#the pose is referenced from the stage prod of brokeback mountain. btw

[ketavinsky]

tavstarion/masqstarion art for @loyalhorror because im .... lowkey i am obsessed with the ship........ some progress shots below...

great googley moogley this took A LONG LONG LONGGG time to complete! for some truly absurd reason i decided to take this piece as an excuse to practice blues (something i never use) and a new brush set id ... again never used.... but finally heres something i can proudly present to you! the cage/chapel is referenced off a really cool art installation ill link once i find it because it is sO DOPE-- originally i was going to have hands reaching for them from beyond the chapel structure, but i thought that was a little on the nose considering their ThemesTM so instead heres some huge amorphous ambivalent serpent/bird coiling shape in the background! the masqstarion dynamic really strikes me, i really love everything about them, and i use birds and serpents as symbols of freedom, breaking cycles, finding kinship in places previously thought barren and loveless, and grappling with defining one's sense of self, in my own work so i thought hehe....... sneaky little nod to the Themes and Motifs....i regret that the serpent coil is so indistinct in the final piece of art bc i was FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE PAINTING IT!!! but i wanted to look as if the huge coil is converging on them in the distance, but it hasnt quite throttled them yet. in this moment theres still light in the sky. the inevitable thing hasnt closed in yet. the eternal thing hasnt closed in yet. theyre safe now, and happy.