Stulte’s stuff

[Vectorman316]

Stulte, pls…

Seriously, though, amazing in every way

[Vampyrist]

Wow that’s beautiful.

[Stulte]

Thanks guys! Always fun to do something out of ones comfort zone every now and again.

The Katanga Slab

In 1879 Malinese archaeologist Amad Bagayogo was excavating a 9th century Congolese shrine when his crew stumbled upon something quite remarkable. A circular limestone plaque had been hidden under the central altar carefully wrapped in linen and leather. Initial examinations indicated that it appeared to be much older than the rest of the shrine.

Bagayogo brought the slab to the nearby city of Lubumbashi where it was further examined by the Russian professor Pjotr Allujev, who estimated it to be between 60 000 to 75 000 years old, making it one of the oldest human pieces of artwork ever discovered.

En route back to Timbuktu in early 1880 Bagayogo’s airship was shot down by an unknown assailant. Neither he, his crew of seventeen nor any of the artefacts they were carrying, including the slab, have yet to be seen again. Later that same year professor Allujev sent copies of the photographs he had taken of the slab to over a dozen universities throughout the world, along with whatever findings he had made while studying it.

Two weeks later he too disappeared without a trace.

 

The plaque is 18 inches in diameter and one and a half inch thick. It is entirely made of limestone with no traces of having ever been painted. The front shows a female figure in a messianic pose holding two serpents at bay from a group of faceless devotees by her feet. Presumably a religious figure. 

While I only had the opportunity to examine the slab for a few hours three equally remarkable observations came to me: The plaque had been enchanted, which was instrumental in determining it’s age, established by measuring the Astral decay of the original enchantment.  From this we can conclude that the plaque is not just one of the oldest archaeological artifacts ever discovered, but also the oldest artificially created Magic item ever found. Furthermore, the enchantment and the craftsmanship proves the existence of a previously unknown culture with great knowledge of both the Physical and the Astral arts at a time when most other human cultures had yet to learn the secrets of fire.

-Excerpt from prof. Allujev’s notebook.

[CantDraw]

I want to be you when I grow up.  Oh…wait…I’m already grown up.  Well, then, maybe a nice parting gift…roll of cheese, perhaps?

Seriously, that plaque is fantastic – so unique.  It always a pleasure seeing what you create.

[cliff]

DUDE! The limestone Katanga Slab, and the story is seriously kewl!
At first just looking, I thought, MAN with my eyesight that is that faded out I can barely see it, then I read the awesome story with it, and looked again much harder and it’s just so great.

Being a long time Machinist, but fairly new to the forums, I have looked through your past entries, and your art just amazes me. whether it’s your characters, steam punk stuff, biological augmentations, snow encrusted clothes, group shots, tigers, guns, canons, engines, vehicles, coat of arms, buildings or memoriam to a friend as well as the inspiration and stories that goes with it. You are truly talented.

PS, I am going to steal the hood as lower robe to redo my portrait of haiku master Matuso Basho, just telling ya now. 😀

[Nug]

Anyone else see some kinda big cat face in it?

[Wolf Master]

Very nice, the story behind it is great. Especially like your explanation of how it was dated, astral decay almost sounds like a real thing.

[Stulte]

@ Nug
Thank’s, man! Tell you what, you’re ever in Sweden I’ll buy you a beer and some Präst cheese 🙂

@ cliff
Wow. Thank’s man, I don’t really know how to respond to that except that you totally made my night tonight. You are not just an awesome Machiner, but an awesome human being as well.

Oh, and go ahead and steal that “hood for lower robe”-idea. I’m 93 % sure I stole it, myself.

@ Nug
Err… Yeah, that was totally intentional. Definitely.

@ Wolf Master
Heh, thanks a lot. I’ve gotta admit I kinda pulled the idea of Astral decay out of my ass.

Me, writing:

“Okay, so they date the slab to 70 000 BC using carbon dating.
Wait do they even know of carbon dating? Wait, does carbon dating even work on rocks?”

*Spends an hour reading about archaeological dating methodology on Wikipedia.”

“You know what, screw it, I’m just gonna say it’s magic, or whatever.”

 

Anyway, thanks for commenting, guys!

Here’s a self portrait I made.

[Stulte]

Maria I Antonia Braganza, Queen of the New Portuguese Empire. Pictured at the Battle for Kilauea, her first major victory against her Transaequarian enemies.

Princess Maria, heir to the New Portuguese Empire, “daughter” to the Queen. Pictured after her first major victory against Christian Sture, son of the Union ambassabor.

Thanks for the pose, Timedrop!

[Stulte]

Kinda threw this together on a whim. No real story behind it; just a scout having a nap. Might add shading later today after work.

[Trekkie]

I really love the combination of that pose and how you’ve put together the clothing.

[Stulte]

Thanks, man! The pose could probably use a bit more tweaking, but it’s good enough for now.

 

Taupou Malae, daughter of Malietoa Kainano, studying history at the Dresden University. Aged 13.

Tu’i Manu’a Malae. Aged 34.

I really like doing these younger version of old characters. You might see more of them fairly soon.

[Stulte]

More of Malae:

Taupou Malae, heir and daughter to Malietoa Kainano, studying spiritism at the Rennes Astral Academy. Aged 20.

Tomorrow is shading day.

[Stulte]

Shaded version:

[RobM]

The use of tattoos to represent what I assume is Taupou Malae’s opium induced vision is inspired. Also, I see you replaced the tassels on the rug when you shaded, good choice. I will say; however, that I like her face better in the un-shaded version. Just one man’s opinion.

Another fine piece of work.

[Author]

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