#masklike

[minkstudios1-photoblog]

© minkstudios 2023

[cinemaocd]

Peter, Damian, Kate and T. Brodie-Sangster, behind the scenes of The Mirror and the Light (2024).

[spookygibberish]

I am trying to think of what characteristics are important in designs for my stuff, what works and doesn't work, and it's very hard lmao.

For dagnyd designs I only really have a good sense of Jacanti's design language, but it walks a tightrope between decorative and functional. All dagnyds follow principles of other biological entities, and when they're ornate, they're ornate in a way that animals are. Especially fancy ones have lots of sculptural elements but what is Correct and what Isn't is so based on my own whims it's almost impossible to articulate.

Any dagnyd needs to be able to exist even if it's existence isn't comfortable. Something that actively looks like it's rotting doesn't work, but something that's experiencing the everyday torment of being born a pug is perfect.

Lots of "horror" designs don't actually work bc they don't look functional as creatures. No dagnyds should be especially recognizable as any particular animal, or just an animal with other animal bits stapled on. A lipless ghoul beast and a dog with wings both don't work equally. If something has exposed teeth they will need to be tusks that are designed for that. A dog with wings isn't transformed enough, it needs a humanlike face or hands or something too, or scales or a monkey tail or a vase for a head. The only dagnyds that are humanoid are almost entirely indistinguishable from humans (other than a mark on their back thats baisically a fancy keloid), none of them are JUST people shaped with extra stuff glued on. Lots of dagnyds also end up with masklike or "ceramic" faces. Even when this is the case they still need to be able to eat and shit and shit like that, all dagnyds have the standard suite of biological needs.

Dagnyds are also not really spec bio creatures. They should have thought out biology but they explicitly did not evolve and are created by people. Think of them more as preindustrial meat robots or fancy homunculi. They are tools created by people while also themselves being people.

Anyways have a Waterbearer as an example design

[fallenangels1987]

i keep trying to find good excerpts from this article to make a comic about but all of it fits so so so so well so i implore you to just read the whole thing and play in this mind palace with me

imagine being the protagonist of a greek tragedy and the chorus nigh-unanimously votes for your death. thats basically what happened to jason todd

[artifacts-archive]

Tripod Incense Burner (Censer) with Peony-Leaf Scrolls, Netlike Petals, and Masklike Legs

China, Northern Song (960–1127) or Jin dynasty (1115–1234), c. 12th century

[fashionsfromhistory]

Visor in the form of a Human Face

c.1515

Attr. Kolman Helmschmid

Helmets fitted with masklike visors were a popular German and Austrian fashion about 1510 to 1540. With their visors forged and embossed as humorous or grotesque human masks, such helmets were often worn in tournaments held during the exuberant pre-Lenten (Shrovetide) festivals, celebrations somewhat akin to the modern Mardi Gras. Substitute visors of more conventional type were often provided for everyday use.

The MET (Accession Number: 04.3.286a)

[alenablack]

His features were not those Harry had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron almost two years before; they were not as snakelike, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle. It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that Harry knew they would become. He was wearing a long black cloak and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders. - Half-blood Prince

[inchidentally]

this is absolutely apropos only of having read sanctus by debrief and feeling my two brain cells possibly so excited that they made a few more bc it is classical literature as landoscar fic !!?? and I was like hmmm what's that famous Medici painting bc the domscar submission from @justatiredhuman sure seems to fit that really well in my head - not fully accurate since Oscar was very much in the opposite social position but still

and sorry but I made this

bUTTTT also

the Met page where I got the image from had this little blurb and okay so this part is absolutely Oscar

"In this supremely elegant portrait, the aloof sitter presents a masklike face of calm composure"

and now maybe I'm too A Stupid and this is a really common reference but the fact that they theorize the book is Petrarch poetry ?? which is a key device in the fic ??

"The literary interests of the sitter are indicated by the small book (of Petrarch’s poetry?) he marks with his finger."

like I'm sorry this was all way too much but I love how fic actually makes me feel smarter <3<3

[arthistoryanimalia]

It's #WorldGorillaDay! 🦍

Houston Chandler (American, 1914–2015) Gorilla, c.1946 Wood, 8 5/8 x 7 3/4 x 5 1/8 in. (21.9 x 19.7 x 13 cm) Saint Louis Art Museum 1124:2010

"'Gorilla' features smooth surfaces, abstracted forms, and a masklike face. These elements are evidence of Houston Chandler’s search for 'the simplicity that brings out the greatest line of expression.' Though the gorilla rests in a hunched pose, its muscular limbs, arranged in diagonals across its body, allude to its physical power."

[wizaardvarksworkshop]

The Skullmonger is the first in a series of related, unique abberations for D&D 5e that I am crafting and homebrewing stats for. This one is can be used as a spooky source of lost knowledge for a party in dire need and with the questionable morals to disturb the dead.

This was scratchbuilt from a number of odds and ends, including a toy stingray (sans tail), some ancient and terrible air dry clay for the sluggy body, hot glue for the goopy arm, perished rubber bands for the Bloodborne-inspired shaggy, matted coat, and a wooden pellet for a goofy-looking skull. I wanted to go for a mix of spooky and whimsical - a being mixed up out of many textures, substances and shapes, with an unusual masklike face that's hard to quite process at first glance.

Soon enough, there will be miniatures and stats for the Skullmonger's Fragments, as well as Fragments summoned by other strange beings from the place between planes. These will all come with stats and lore for a homebrewed setting, but with enough left vague that you can put them into any setting of your choice!

[art-portraits]

Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair

Artist: Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)

Date: 1893

Medium: OIl on Canvas

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Description

This portrait is one in a series of four Paul Cezanne made of his wife, Emélie-Hortense Fiquet, whom he met when she worked as an artist’s model. They had a son together in 1872 and married in 1886. Technical examination suggests that Cezanne traced this image, the second in the series, from the first portrait, which he made from life. In contrast to her masklike expression, Hortense’s hands are agitated, contorted by crisscrossing brushstrokes and the dark-blue outlines Cezanne used to sketch out the forms, which remain visible in the final work.

[violettesiren]

This is a simple poem. for the mothers sisters daughters girls I have never been for the women who clean the Staten Island Ferry for the sleek witches who burn me at midnight in effigy because I eat at their tables and sleep with their ghosts.

These stones in my heart are you of my own flesh whittling me with your sharp false eyes searching for prisms falling out of your head laughing me out of your skin because you do not value your own self nor me.

This is a simple poem I will have no mother no sister no daughter when I am through and only the bones are left see how the bones are showing the shape of us at war clawing our own flesh out to feed the backside of our masklike faces that we have given the names of men.

Donald DeFreeze I never knew you so well as in the eyes of my own mirror did you hope for blessing or pardon lying in bed after bed or was your eye sharp and merciless enough to endure beyond the deaths of wanting?

With your voice in my ears with my voice in your ears try to deny me I will hunt you down through the night veins of my own addiction through all my unsatisfied childhoods as this poem unfolds like the leaves of a poppy I have no sister no mother no children left only a tideless ocean of moonlit women in all shades of loving learning a dance of open and closing learning a dance of electrical tenderness no father no mother would teach them.

Come Sambo dance with me pay the piper dangling dancing his knee high darling over your wanting under your bloody white faces come Bimbo come Ding Dong watch the city falling down down down lie down bitch slow down nigger so you want a cozy womb to hide you to pucker up and suck you back safely well I tell you what I’m gonna do next time you head for the hatchet really need some nook to hole up in look me up I’m the ticket taker on a queen of rollercoasters I can get you off cheap.

This is a simple poem sharing my head with dreams of a big black woman with jewels in her eyes she dances her head in a golden helmet arrogant plumed her name is Colossa her thighs are like stanchions or flayed hickory trees embraced in armour she dances in slow earth shaking motions that suddenly alter and lighten as she whirls laughing the tooled metal over her hips comes to an end and at the shiny edge an astonishment of soft black curly hair.

Scar by Audre Lorde

[eucanthos]

François Clouet   (FR, 1510 - 1572)

Dame au bain (A Lady in Her Bath), ca. 1571 [detail]. Oil on oak wood 92.3 × 81.2 cm (36.3 × 31.9 in) Collection National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The allegorical analysis of many details (ironic presence of the unicorn; bowl of fruit, symbol of sensual gluttony with the bunch of grapes, red carnation symbol of her multiple engagements) suggests that the bare-breasted woman is Mary Stuart whose sentimental deviations were the laughingstock of all Europe.)

The painting could also be an allegory of the three theological virtues: the child would be hope, the nurse would be nourishing faith and the naked woman would be charity.

The National Gallery writes:

The masklike symmetry of the bather's face makes exact identification difficult; scholars have suggested that her aristocratic features indicate that she is one of several royal mistresses of Henry II, most notable among them Diane de Poitiers. It is possible that the nude, a Venus type, represents ideal beauty rather than a specific individual. The contrast of the smoothly rendered nude figure to the intricate surface details of the fruit, draperies, and jewelry, presents a union of Flemish and Italian motifs that characterized French courtly art of the sixteenth century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lady_in_Her_Bath

[acknowledgetheabsurd]

"Now and then, in the intervals between bouts of fever and coughing fits, Tarrou still gazed at his friends. But soon his eyes opened less and less often and the glow that shone out from the ravaged face in the brief moments of recognition grew steadily fainter. The storm, lashing his body into convulsive movement, lit it up with ever rarer flashes, and in the heart of the tempest he was slowly drifting, derelict. And now Rieux had before him only a masklike face, inert, from which the smile had gone forever. This human form, his friend's, lacerated by the spear-thrusts of the plague, consumed by searing, superhuman fires, buffeted by all the raging winds of heaven, was foundering under his eyes in the dark flood of the pestilence, and he could do nothing to avert the wreck. He could only stand, unavailing, on the shore, empty-handed and sick at heart, unarmed and helpless yet again under the onset of calamity."

-Albert Camus, The Plague

[x]

[racfoam]

hello bet author in the world can we get more snippets of like teenage Harrison with Harriet and Voldemort. Thank you best author in the world

Sure thing. Here is a short snippet of 17-year-old Harrison getting read to officially meet Hermione's parents (even though they met him at Kings Cross)

“Harrison, your coat is on the wrong side.”

“No, it — oh, bugger! I hate Muggle clothes.”

“Here is the dental care box for her parents," said Harry.

“Thanks, mum.”

“How do I look?” Harrison asked.

“Great!” said Harry, beaming at her son.

“Like a Muggle,” scowled Voldemort, disgusted. “You better burn those clothes after you are done with them or I will disown you. Have you used the hair gel at all? It’s a mess."

Harrison's shoulders slumped; he looked like a kicked puppy. “I did...”

Harry elbowed Voldemort in the ribs, giving him a scolding glare

“He needs an honest opinion,” replied Voldemort.

“He’s already nervous enough, don’t worsen his suffering,” said Harry.

“He's met them every year on the platform,” said Voldemort, face masklike.

“Yeah, but not as Hermione’s boyfriend,” said Harrison, grabbing the roses.

“We never had this problem,” said Voldemort.

“Sheesh, Tom, I wonder why.” said Harry sarcastically.

“I'm out. Wish me luck."

Harrison bumped his head on the way out. “Ow! Bloody... Stupid doorframe."

He smacked the offending doorframe with his left palm, then exited the house, gift bag in hand and bouquet in hands. They heard him vanish into Apparition with a crack.

“He got that from you,” said Harry. Voldemort always glared at the doorframes whenever he forgot to duck under them. One time, he blasted the entire wall down for the offense.

“They need to take my height into consideration.” murmured Voldemort.

“Yes, because every man is six foot four.”

[artifacts-archive]

Seated Figure Censer (Incensario)

Maya

5th–6th century

Censers, or incensarios, have been discovered in a wide range of contexts, from the steps of temples to cave interiors, indicative of the importance of burning rituals in ancient Mesoamerica. It is thought that billowing clouds of smoke, produced by the burning of copal incense, accompanied every major ceremony in the Maya realm. Depicted on the censer illustrated here is a seated figure, perhaps a ruler, surrounded by aspects of mythological creatures that are stacked about his head and symmetrically flank his sides. The central figure is in higher relief, sitting cross-legged with arms carefully positioned in front of his chest. The position of the hands, held inward and touching, is known from sculpted stone monuments, where it carries connotations of rulership. A human head or masklike element is depicted in the figure's lap. The figure may represent a generalized concept of revered ancestor.

source