Here I am again with yet another drawtober art piece. I posted this one a day late, after the deadline. This week has been very chaotic lately, so I barely had the time or the energy to draw much. But I finish it this morning, I decided to draw a demon summoning ritual:
And not just any demon, but Stolas a Prince of Hell. While he is described as a giant Raven, the most popular interpretation is that of an owl.
Source: Dictionnaire Infernal
It is said that when summoned he can teach astronomy, history, and the knowledge of poisonous plants, herbs, and precious stones. And I know what you might be thinking, why would an infernal creature go out of their way to teach humans what is essentially science? (geology, astronomy, botany). See according to folklore, that only happens when he is under the control of the summoner, otherwise, he is like any other demon in the wild, causing chaos for humans simply for his amusement.
A description of this demon can be found in The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King or Ars Goetia for short and Dictionnaire Infernal
Funny enough I first heard of this demon thanks to a video game series; Shin Megami Tensei. It´s an rpg series where recruit demons to fight in combat. it´s like Pokemon but darker. The series and taken a lot of inspiration from actual folklore and mythology so it´s not surprising that he can be found there.
Stolas appearance in Shine Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
So, when I started on this piece by first drawing the sigil circle. I also lightly draw a bunch of ovals to construct the body. Owls are easy to draw for me, they are after all, nothing but a bunch of circular shapes.
Then I start adding details, like the eyes, the beak, wings and legs.
I also gave his famous crown, added in a couple of candles on the sigil to complete the summoning ritual look.
Finally, I worked on the background adding floors, walls and a window. And I gave it a bit of more texture and feather details. All this was done with a mechanical pencil.
So, there you have it, one adorable demon owl. You know I think there might be some kind of pattern. Lately, my previous entry was owl based, making this couple of art pieces drawings of birds ( if you include the plague doctor, which is bird-like already). Maybe it´s because I like drawing birds, their association with the supernatural, or maybe both.
Next week is my sixth and final drawtober entry: Harvest Feast. As always, stay tune for my next work.
Here are my previous entries: