[Art] Totoro and Heen as Totems. *squee*

[moonvoice]

I caved and have started listing multiple artworks in the same post again.
Pineapple is awesome.
Glen is particularly taken with Heen.
But of course he is!
It's Heen!


Totoro as Totem

Totoro and the Sootballs - from My Neighbour Totoro as envisioned by Hayao Miyazaki and the masters at Studio Ghibli.

The artwork is mine; the characters are not.

Totoro as a Totem Represents: Protecting the land and loved ones, whimsy, celebrating childhood at any age, respecting trees, planting trees, being a spokesperson for the woodland creatures, allowing oneself to feel confused or bewildered until it reveals knowledge, knowing the secret ways of the forests/woods, making and revelling in gentle magics.















Heen as Totem

Heen from the animated feature Howl's Moving Castle (adapted from Diana Wynne Jone's novel of the same name), as envisioned by Hayao Miyazaki and the masters at Studio Ghibli.

The artwork is mine; the characters are not.

Comments

[valkyriur]

OMG!! My mate and I are squeeing over Totoro!!

[moonvoice]

Yay! :D

[spider_fox]

Are these gonna be available as totem cards? :D

[moonvoice]

Oh no; but I'll probably put a little file up on the Wildspeak site eventually in the 'Mythological / Pop Art' section. :)

[silere]

I love that you included the soot sprites with Totoro! :D


And Heen just simply rocks! :D I love these, and so does my hubby.

[moonvoice]

I had to include the little soot sprites; they're so awesome!!

[ariestess]

Heen is gorgeous! And the Totoro? I am DYING of SQUEE over here! My inner child is just about bursting out, she's so happyful over this.

ETA :: I was reminded by said inner child that I didn't squee appropriately over the black soots. Because they rock! Srsly!

[moonvoice]

Heh, I've wanted to illustrate Totoro as a totem for so long now; so glad that I have!

[ariestess]

*nods* He's fantastic!

[shatterpath]

LOVE! They're both just perfect, particularly that faintly confused look that Totoro is so good at.

[moonvoice]

Heh, Totoro confused is so awesome. Like, they let a kami/god of the forest be happy and comfortable with expression bewilderment. I love it.

[eldriwolf]

Oh *Serious* "Squee caused by Cuteness" happening here! Thank you!

*Many Smiles*

[moonvoice]

Yay for cuteness squees!

[burningbright]

Ahmigahd the COLORS in the background, they're almost fantastical, I love it. :D

[moonvoice]

Hee yay!

[sonne_windsoul]

They look great :), and I especially like the Totoro one (his expression, plus the cute sootballs ;D).

[moonvoice]

The Totoro one is my favourite too. :D

[gone_fishing]

OMG *squee* *dies*

[moonvoice]

*bounces*

[feralkiss]

This is brilliant. ^^

[moonvoice]

:D

[drgnhlr]

SOOT!!!! *Squees* falls over ded and iz ded. CUTE!

I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle, but I can tell that Heen is a worldly dog, and really has the expression of "Oh fine, let's just get it over with".

Totoro is AWESOME! The soot sprites/balls are the key to the whole image.

Prints? Cost on original? If you are selling that is...

[moonvoice]

Totoro is unavailable and there won't be any prints made; but Heen is available and listed over at Etsy. :)

[silverjackal]

The dog looks particularly skeptical and world wise. Or is it just the "droopy eye" phenomenon? (I know that well from mastiffs and some hounds (like the Bassets) -- the dog just looks dejected even though they're nothing of the kind.)

[moonvoice]

Heen is kind of skeptical and world-wise, and always has a deeply cynical expression on his face (which just makes the scenes where he's a typically excited, happy dog even more awesome). He's a strange dog. I mean, he's constantly called an 'old dog' in the movie, but he has little red bird feet.

Glen was quite taken with Heen, who - though kind of 'minor' in the scheme of things - is one of his favourite characters. :D

[kath_ballantyne]

oh. OH!
These are just beautiful.
The colours and the expressions and just everything.
They make me very happy to look at.
Needed that tonight.
Thankyou

[moonvoice]

Aw I'm glad that gave you a happy!

Wombat snap!

[tangledaxon]

They're both beautiful, but... Heen!! <3 Aww.

[moonvoice]

Glen loves Heen too. He was so cool.

[ladymondegreen]

It's awesome to see these in your style. Beautiful work, wonderful quirky concept!

[moonvoice]

Hee thank you so much! :D

[enigmaticmagpie]

Oh my goodness, they are incredible! Curse you, money, for being already spent up this month!

But really what I am dying to know is what Totoro and Heen represent as totems! XD

[moonvoice]

I've just listed totem meanings for Totoro above, but here they are:


Totoro as a Totem Represents: Protecting the land and loved ones, whimsy, celebrating childhood at any age, respecting trees, planting trees, being a spokesperson for the woodland creatures, allowing oneself to feel confused or bewildered until it reveals knowledge, knowing the secret ways of the forests/woods, making and revelling in gentle magics.

[starstrider]

ZOMG they're too full of squee for words! And the soot sprites!!!

[moonvoice]

Soot sprites are so much love. :D

[white_rabbit]

Squee! These are absolutely perfect. :) You captured them beautifully!

[moonvoice]

Thank you so! :D

[eseme]

I came here from http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1633464.html

Your timing is amazing and sad. If you had not heard, Diana Wynne Jones passed away over the weekend.

Heen looks a bit sad or annoyed. I don't blame him.

Really lovely art.

[moonvoice]

If you had not heard, Diana Wynne Jones passed away over the weekend.

Yeah, I was aware of this. It was coincidental, in terms of timing (I started the illustrations before she'd passed away), but then I actually thought - with Heen - it was good timing in the end.

[eseme]

Yes the timing is good. Made me smile.

[firecat]

Love.

[moonvoice]

<3 :D

[toeknuckles]

These are just so ridiculously awesome and fun. 8-D

[moonvoice]

I knoooow. They were so much fun to do. :D

[bodlon]

These are utterly charming. I'm especially fond of Heen's expression. Though, er, that's par for the course there.