I have been fascinated with Mayan culture for years. It's a numbers thing. They have a calendar that is so accurate it only requires a 1 day adjustment every 27,000 years. Ours requires one every 4. Yeah, we're SO much more advanced then they are.

So I'm in Florida, I had created several drawings with my new quill at this point. I pulled out a new piece of bristle board and then stared at it. It was an unusual shape; very narrow, very tall. It was the shape of the blank board that got me to think about a tall Mayan panel. But I wanted it to mean something.

Off to the internet I went. I researched Mayan writing and then decided to attempt to recreate the symbols that represent the sounds, closest approximation to English, of a small statement. Mayan writing is in pairs of symbols, left to right, top to bottom. What does it say? It says, "Was it? Is it? Will it be?" Yep, kind of deep in a superficial sort of way. Let me point out some of the details.

First up, the top left symbol. When I complain about my art being unrefined, this is what I'm talking about. You see how shaky my lines are? I want perfection damn it but I just can't draw a perfect line anymore. I guess I'm getting old. This is the symbol used for the sound of "Wa" and combined with the symbol for the sound "Sa" makes the first word.

Next up, the symbol for the sound "ba." Now when I complain that my art is cartoon like, this is another example of it. There's nothing refined or crisp about this symbol or the way I drew it. I expect perfection in what I do but can never seem to achieve on paper what is actually within my mind's eye.

 

 

I've found that my drawings tend to look better from a distance. Perhaps it's the inability of the eye to see the fine details from afar. I like the top center but when examined close up, what a bunch of crap huh? Just a blob and some circles with the same highlight I always use. Crap I tell you crap!

 

Again, this looks great from a distance but up close, not so much. I am proud how I've managed to take a completely simple shape and make it look like a ram's head. Each time I drew this it came out differently. This, by the way, is the symbol for the sound "ta." Closest I could get to a "t" for you purists.

 

Finally, there's the bottom portion flaws I feel compelled to point out. These are further examples of how I make these horrible mistakes when I draw and then try to cover them up. It's the price I pay for working with ink. You can't make mistakes. The bottom left portion of the panel was totally screwed up. I colored it solid black to cover my tracks. What you can't see is my shaky crossed lines. Same for the center. All messed up but you'll never see because I've blocked it out with solid black.

Overall, I actually like this drawing. Based on past experience, that means you won't. I enjoy doing the Mayan symbols but they are a pain to figure out and draw correctly. It's even harder to come up with a saying that means something when I don't speak Mayan coupled with a limited selection of mayan sounds. That's what happens when I try to force a non-English system into my English only ability. I named it Mayan Panel 1 because I really plan on doing several more of these, only much larger and perhaps in color.