TMiracle on DeviantArthttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/https://www.deviantart.com/tmiracle/art/Aoandon-747861338TMiracle

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Aoandon

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Description

''are you brave enough to snuff the last candle?..''

My entry for Onmyoji Fanart Contest.

''
During the Edo period, a popular summertime activity among the aristocratic classes was to gather and tell ghost stories, hoping the chill of fear would stave off the intense midsummer heat. These ghost story telling parties were called hyakumonogatari kaidankai – a gathering of one hundred ghost stories. During these gatherings, one hundred candles would be lit and placed inside of blue paper lanterns, called andon, in order to create an eerie atmosphere suitable for storytelling. Throughout the night, guests would take turns telling progressively scarier stories about yokai, demons, ghosts, and other strange things. After each story, one candle would be snuffed out, until finally only the hundredth candle remained, its dim blue light casting long, creepy shadows, struggling to fill the dark room.

According to superstition, as the final candle was snuffed, a real ghost would appear out of the darkness to attack the participants, created out of the heightened emotional state and fears of guests. This ghost was called the ao andon.''

Aoandon is one of my favorite designs and I like her background story very much - while it's very short and basic, the concept itself in my belief, has potential for great expansion.

Painting Process Video:

 
youtu.be/ayeC2vxDZgk



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Other Art:
Miku Pin-up by TMiracle Tidepod-chan by TMiracle 2B Study by TMiracle Digital Heart by TMiracle Heartseeker Quinn (Commission) by TMiracle 
Image size
3840x2160px 31.66 MB
Comments19
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HyoryuArtist's avatar

Ao Andon.


A story about how fear can manifest into something you are most afraid of.


The question we ask ourselves now, is why do we like to scare ourselves?


Are we to test ourselves with the fear of the unknown? Are we indeed afraid of the dark, the same dark in which we're born from?