Art for an Ashy Wednesday
ETA: I only just heard about the earthquake in Italy. Nothing profound to say, just need to acknowledge something a lot closer than 1,937 years ago. ??
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Today marks 1,937 years since the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Herculaneum, Pompeii, and assorted other nearby towns, villas, patricians and plebeians, unfortunate animals, barrels of fish-pickle sauce, and so forth.
I was going to do some perky watercolours with some brush pens I recently dug out of the art drawer, but ended up experimenting instead with only the grey and even greyer Kuretake Fudebiyori Brush pens. Grey seems appropriate for today!
I tried to make Spendusa look less forlorn, but she says she knows what day this is.
Damon says he just always looks like that.
I’d like to post a comic tonight, too.
They all look pretty serious on the anniversary of the End.
Five of the seven survived, though still ashy.
Ah, Spendusa. Even the minions of Venus couldn’t save everyone when the sky burned. Or when the ground shook the buildings down.
It’s a good day to remember that this has all happened before.
Dear Spendusa: she was one of my favorites- that sad look on her face when she saw the pyroclastic cloud coming… reminded me of the pot of petunias in Hitchiker’s Guide: “not again…”
I like the composition. Felix and Iusta look like the Pater and Mater Familias, lording above all their relations. Probably unintended, but still looks cools. I feel that this should be made into something like a commemorative roman stela, the kind they used to put on the Via Appia.
On the earthquake. I survived my country’s 7.8 earthquake that hit us last April 16th, 2016. 700 dead and thousands homeless. Today, 5 months after the event, the city is still recovering. A dust cloud covers everything thanks to the demolition and rebuilding efforts.
Quakes are not fun. Lots of people still have nightmares about it and the earth is still shaking. One guy almost killed himself by jumping from a second floor when a 6.6 aftershock hit.
It sounds callous, but for me at least 6.2 sounds puny compared to 7.8 main and 6.6 aftershock. Not funny feeling your entire home jump, but c’est la vie. Earth won’t stop quaking any time soon.
My thoughs and prayers with the people who had to live through the ordeal. It is scary.
Oh, Spendusa. <3 :'( My favorite forever.
1. I love the bunny!
2. Iusta does the “imperious” look well. She would have no trouble managing a large household, and various others as well.
3. Damon might eventually be happier. But at least he has the fuzzy kitty. Fuzzy kitties always help.
Fuzzy kitties solve everything.
Then they become cranky cats 😀
Ave atque vale, Menander
Have you mapped where the significant sites (to your story) are in/around Rome?
I had Herculaneum well mapped out, both in my head and in the old 3D map–and in this goofy map–but only have parts of the city of Rome firmly mapped in my head. Beyond the overall general idea of the arrangement of monuments and neighbourhoods in the city.
I own a massive, detailed street map of the city of Rome (detailed to the extent that we know what was where, based on excavations and the ancient marble street plan of the city). It’s something like 20 tabloid-size sheets.
I’ve always wanted to put the big map in frames and hang them across a wall so I can get to know Rome as well as I know Herculaneum.
When I wrote my Aero Rangers III story, I was fortunate enough to find a detailed 1927 map of lower Manhattan Island. It was incredibly useful for plotting the action… I even found charts of lower New York Harbor. That was even better! Maps Rule.