can find my art master post here!