I decided to use the first two chapters of ‘Women and other Monsters’ to create some pieces of work inspired by modern day beauty, cultural beauty and natural beauty.

This piece is a collage/oil pastel drawing.
For reference, I used a native Greek female with a prominent nose bridge, large dark eyes and black course hair. I used warm toned oil pastels with a black oil pastel for the hair and some highlighted features. I primed my paper with a cream tones oil pastel and collaged some ripped pages from a book to add texture.
I wanted to showcase the Goddess, Aphrodite, as a native Greek female. Aphrodite is the goddess of fertility and female empowerment so I collaged over the drawing with some yellow and white flowers I had previously pressed. Flowers often represent fertility and the colour white represents youthfulness and innocence.

I edited this photograph of the piece, enhancing the colours and vibrancy and also making the shadows darker. I really like how this turned out.

The next person I focused on was Medusa, I always find myself coming back to Medusa as I find parts of myself in her story. I also think she is interesting to look and is seen in a vast amount of ways.

I used an Instagram model named Deba Hekmat who is Greek and also a feminist who advocates natural bodies/body hair etc.
I used a photograph of Deba with her arms up, showcasing the hair on her armpits.

I primed my page with a light pink oil pastel, and I drew the model with a turquoise oil pastel. I used pink, green and yellow pastels to create the snakes from her head. I wanted to make the piece stereotypically ‘girly’ as well as ‘bright’ with the usage of my colours which juxtaposes the whole idea of ‘Monster’ and Medusa.

Here is a photograph of the piece in direct sunlight, which really exposes the colours but I think it’s a cool effect.

My next piece was using a new Greek mythical creature, Hekate. I found her whilst looking at Pinterest.
For some general information;
Her origin is originally Ancient Greek but her story is seen in Egypt, Babylon and Sumerian areas.
In all beliefs, the goddess had roughly the same powers: she represented the Moon and the mysteries of death. She was the goddess of night and childbirth, the woman who had powers in all three worlds: celestial, terrestrial, and marine. Her abilities were innate and men feared and revered her.

I used a native Egyptian model for the reference of this drawing.

I used a tanned oil pastel for the background and her skin. I used Green and Orange as the prime colours.
In all the images I saw of Hekate, she has a spiked crown in her hair, moons and stars surrounding her as well as Skulls and Snakes.

I added the moon on her forehead, the spiked crown and a snake around her neck.