Important Reminders!

I just want to say Thank you to everyone who has joined and submitted to our first challenge thus far. We have gotten some insanely beautiful submissions and I don’t know how to thank the people who have posted and pimped the blog in their own way. I only hope we can get even more people to get in on the action! With that said here are some reminders.

1. You may join the blog at anytime! I have gotten many comments from people who are afraid that once the challenge has started or moved past the first letter they cannot join. There are also many among you who are too busy to work on a challenge at the moment but hope to do so in the future. This is not a problem, feel free to submit an app at anytime during the ongoing challenge. This leads me to item number 2…

2. Even if you miss the deadline for a letter you can still do it, submit it and have it posted! I’ve had a lot of people express concern that they have missed the deadline for the Angha and will not be able to finish/have it put on the blog it. But great news my friends! You can! Even if we are on the letter Z you may still complete the letter A! So no worries.

3. Even if you do not have your work put on the blog you may still be part of the DA group. We are accepting of EVERYONE. So be sure to submit your work the DA Alphabeastiary if you have a deviantart account.

B- Bush Dai-Dai

BUSH DAI-DAI

This obscure monster hails from the jungles of Guyana in South America and has its roots in Caribbean folklore.

The Bush Dai Dai will take the form of a beautiful woman and appear to travelers or in miner’s camps, and seduce a weak man she might take a fancy to. After having her way with the unfortunate she will change into a wild animal and eat her victim as they sleep. She is a mixture of the succubus myth with a dash of werewolf thrown in for good measure.

Her animal form can vary but most stories say she will become a jaguar or a huge bat as these are some of the most terrifying animals to be found in the rainforest.

The Bush Dai-Dai is part of a group of monsters known as Jumbees. A Jumbee was once a human who commited some grave evil during their lives and are punished after death by becoming a bloodthirsty monster.

Like the Dai-Dai itself the Jumbee is a strange fusion of different cultural folktales. It is an eclectic mixture of Amerindian (the indigenous native people of South America) and Afro-Guyanese (People from Africa who immigrated to South America) heritage. Also at the time of the Jumbee's first appearance Guyana was colonized by the British, Dutch, French and even the Spanish who have all influenced the area’s mythology in some way.

For this creature nudity and violence are expected but keep it relatively tame. Please, nothing ultra gory or super pornographic. Otherwise have fun with it, can’t wait to see your entries!

Artist: Erin Roseberry - A

Erin's Website!

Artist: J "NeonDragon" Peffer - A

Link: NeonDragon's Site!

Artist: Lauren Blakely - A

Link: Lauren's site!

Artist: Keely Turple - A

Keely has more beautiful Angha sketches at her Blog here!

Artist: Oly R - A

Link: Oly's DeviantArt!

Artist: Grace Palmer - A

Link: Grace's site!

Artist: Katie Better - A

Link: Katie's blog!

Artist: Miisa Lopperi - A

Miisa's Deviantart!

Artist: Emma Lazauski - A

Emma's Deviantart!

Artist: Sara Jensen - A

Sara's Deviantart!

Artist: Keryn Everett - A

Keryn's Deviantart!

Artist: Sylvia Spencer - A

Sylvia's Deviantart!

Mid-Point Reminder!

The Angha entries are due Saturday Oct 30th at 11:59PM Pacific Time!  Send 'em in, we're eager to see more!  And please feel free to comment on entries and make the artists feel special all over.

Artist: Toby - A

Link: Toby's site!

Artist: Kasey - A

Link: Kasey's Deviantart!

Artist: Melissa Snider - A

Link: Melissa's Deviantart!

Artist: Rashi Chandra - A

Link: Rashi's DeviantArt!

Artist: Ainsmar - A

Link: Ainsmar's site!

Schedule

A thing we overlooked is stating when our challenges will be given out and when they end. How this will work is every other Sunday a new challenge will be given, along with the highlight of the picture we felt was the best of the batch. Submissions for the 2 week challenge end the Saturday before at 11:59 Pacific time.

This first challenge is due on October 30th, and the second one will be up the 31st!

If you haven't already, please remember to read this post about how to apply, please read it all, even though I know it's long.

And thank you for all the interest expressed in this blog and for the plugs we have been getting! We've accepted some amazing artists so far, and hopefully soon we'll be posting submissions!  EDIT:  As a side note since many people have asked, you do not have to do every challenge, but we encourage those we've accepted so far to do this first one so we have many great examples to post!

Questions?

There seem to be a fair number of questions floating around about this project.  If you have any, please ask here and Kasey and I will discuss it (if discussing is needed) and answer, and we will add it to the rules page so people in the future will know.

A- Angha

The Angha is a Persian monster also known as the Simurgh (and other variations of this spelling)

The Angha is said to have the front head and body of a dog, the wings and tail of a peacock and the claws of a lion. This monstrous mesh is often said to be gigantic enough to fly off with an elephant or a whale clasped in its talons.
Showing up in Iranian art and literature, the huge dog-bird is a dangerous beast with a varied history. Benevolent in nature the Angha always lives near water, and one of the most famous myths surrounded a particular Angha (a female) claiming it as a protector of the tree of life. It protects the tree from people looking to steal it's wisdom without first earning it.
In some legends the Angha can actually purify water from poisons and encourage fertility.

To read more in depth knowledge about its particulars this wikipedia post is pretty helpful.

Can't wait to see your Angha interpretations!