Poseidon, God of the Sea

This image was so much fun for a variety of reasons. I really love playing with all these sea greens and blues, as they are my favorite colors in the spectrum. Digging into Poseidon's followers was really fascinating, so the opportunity to visualize them as a procession was pretty exciting, as I've never seen them all together like this. I realize that I do take some artistic liberties with certain character and costume designs, for example, the seaweed style costume flourishes on him and his wife. I'm always happy to exaggerate, romanticize, and embellish character design elements in the service of operatic storytelling.

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I, Poseidon, am God of the seas, earthquakes, droughts, and horses. I hold my sacred trident high in my seashell chariot pulled by half-horse, half-fish creatures called Hippocampi. Standing beside me is my sea nymph wife, Amphitrite, who is the eldest of fifty nereid daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.  As God of the sea, I am known for my savage retributions against mortals. I send Cetus the sea serpent to punish queen Cassiopa for her hubris in comparing her daughter Andromeda to the nereids. After a false rape allegation, I send a bull from the sea to attack Theseus’ son Hippolytus’ chariot. Another episode involves Athena and I entering a competition to become the patron god of Athens. Offering gifts, I produce a salt water spring for the upon the Acropolis, while Athena creates the first olive tree, winning. In my fury, I send a flood to punish the Athenians. While in the odyssey, after Odysseus blinds my son, the giant cyclops Polyphemus, I cause havoc and disaster for the hero and his crew as they attempt to sail home.

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