ART EXPLOSION WEEK 2: My Second Entry - "Penanggalan" A Ghost of Southeast Asian Folk Mythology
This is my second submission for ART EXPLOSION, Week #2 held by @juliakponsford. You can read her original post here. The theme for this week's contest is phantom. I submitted my day of the dead stencil watercolor painting as my first entry.
For this second entry, I decided to draw a 'penanggalan' - a ghost of Southeast Asian folk mythology. Penanggalan means "detach" or "remove". So what is this ghost exactly? It is a detached head of a woman that has the capability to fly about on its own at night. As it flies, its internal organs dangle below it with blood dripping. Those who had the misfortune to see it flying said it was a gruesome and chilling sight. You can read more about this ghost on Wikipedia.
Since this ghost is often depicted as ugly banshee I decided to draw a cuter version of it, sort of look like Betty Boop. I want her to be lovable instead of scary. Call me superstitious but I admit it was a bit frightening to draw this because growing up we heard stories about this ghost and how terrifying it was.
So here she is....
What do you think of this drawing? Leave your comments below.
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Tremendous effort ! Very eye catching ! Where did you learn to draw like this?
Thank you @dailylight. I just love doodling and 'zentangling', so drawing this was a bit easy for me :)
very nice @coloringiship
Thank you @bitrocker2020
Your ghost looks too cute to be scary lol
Did it intentionally. Silly but it was a bit terrifying to draw this. All those childhood stories I heard still scare me LOL
Is penanggalan the same as pontianak?
No it's different. Penanggalan usually has an 'owner'. The owner uses the creature to so called bless their crop. It sucks blood and flies over the crop and drips blood on it. So the owner would have bountiful harvest. It's dark magic. Whereas pontianak is a ghost of a woman who died in childbirth and her victims are men. They are known to eat the men's mmmm...private parts. Funny but the old folks used to tell us these stories probably just to scare us so we don't lepak outside at night.
Ok, I simply love this! The combo of cutsi with disturbing is epic! And I love that you included a story with it :)
Great job!
Thank you @arbitrarykitten. I need to explain it briefly in my post because this creature is unknown outside of our region.
This is unbelievable!! I love it :)
Thank you @thetruthbomb. It was fun to draw I was having chills at the same time. Penanggalan is a loathsome creature.
This is definitely right up my alley :)
Yes you definitely can do this @shelahdowart. Submit one of your fairy drawings. Would love to see it.
eerily cute ...I like her !
Yeah thanks...glad you like it :)
Nice work! x
Thank you @terishermansart :)
Very cool and so much detail in the hair 😮than you so much!
Thank you @juliakponsford