Man Obsessed With Cicadas

LOL

The Three Stodges

Taken on November, 2021, which falls within the fallow period of this blog.

Related post:  Seen In A Seoul Alley

Errant Pareidolia

No idea what this used to be part of, but now it sure looks like a face groaning "Ughhh...".  Maybe it was struck by that rock (that Goliath-style rectangular "bruise" high up on its head does look rather suspicious).

Related post:  Monster Eyes In The Sidewalk

Defeated

After two weeks of a bad cold.

Ghost Mask

 

Untitled V

Just happened to notice this guy hiding in the shadows, looking scared of his downstairs neighbor.

A Follow-Up

And maybe this elder could serve as Hell's gate keeper?  He certainly looks old enough, forbidding enough, and ornery enough to serve as Charon's stand-in.

3 "Grotesques"

Like Leonardo used to draw.

These are three of my "favorites" among the ugly Thousand Faces of Ignorance.  But just now, having posted these, I'm realizing they're all looking downward for some reason.  Is it a coincidence, or is there a connection?

Please Please Don't Look Ths Way... Don't Come This Way...

Why the long face?

The Only Time I Was Ever Scared,

even a little, of my own creation.  This face of pure rage and hatred actually had me scared from the moment I finished painting it.

Just out of curiosity, I fiddled with the image a little, and when I came to this variation,

I got even more scared.  Nice!

The Six Realms

Preparing the last post reminded me that this particular set of masks has never been shown in public in their intended form.  This is how they should ideally be displayed, in accordance with the Buddhist view of life and the universal law of karma.

I sent this photo to someone who majored in Buddhist studies, and he immediately recognized it for what it is, without any explanation from me.  At top center are the deva, "gods" who reside in paradisiacal realms and are the most superior entities in existence, overwhelmingly the greatest of all living beings in power, intelligence and wealth.  The main characteristic of their lives is the absence of suffering;  they live their extremely long lives knowing nothing but pleasure and joy (save perhaps for the occasional challenges from the asura).  But when finally the time comes, when you've been at the top of the heap for so long, there's no place but down...

And slightly lower than the gods, to their right in the photo, are the asura, also known variously as demi-gods, jealous gods, anti-gods, titans and even demons.  They are also powerful and intelligent, much superior to humans -- their realm actually overlaps that of the gods -- but they are not as gifted as the gods, and they are by nature jealous and suspicious;  they constantly scheme and plot against each other and the gods, but being the lesser of the two superhuman species, when they do war against the gods they always lose, which makes them even more jealous and angry and vulnerable to a lower incarnation next time.

Opposite them on the left is the realm inhabited by us manusha.  Fortunately filled with extremes of both comedy and tragedy -- joy balanced out by misery, delight by regret, and of course, kindness by cruelty -- it provides the best starting-off place for self-development... or self-debasement.

Just below humans are the tiryag, animals.  As with the deva and asura, animals and humans dwell in a shared realm, but being brutes (literally), animals know nothing but base instincts;  their lives, if in the wild, are filled with fear and wariness;  and in domestication, are short and toilsome, their lives (and deaths) being absolutely controlled by their human masters.  But they still experience emotion just like humans, and they can learn from experience, also just like humans.  Responding to kindness with what gratitude they are capable of expressing, they may yet evolve and be reincarnated in the future as humans.

Across from animals are the preta, beings driven by the obsession to possess.  They are often shown in art as humanlike but with big distended bellies and thin, narrow throats -- symbols of their characteristic greed and avarice combined with the accursed incapacity to satisfy them.  They are forever seeking but never finding satiation.  Although the object of their desire tends to be stereotyped as food (hence their common cognomen "hungry ghosts"), but actually it can be anything, including such repellent things as corpses, blood and dung (hmm... me and my hoarding...).

And at the bottom are the naraka, the beings (self-)condemned to hell.  While they may not necessarily be subject to physical pain (although of course this can be the case), their lives are mainly characterized by hatred and anger, in both doling them out to others and in receiving them back from everyone else.  These unfortunate beings' lives are filled with torment and brutality, for which they blame everyone but themselves (I'm reminded of the gangbanger who raped and murdered two schoolgirls -- and when time came for his execution, allegedly said "Well, sometimes the good guys don't win").

I have also considered displaying these masks in this arrangement,

emphasizing an empty space in the center, to show that in Buddhist cosmology reincarnation is not really a matter of judgment, but the natural working-out of the impersonal law of karma, like attracting like.  "You go where you fit".  Maybe I still will.

Related post:  Continuing On...

Another Accidental Resemblance

I finally realized why this grimacing face

always seemed vaguely familiar!  It's because it's invoking this expression of pure disgust on Clint Eastwood's face in Gran Torino:

Related post:  Synchronistic Event No. 17

Antes Y Después

Made back in August, 2014.  At the time I was seeing a psychiatrist.

Just Look At The Mad Gleam

Could be... an ax murderer, perhaps..?  Yes, a serial ax murderer!  Now old and locked away in an insane asylum, recalling his heyday with fond satisfaction.

Selected related posts:  Madman Scowling;  Made-Up Character 1;  Made-Up Character 2;  Another Aimless Made-Up Face Drawing;  Bunch Of Characters In Search Of A Story;  Sour Expression;  Ugliness Abounds;  Haven't Done One Of These For A While 

Phobos And Deimos

After a long hiatus, I just randomly started drawing a face and finished it after a few minutes of scribbling (O.K., and then I worked on it some more on the computer).  As is usually the case, I started out without any particular ideas in mind as to what sort of expression it should bear, other than "big round eyes".  Now it reminds me of the preta (and also of Nosferatu, the Vampire...)

[In Buddhist cosmology the preta are the unfortunate beings who are reincarnated -- possibly from prior lives as human beings -- into a life of unrequited desire and longing, typically for nourishment (hence their other name of "hungry ghosts" and their depiction in art as having big bloated bellies and tiny thin throats through which food cannot pass), but more broadly, the objects of their desire can be anything, including such repellent things as corpses and feces]

What The Buddha Saw

 

An old man

A sick man

A dead man

and

A monk

Another Random Face

At 4:50 AM.

I think it looks kind of Slavic (Hello, Knyaz Igor, your highness could use a moustache) -- despite being the opposite of the "broad-faced" stereotype.

I don't know.  Is it the hour?  Maybe I just need to go to bed.

 

Related posts:  Happy Evil Face;  Haven't Done One Of These For A While;  Ugliness Abounds;  Madman Scowling;  Sour Expression;  Another Morning Meeting;  Today's Random Face;  Happy Face And Real Face;  Afternoon Meeting;  Some Intimidating Dude;  Bunch Of Characters In Search Of A Story;  8:00 AM Meeting;  Another Random Aimless Made-Up Face Drawing;  A Mysterious Urchin;  Made-Up Character 5;  Made-Up Character 4;  Made-Up Character 3;  Made-Up Character 2;  Ed, The Plumber

Just What It Says

For some reason she kept staring at me during the whole subway ride, so I couldn't draw her openly.  I only drew this quick sketch from memory, which is why the quality stinks.  Nevertheless, I think it's pretty close to the model;  she really did have an extreme face like this.

Sorry lady, you're probably a very nice person.

A Rogues' Gallery / "Novelty Cakes"

When I was in weekly therapy I used to carry the week's production of these masks on a board to show my therapist.  It was sort of like a gauge of my mental states of the preceding week.  Oddly enough, as I would walk from my car to her office I've been asked more than once if they were edible.  I guess they thought these were made of marzipan or something.

"Dying Gladiator"

I was scooping out material from the back of the mask and went slightly overboard, hence the rip by the eye and the knocked-out teeth.  But that's fine, I'll just say they are old wounds.  Gives the face a final coat of warrior's dignity.