"The Red Mermaid" Illustration (+ A Myth About Rusalka- The Slavic Water Nymph)

This is one of the pieces I have enjoyed working on a lot because I have a huge love and admiration towards mermaids and the mermaid and siren myth. Myth of a mermaid can be found in many cultures around the world and still to this day is a big inspiration to many works of art such as paintings, design, film industry, music and more and it seems that the love for mermaids and their world just continues to grow.

I will share with you the mermaid myth from my country which is about a water nymph female spirit we call Rusalka which is often pictured dancing or singing near lakes and rivers, they were pictured with legs and feet rather than fish tails which differs from the usual mermaid myths. The myth says Rusalka is a dangerous spirit of a young woman who drowned in a lake committing suicide or was drowned by her own will and came back as an undead to haunt the lakes and lure young men to their deaths until her own death was avenged. She would seduce the men with her looks and voice into the depths of lakes where she would entangle their feet with her long red hair and submerge them. Her body would instantly become very slippery and not allow the victim to cling on to her body in order to reach the surface. She would then wait until the victim had drowned.

The mermaid I created is both inspired by the tales of mermaids where they are pictured as pure innocent beings with good intent and the tales where they are perceived as dangerous and fatal creatures. Her facial expression is a bit melancholic and innocent but colors red and black and tattoo-like markings on her skin give her a bit of a dark and evil impression and she is pictured with a fish tail which is not how Rusalka is pictured in tales but certainly I took a lot of inspiration from that tale.

I hope you liked the illustration as well as the little story I shared. I would love to know mermaid legends from your culture of if you have any mermaid stories of your own feel free to share them with me I would appreciate it a lot.

Much love. <3