Incubo - Nightmare

A new character from Dino Coltro's book Gnomi, anguane e basilischi.

Nowadays, an incubo (nightmare) is a dream full of anguish and fear, but the meaning has changed during the centuries. The italian word, incubo, comes from latin incubare, which means "to sit, to lie on top of someone or something"; a incubo was originally a kind of dwarfish evil creature sitting on the breast of sleepers, making breathing difficult. In english too, the same "shift" has occurred. According to the online etymology dictionary, a nightmare was "an evil female spirit afflicting sleepers with a feeling of suffocation".

Anyway, the original meaning of incubo has been retained in popular culture, and the little creature is the subject of a couple of drawings:

 and a watercolor (alas, the scanner has butchered a bit the colors):

Incidentally, you may want to look at a painting by Johann Heinrich Füssli on the same subject.

Snow maiden

Dino Coltro, who sadly passed away last year, was a writer, poet and scholar of traditions of north-eastern Italy (link here in italian). Incidentally, his love for local traditions dated back to many decades ago, and was completely devoid of any discriminatory or racist attitude, which is (sadly) worth noting nowadays in northern Italy.

Anyway, I've recently read a book of his about some creatures in popular myth, and I decided to imagine and draw some of these strange and funny characters (in case you ask, the title is Gnomi, anguane e basilischi).
The first character I propose, la fanciulla delle nevi (snow maiden), is actually not so strange, but quite poetic. Snow maidens are fairies living in the mountains, guarding and protecting the glaciers and the snow summits. Sometimes they come down and help men to move their flock or herd:

here is a kind of character study (I hope they don't look too much like "models"):

You may have noticed that snow is almost missing in my drawings... yes, that's right, but these are simple preliminary sketches... :)

Portrait of a lady

A couple of quick sketches from life.
The lady is quite an interesting person, and a good subject to draw.

Ink again

A new ink drawing, possibly a bit better than the previous ones.
Three ladies in a lunar landscape - the original is much better, believe me!!! :)

Souci

This month James Gurney's Art by Committee is about a dialog:

"Souci?"
"Yes."
"This is Billy."
"I can see that."
"Oh, right. You don't have your camera on."
"Mmmm."
"Umm, welcome back."
"Thanks."
One... two... three... four...
"So, should we, um, get together or something?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. Have lunch? Some drinks?"
"I'm on a diet."
"Take a walk?"
"Where?"
"I don't know. Want to talk?"
"What about?"
"Ummm. Never mind. Look, I'll, uh, call you again, all right?"
"Sure."
"Bye."
"Bye."

here is my proposal:

To be called Souci (in french: preoccupation, concern) may not be easy, but to be in love with Souci is probably even less easy. I've tried to imagine the difficult and conflicted young lady at the phone. Everyone has met at least one Souci in his life...  :)

The drawing was made in a hurry, so there are some evident faults (besides my usual ones, I mean...).

Noses

A new sketch, just to warm my lazy hand...

Maid service

This month James Gurney's Art by Committee is about a business card:

Cinderella's maid service

a Wish come true

Melissa - Reference available

My image is actually set some years later. Melissa is no more a maid herself, but still runs her company with some employees. The maid service has evolved a bit during the years, as Melissa is always concerned about customer satisfaction...

For those who prefer drawings: