Athena

From Wikipedia:

"Athena, or Athene," often given the epithet Pallas, is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill in Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena....She is the virgin patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour."

I just realized that the shield should be higher up, considering how actual Ancient Greek hoplons were carried. But I decided to leave it that way, because it looked better that way, showing as much of the goddess as possible.

Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama (563 B.C. to 483 B.C.) is the founder of Buddhism, one of the world's great religions. He is known as the Buddha, the “enlightened one.”

Buddhist art, like any art, though often varying stylistically from place to place, and from culture to culture, is filled with universal motifs—from halos adorning important sacred figures and distinct postures to distinguish each figure. Buddhism, like its predecessor Hinduism, borrows the lotus for its art.

One thing I’ve noticed about Buddhist art is that it’s often stylized.  The folds of the Buddha’s clothing are often stylized, and his features are idealized. This is in contrast to Christian art, many of which is done in the tradition of the Greeks and Romans, the epitome of realistic artists, whose achievements reached their zenith during the Renaissance. I haven’t seen any “realistic” Buddhist art. Even the statues of Gandhara, which have Hellenistic influence, are still stylized. I’ve seen modern Buddhist art where the folds on the Buddha’s robe are realistic, but the face is still idealized, and the skin color is too light, probably atypical for someone of his time and place.

This is my attempt that making realistic Buddhist art. The Buddha’s robe is not stylized, and his face and features are believable for someone from Northern India /Southern Nepal. He’s not as dark-skinned as a Dravidian, and that’s probably true, since tradition says that he had “golden skin.”  Still, I didn’t want to make him as light as many Bollywood stars. More of a darker skinned Bollywood star.

I’ve kept the motifs typical of depictions of the Buddha. I’ve given him the “touching the earth” mudra, or gesture, which is a common in picture portrayals of him. I’ve given him a halo, and although it was my intent to make it a perfect circle, it turned out the way it is now, a moving, glowing light. The lotus which the Buddha is often depicted sitting on, I’ve turned it into an actual lotus rather than a platform with petals to suggest a lotus; I admit that is influenced somewhat by a part in Natasha Bedingfield’s video for “A Pocketful of Sunshine.” The flame on the Buddha’s head, common in Thai depictions, is an actual flame.