Whoo! Finally got a chance to my Christmas creature pic of the year! Nothing new so far although I tend to sketch while I'm away for the holidays so something new may pop out then. This is Rudolv, a creature I've been toying with for a year or two and been meaning to pin down.

And the rest are versions of the Mari Lwyd (or gray mare). A creature I did not make for once! I always knew there was something to do with animal skulls around this time of year. I always through it was reindeer so I've been researching reindeer skulls and Christmas traditions like a mad person while missing the genuine tradition that actually features a horse skull instead. I have to thank cracked for actually bringing this creature up or I may have continued to miss it: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-badas.....need-to-adapt/

The Mari Lwyd is a Welsh tradition where folks dressed up as this creature will typically go to local houses and sing a song requesting entry for food and drink. The homeowners will sing back or make excuses why they can't permit entry such as 'It's a mess, we have not food etc.' and the troop with the Mari lwyd persist until the homeowner relents and lets them in for food and drink.

How cool a tradition is that? Can we make that thing now please? Then again these days' people like their privacy in a crowded world and a load of dressed up strangers asking for booze and food may not go over so well.

The centre figure if my creation 'Rudolv'. I always like how Christmas along with the joy it brings is often about darkness and horrors stories too. Winter can be a dangerous time, especially at night. I like the idea that despite appearances, Rudolv is actually a good thing depending on your circumstances. With her flaming horns and nose, she sometimes appears as a coldly burning star in the night, leading lost wanders in the winter night to warmth and safety...or to the afterlife, depending how deep in the winter you're lost....

Her body is made out of tar, so any one trying to ride it will be stuck to it until it sees fit to let you go. So have you been good or bad?

I so imagine the Mari Lwyd being art of this creature's lore, treat the gray mares and your fellow man well and maybe Rudolv will seek to lead you to warmth and fortune.

Have a very merry Christmas folks.

More Christmas stuff here:
http://acidshadow.deviantart.com/ga.....mp;q=christmas

Image belongs to me, do not copy, alter or redistribute.