Medusa Final Process

Medusa is a mythical legendary creature who belonged to the species of the mythical Gorgon. She was known for her ability to turn people to stone as well as for being a hybrid between human and snake.

Perseus & Medusa by Canova
Perseus & Medusa, Ancient History Encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, Medusa was once a beautiful woman who was violated by the god of the sea: Oddyseus. This event happened inside the temple of Athena, whom Medusa worshipped, and resulted in Athena becoming enraged having had the holy temple defiled by the act. As a penalty, Medusa was transformed to a monster which is the mythical serpentine creature we know today. She was hunted by a warrior named Perseus who was aided with divine gifts to slay her. His takedown of Medusa is largely known by the use of a reflective bronze shield that Perseus used for vision without being affected by Medusa's gaze.

The myths tell the story with the Medusa being a very horrifying and ugly creature. As of modern films and games in the industry, companies have created their own interpretations of the legendary creature. This could have something to do with how artists portray female characters in media, since Medusa is not consistently "ugly" in modern releases of film and games.

Clash of the Titans (1981 and 2010)


1981's Clash of the Titans portrayed Medusa as an outright monster, but the modern remake of the film communicated that Medusa was still part human and having a well defined facial figure since her elegance is what used to be. It is also noted that she is a skilled bow user.

Medusa II: The Quest of Perseus


In this game, Medusa is portrayed with a clearly distinguished upper human body and a lower half which is a snake's tail. There is almost no intermediate, unlike Clash of the Titans.

Modern media tends to prioritise focus on her abilities instead of being faithful to the myth, but also implements their own artistic flair when depicting females in games to develop a character, which could also have been influenced by modern pop-culture.

Artwork Process

 While sketching the general composition, I struggled to sketch a dynamic composition. The first iteration was scrapped due to Medusa appearing too stiff.

After starting over, I used the same process as in my last artwork.


There was a technical issue with Paint Tool SAI where it was not possible to edit my work further than this stage, so I could not further colour correct the hoplite.

Creating a background around a character is a difficulty that I always have, since it requires a great deal of colour correction to attain the correct definitions in the shapes. As this is a mythical and fictional subject, creating special effects was something I like doing the most as it creates a very unsettling fantasy feel to the artwork. I also tried to use a mask texture to create the snakeskin effect for Medusa where it applies.

 Sources:
Fight Against Monster Medusa - Clash Of The Titans Clip (2010) - YouTube
Clash of the Titans - Medusa battle (original) 1981 - YouTube
(1) Medusa II : The Quest of Perseus Game Trailer - YouTube
PG SOFT™ - Medusa įžŽæœčŽŽ - YouTube

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