East of Elvendom: Merfolk in Southeast Asian Ramayana paintings

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Merfolk in Southeast Asian Ramayana paintings

The following Southeast Asian Ramayana paintings were photographed by Margery H. Freeman and displayed on the learnnc.org site (no affiliation with this blog). Click thumbnails to view images on Learn NC.

Hanuman courting Ravana's Mermaid daughter

Modern Balinese painting of Ravana's mermaid daughter with dark skin.

Thai mural depiction of the same mermaid character in an earlier scene in the epic.

Another Thai Ramayana mural painting featuring a merman, a mermaid and what appears to be a nagini. (female naga)

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About this listing

This blog is dedicated to under-represented ethnic groups in fantasy/sci-fi art. The focus is on fantasy art featuring non-European characters and darker-skinned characters in general. Art inspired by the legends, folktales and mythology of non-European peoples is also included, since contemporary fantasy often takes inspiration from folklore and spiritual traditions.

The main criterion for image selection is quality. The works listed here are mostly illustrations/3D art by commercial artists, many of them well-known in their field. Although I may occasionally post links to drow illustrations, dark elves will probably not be the main focus of this blog.

Note: This blog does not necessarily endorse the work or message of any artist featured here. Nor does it guarantee the political correctness of images posted. This collection of images is only intended as a survey of what's out there.

The name of this blog was in part inspired by deepad's thought-provoking essay I Didn't Dream of Dragons:

"...I have had to learn how to love Tolkein while trying to find myself in the unmapped lands in the East where the Green and Blue wizards disappeared to."