In parallel with working on Cartoon Calendar 2023 mentioned earlier here, in summer 2022 I also took part in creating Mythological Zine, the fanzine dedicated to myths, legends, rites and traditions of the peoples of the world.

From the very beginning I knew I would like to draw a thing related to the Aztec culture. The first idea was to draw the water monster Ahuizotl, however, after making several sketches that I didn't like, I changed my mind and decided to draw one episode from the Aztec legend of the Five Suns.

According to the legend (to one of its versions, to be precise), the world had gone through five creation cycles (or 'Suns'). In the beginning of the fifth cycle, one of the creator gods was sent to the underworld Mictlan to get the bones of the ancestors, so that new humans could be created from those. This god was Quetzalcoatl, 'Precious Serpent', the god of the dawn, of harmony between spiritual and material principles, of merchants and of arts, crafts and knowledge.
Together with his dark twin brother, the dog-headed soul-guide Xolotl, he succesfully finished the tests figured out by Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the dead - he traveled through the underworld four times, and made a shell having no holes sound out like a trumpet. As promised, Mictlantecuhtli gave the sacred bones to Quetzalcoatl, but as he was annoyed with this outcome, he immediately ordered his servants to block the uninvited guests' escape (this exact episode is illustrated in my drawing).

Although Mictlantecuhtli failed capturing and killing them, Quetzalcoatl was forced to drop the bones, which were scattered and broken by the fall. Frustrated with the happened, Precious Serpent asked his brother, 'What do I do now?'
'Since things have turned out badly, let them turn out as they may. Since the bones are broken, the new people will just be different sizes', Xolotl said.
The shattered bones were collected by Quetzalcoatl and carried to Tamoanchan, the land of life, the place of origin, where the gods transformed them into the various races of mortals.

For my illustration the characters' designs were mainly taken from the Codex Borgia and some other Middle American pictorial manuscripts. In a few things that happened to be difficult to search I also relied a lot on the animated film 'The Five Suns, A Sacred History of México'.
It's a beautiful thing that brought the old images from the Aztec manuscripts to life and made them move! If you're interested in the Aztec history and culture, I highly recommend to watch it, as it's amazingly accurate in details.

if you'd like to see how my work looks printed in the book, please, check out the description on this submission on DA: https://www.deviantart.com/amarylle.....ones-942067110.