Click Here --> http://guardian-beast.deviantart.co.....ream-316781544 <-- If you wish to see this on a T-Shirt, then click on the 'I Want This' Button.


This was done for Deviant Art's Mythological creatures contest. I tried to tell a story with this design. I've always found the Minotaur, illegitimate cursed son of King Minos, to be a tragic figure. He is the horrific hybrid of human and beast, cursed to an existence where he must prey on people to live. However, in much of the artwork depicting the Minotaur's death, he is shown to have a soul (which escapes as a bird from his chest). I wonder then, does this poor creature trapped in a dark, cramped labyrinth have any hopes or desires. Perhaps he dreams of flying free, like Pegasus.

The color pallet is restricted to only 5 colors, as was required by the contest, and tried to use colors found in traditional Greek pottery. I decided to give the Minotaur blue eyes to make him appear more innocent, and to give the design a stand-out accent color.

Fact: The name Minotaur is a shortening of the Greek term Minotauros, which comes from combining Minos, the king whose hubris was being punished, and Tauros, the Greek spelling for the bull constellation. The Minotaur's actual proper name is Asterion, (the starry one) and suggests that he was associated with the constellation Taurus. He is the son of the beautiful white Cretan Bull.