Devil Girls

Hmph! I whip my hair at you!

Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub take human form and enrol as students of St. Zeno Academy in their plot to free their companion Azazel and take over the world. Little do they know that there is a mystic schoolgirl at the academy, who will thwart their evil plans with the guidance of angels and saints.

Schoolgirl Action

Mystic schoolgirl in an action pose. I am focusing more on dynamic poses and movement, and this artwork was derived from a gestural exercise I was doing this morning.

This is the first time I have done "cel-shading" in years, and colouring the picture this way reminds me why I don't do it. It has the outdated look of '80's or '90's anime. Now I do acknowledge that the Catholic Mystic Schoolgirl idea does borrow very heavily from shojo manga, but I would like to try and distance the look from the typical Japanese style. There are so many interesting styles out there, and I want to create something as unique as what is out there.

I also tried a much thinner and more even line to differ from the more calligraphic lines I have tried with her previously. To be honest, I am more in favour of a more calligraphic line.

Despite all this, I do like the action. I was going for a Michelangelo's Last Judgment feel, how his figures seem to fly through air. I think the background is quite cool too.

Mystic Schoolgirl

Here is an idea I have of a Catholic schoolgirl with mystical powers. It would fit the usual Shojo template of uniformed schoolgirls battling evil with their superpowers. The only major difference is that it involves popular Christian mythology, such as angel and demon characters. She is called upon to be a human fighter in a spiritual battle between good and evil. The battleground is her academy, where Satan has taken the human form of a schoolgirl.

I intend for this to be a fun series that doesn't take itself too seriously. I know that religion is a very divisive issue, and despite the fact that this idea borrows heavily from popular religious beliefs, I do not want it to promote one ideology over another. There will be absolutely no promotion of Catholic doctrine, or any mention of God or Jesus.

While I no longer have a sprituality that I claim to belong to, I was raised as a Catholic, and very familiar with the religion, some of its teachings and beliefs. I also liked to broaden my understanding of other Christian denominations and saw very big differences. Among them is the particular Catholic custom of "veneration of the saints", which some would argue is a form of worshipping dead or mythical saints. I see a lot of fun potential in playing off of this custom.

For example, if our schoolgirl harnesses the power of St. Francis of Assisi (who is officially a "patron saint" of animals), she could have the ability to communicate with animals. Silly, yes! I love it. I know it shows a complete misunderstanding of religion. But I think religion has always been easily misunderstood anyway. This is just fun!

Another element I would like to include is the popular beliefs that derive from the "Book of Enoch", which is a non-canonical book of the Bible (with the exception of Coptic Ethiopian version of the Bible). This book interestingly enough, is where most people get their beliefs about angels and demons. For example, the belief that Lucifer was a fallen angel is said to have come from this book. Raphael, who is considered an archangel in Catholicism, is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible; he is however mentioned in Enoch.

The challenge is to make it non-religious. Everyone has an opinion about religion, so I am prepared for the differing viewpoints. But most people I have talked to about this idea love it. It's probably because of all the schoolgirls!

That is another challenge... I need more feminine grace in my drawing skills. This is a great exercise for me to do just that.