Due to the popularity of the first entry in my New Pantheon design series, and also because I wanted to get my creative juices flowing as I have three drawings I’ve been hired to create (which unfortunately means I may not have as much time to work on this blog as I would like in the next couple of weeks), I have added another entry to the series. Ares, the Greek god of war, is a bit more traditional than the design for Hermes was, mainly because I think of war as antiquated and barbaric, and as such I wanted my Ares to reflect that. I came up with the helmet design first and everything proceeded from that. Ares’s helm is usually depicted with the red horsehair crest, sometimes in the side-to-side fashion rather than the mohawk-like front-to-back fashion, and I wanted to take that concept and give it an edge. Thus, I made the crest a piece of riveted plate metal to call to mind modern weapons. Furthermore, I wanted it to be rusty and ragged-edged, because war is often dirty and crude.
The breastplate/cuirass was used almost as I found it, though again I wanted it to look old, dented and rusted but still pretty functional. I did add an emblem to his chest which is basically a doubled-and-mirrored version of the circular shield and spear, which is an actual ancient symbol of Ares. I added a line of swords to his back which are supposed to resemble wings somewhat, even though they are part of his armor. The skirt is made of leather belts decorated with what is supposed to be little gold tragedy masks, though at that size they look more angry than sad, which was fine by me because Ares is meant to be an angry god anyway.
In keeping with my love of designs that incorporate outer space, I made the body of Ares himself of space, as well as his black sword, which is darker and more contrasty. The rippling glow on the sword is meant to suggest a vibration too, but I’m not sure that will come across as strongly as I meant it to. Overall I wanted Ares to be almost chaotic; hence, he is emerging from the flames and stars of creation itself with rage and destruction in his eyes. Ares was not so much beloved by the ancient Greeks as feared; you would never want to meet this guy, but hopefully he would side with you in a dispute.
Indigo Xix 