Visual Art

Commissions

donfrijote

Some cryptid lore is old, passed down through gene

Some cryptid lore is old, passed down through generations.

But from time to time, new cryptids arrive on the scene, leaving their strange mark on our communities.

The University of Central Florida has one such recent legend simply known as Rat Man.

UFC students report seeing Rat Man prowling the campus at night. But what does he want?

A video showing him thwarting a bike-napping has some calling him a vigilante. On Mar 28, 2018, the @UCFPolice twitter account even acknowledged Rat Man, calling him a “crime-fighting partner.”

Others claim Rat Man is nothing more than an elaborate marketing ploy. They point to the unconvincing acting in the bike-napping video, the other convenient video sighting, as well as the sudden appearance of posters around campus inquiring about Rat Man as evidence that Rat Man’s appearance and the chatter around him is not organic, but a manufactured plot.

If someone is orchestrating the myth of Rat Man at UCF, the question remains. Why?

Maybe it was for a class assignment. Maybe Rat Man was an attempt to create a real life meme. Maybe it was all for shits and giggles.

Haters have called the Rat Man hijinks a “stale meme,” especially after the UCF police jumped in on the joke. But one thing is true, like it or not, Rat Man has become part of UCF’s local lore, making him one of Florida’s freshest cryptids.

@ucf.edu
@ucf.knights
@ucfstool

#ucf #ratman #florida #cryptid #lore #urbanlegend #meme #funny #police #folklore #orlando #college

About five miles east of Oviedo, there’s a bridg

About five miles east of Oviedo, there’s a bridge where Snow Hill Rd. crosses over the Econlockhatchee River. If you find yourself there, take a detour to the riverbank just south of the bridge.

Make sure its a dark night, and look into the woods around you. Eventually you might see something interesting. You may see some orbs of light flickering between the trees, floating in hypnotic patterns, and even changing colors. It is a surreal and unsettling experience, as if the boundaries between the living and the dead have blurred and time itself has become distorted.

The Oviedo Lights, a strange and enigmatic phenomenon. Some say that the lights are the lost souls of travelers who met their untimely end on these lonely roads. Others suggest they are the spirits of Seminole warriors who died in a fierce battle over land rights. It’s likely that these lights are a localized type of Will-o'-the-wisp.

Will-o'-the-wisps, also known as jack-o'-lanterns, are mysterious ghostly lights that appear in the darkness of night over marshy grounds, swamps, and bogs. They are are described as flickering or dancing orbs of light that can move and change direction quickly, appearing to lure or mislead unsuspecting travelers.

These elusive lights have been a part of folklore and mythology for centuries and have been attributed to various supernatural entities such as fairies, spirits, and even ghosts. They are also believed to have been responsible for many mysterious disappearances and accidents over the years.

Scientists believe that will-o'-the-wisps are simply a natural phenomenon called ignis fatuus caused by the ignition of gases such as methane or phosphine produced by decomposing organic matter in wetlands. The gases ignite spontaneously when they come into contact with the air, producing a brief flame-like light that can last for several seconds.

While the scientific explanation may explain the origins of will-o'-the-wisps, who is to say the igniting gasses are not, in a way, the spirits of decaying once-living matter in the ground giving one last fiery goodbye to this world as they pass on to the next one?

#oviedo #lights #oviedolights #florida #cryptid

This is a story I heard as a boy scout in Apopka a

This is a story I heard as a boy scout in Apopka around a campfire.

The legend of Stumpy begins on a boy scout camping trip. One of the scouts sneaks out to the river's edge in the dead of night...but he wasn't alone. As he approaches the water, something pulls him into the river too fast for him to yell for help.

Hours later, his troop notices his absence and a rescue party goes out to look for him. They find a big bull gator, and drag him out of the water. They chain him up, cut him open, and in his belly, is the severed leg of a boy.

The search continues for weeks, then months, and the family eventually loses hope. They bury his leg and lay his memory to rest.

But that's not the end of the story.

Some say that the boy survived. They say he uses the interconnected rivers and lakes of Florida to get around. He crawls out of the water at night to look for food, and he'll take what he'll find, dead or alive.

People who have seen him call him Stumpy, because where he goes he leaves a strange set of prints. Where his left leg should be, is a sharp stab in the earth. This is the mark made by the sharpened bone of his leg stump.

So next time you find yourself by a body of water in Florida, which is most places, Stumpy could be watching you, waiting to catch you off guard and pull you into the deep.

#florida
#boyscouts
#camping #scary #gator #cryptid #stumpy #urbanlegend #campfire #apopka #woods #river #art #digitalart

Cryptids are fun to draw and research! Florida one

Cryptids are fun to draw and research! Florida ones especially. Did you know about these legendary beasties?
#florida #cryptid #monster #creature #digitalart #design #skunkape #stiki #seminole #devil

A hunter fixes his rifle on the rare panther. His

A hunter fixes his rifle on the rare panther. His shot cracks through the night but goes wide. A haunting cackle echoes through the trees. The hunter presses forward, ignoring the cry. Something stirs in the tangle of branches above. Two unbinking eyes watch him, reflecting the silver light of the moon. The hunter tries to draw his weapon but the shadow descends in a storm of feathers and talons. After a brief struggle, the hunter’s body sinks into the mud and his predator flies back into the branches to feast on his heart.

According to Seminole lore, there are witches among them called Stikini who can transform when the moon is out. They vomit up their blood, soul, internal organs, and endure a painful transformation into an owl-creature. In this form, they can fly in complete silence, searching for human prey. Stikini can tear a person apart and rip out hearts with they help of their razor beak and talons. The cry of the Stikini fortells death and misfortune.

The Stikini’s owl form is said to be their true one, while the human form they wear during the day is simply a costume. In fact, the Stikini are said to be aloof and strange in their human forms.

If you see organs hanging from a tree, run. After transforming, the Stikini hang their organs high above to prevent others from finding them.

The word Stikini is said to be so powerful that even saying it can draw one to you. Only powerful medicine men and witches speak aloud of the Stikini.

What should you do to protect yourself from a Stikini? Some say wearing a necklace made of dogwood can repel them. If you find yourself hunted, the best thing to do is to find their organs high above. If you destroy them, the creature is unable to return to its human form. Now, all you have to do is survive until dawn when the sunlight will kill them as they’ll be unable to transform back to the safety of their daywalker form.

The legend of the Stikini serves as a reminder of the power of nature and the importance of respecting the spirits and creatures that inhabit it.
.
#florida #seminole #cryptid #lore #folklore #monster #creature #shapeshifter #woods #night #moon #owl #transformation #witch #hunter #heart

The story of the Devil’s Tree is one of great vi

The story of the Devil’s Tree is one of great violence and depravity.

Policeman Gerard John Schaefer brings two teenage girls beneath the shade of a sprawling oak. There, he sexually attacks and mutilates his victims. He then hangs them from the branches of the oak before burying them in a shallow grave at the base of the tree.

This happened on January 8th, 1971.

Schaefer returns to the oak tree, where he unearths his victims to violate their corpses.

Although only convicted of these two murders, Schaefer is believed to have murdered over 30 young women. Investigators found teeth and jewelry from missing women all around his house. He’d use his police badge to lure them into secluded woods where he’d assault and torture them before their demise.

Authorities believe the tree was the site of a majority of his horrors. No one is sure how many victims’ blood watered the roots of this tree, but the horrors of those murders caused the oak to be known as the The Devil's Tree.

Schaefer was stabbed to death in jail, but his evil may live on.

When those woods were turned into Oak Hammock Park, they added nature trails and decided to cut down the infamous Devil’s Tree. The story goes that their chainsaws malfunctioned, and the teeth chipped off their saws. It would be the first and last attempt to cut it down.

Since then stories abound of screams coming from that area and ghostly sightings made by hikers. Curious pilgrims will often slice the tree and say red blood oozes from the trunk. Others take a piece of the tree and are said to suffer misfortune soon after.

Despite its infamy, and the authorities' attempts to remove the Devil’s Tree, you can still find it there, in Oak Hammock Park, in Port St. Lucie.
.
.
.
#florida #cryptid #monster #murder #serialkiller #truecrime #killer #devilstree #portstlucie #devil #paranormal #mystery #cursed

What has shaggy red hair, is 7 feet tall, weighs u

What has shaggy red hair, is 7 feet tall, weighs up to 500 pounds, and smells like skunk, wet dog, and rotting eggs? The Seminole and Miccosukee called them Esti Capcaki, meaning “tall-man,” but the most know this Florida cryptid as the “Skunk Ape”

The most concentrated number of encounters happened in the 1970’s when construction drove human development deeper and deeper into the marshes and swamps of South Florida. Today, most sightings are limited to the most remote reaches of the Everglades.

The photograph in the second slide was taken on Dec 22, 2000 during an alleged enocunter with a family that claimed the beast had climped onto their home’s back deck. The family sent the photograph to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office along within a letter describing the encounter.

There is a Skunk Ape Reseach Center in Ochopee, next to the Big Cypress National Preserve. Its director, Dave Shealy has devoted his life to proving the existence of the Skunk Ape. He claims to have encountered his first Skunk Ape when he was nine and that there are 7-9 Skunk Apes still alive in the Everglades.

Slide five is a video taken the 8th of July, 2000 by Shealy of what he claims to be genuine footage of the creature.

At Shealy’s research center you can take eco tours, camp, and buy skunk-ape related souvenirs. In an interview with the “Miami New Times” Dave shares he has a giant fibeglas Floida panther appraised at 100k, a collection of skulls and snakes, and has been featured on The Daily Show and Unsolved Mysteries, magazines, and travel books.

Despite the fame, "I'm struggling," Shealy says. "I drink the water right out of the swamp, and I eat the birds."

Is there any scientific basis for the Skunk Ape’s existence? Some cryptozoologists claim that Skunk Apes are surviving Dryopithecus, a distant prehistoric ape ancestor of humans as shown in the final 2 slides.
.
#skunkape #cryptid #florida #cryptids #bigfoot #mystery #paranormal #cryptozoology #everglades #swamp #seminole #esticapcaki #miccosukee
#creature

My first series will be all about local cryptids 👽😈👻👹🧌

What's a cryptid? Basically any creature or myth some believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not recognized by science. Think bigfoot, or the chupacrabra.

The point is not to argue whether cryptids exist or not, but to document the state's folklore and culture, which also includes tall-tales of monsters, ghouls, and strange animals.

If you know of anything that can qualify as a local cryptid (or maybe even had a first-hand encounter with one) it would be awesome if you could share! Here's a link to a quick form you can fill out to submit your response: https://forms.gle/TrtuJcXVZ94UgBaP7

I will take this info and create a series of artworks and written chronicles of these cryptids and their associated lore. Eventually I'd like to host a public database if I get enough submissions.
Thanks in advance!

Feel free to share this form with anyone, especially if you have that one uncle that keeps running into owl-people in the mangroves.
.
.
.
#florida #cryptid #cryptids #floridacryptids #paranormal #history #folklore #lore #cryptozoology #conspiracy #art #skunkape #ufos #strange #weird #Fl

Instagram post 17978303878899479

Instagram post 17978303878899479

There was once an ancient empire, known for buildi

There was once an ancient empire, known for building a marvelous temple to honor the dead. The temple’s golden towers pierced the clouds, its halls were built of the finest white marble, and its benches, made of the finest ancient sequoia.

The construction destroyed half of the kingdom’s forests and mountains, but all the Emperor’s council agreed that it had been worth the sacrifice.

The Speakers for the Dead brought a dire message from the spirits. “What we want is simple. If you want to honor the dead, you must first care for the living.”

So the Emperor commanded his council to build the most magnificent city to honor the living. The city surrounded the temple in circles of white and gold, dotted with giant fountains and rivers of water and honey. It was a monument to life itself.

The construction destroyed the final half of the kingdom’s forests and mountains, but all the kingdom decided it had been worth the sacrifice.

The Speakers for the Dead brought the same dire message from the dead. “What we want is simple. If you want to honor the dead, you must first care for the living.”

This made the people afraid. How had their efforts not been enough?

The Emperor was outraged. He named the Speakers for the Dead traitors against the living and had them executed to calm his empire.

The following night, the spirits brought the people nightmares of falling stars, burning trees, and dying birds. The kingdom feared these dreams, but did nothing.

So the spirits invaded the city, haunting every home and walking every street at night, wailing their message: “What we want is simple. If you want to honor the dead, you must first care for the living.”

But there was nobody left to understand them, nobody left to speak for them.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#dead #bird #art #linocutpattern #digitalart #honor #flowers #nature #engraving

Tlacatl the caterpillar noticed that some of her f

Tlacatl the caterpillar noticed that some of her fellow caterpillars began to wrap themselves in cocoons. She was curious but didn't think much of it.

As time went on, more and more of her friends disappeared into their cocoons. She began to feel lonely and left behind, and wondered if she should follow their example. But she was afraid and didn't want to leave her comfortable life.

A wise old butterfly named Papalotl visited Tlacatl, who confided in Papalotl her reluctance to enter a cocoon. Papalotl listened patiently and then told Tlacatl a story.

Papalotl explained that she used to be a caterpillar just like Tlacatl. She, too, was afraid of change and clung to her old life. But one day, she felt a strange urge to build a cocoon around herself. She didn't know why, but she trusted her instincts to let the process happen.

Inside the cocoon, Papalotl felt constricted and her body writhed with pain. She thought she had made a mistake. But then something miraculous happened - she started to transform. Her body dissolved, and then re-formed itself as if it always knew the shape it should become. She emerged from the cocoon with wings that sparkled in the sunlight and a new sense of freedom.

Papalotl told Tlacatl that change could be terrifying, but it was also necessary for growth. She encouraged Tlacatl to follow her instincts and trust that the cocoon would bring growth, but it would never be painless nor comfortable.

With Papalotl's words of wisdom ringing in her ears, Tlacatl took a deep breath and built herself a cocoon. She felt fear, she felt pain, but the promise of freedom burned in her heart. Inside the cocoon, she went through a similar transformation as Papalotl.

When she emerged, she was no longer a caterpillar, but a beautiful butterfly with bright colors and delicate wings.

Papalotl was right - it was not possible to avoid the pain or the fear, but now her world was infinitely larger. She soared into the sky. Freedom would always burn in her heart, and whenever the darkness of fear returned, she let that fire guide her through it.

-Retelling of the Nahatl story of the butterfly
.
.
.
#change #art #coyote #skull

Some traditions need to die, some need to be creat

Some traditions need to die, some need to be created, others need to be revived.

When I was little, my grandfather used to take me to his ranch in Zapotlanejo, Mexico every week. My favorite time of the year was the corn harvest. I'd help him cut and shuck the corn every season. The first time I found a corn earworm inside the husk, I was upset. I thought it meant to corn was no good.

To make me feel better, my grandfather told me it was good luck. After that, I always hoped to find a corn earworm hiding inside every ear of corn I shucked.

The ranch is gone now, sold many years ago. I am not in Mexico anymore. My grandfather has passed away, may he rest in peace. I can't bring back that tradition as it was.

But I can still plant seeds and saplings just how he taught me. I still embrace this tradition and hope my little Lyra will, too.
.
.
.
#tradition
#traditional
#corn #art #ranch #harvest #print #farmer #maiz #maize #grow #worm #tradition #traditions #digitalart

This is a real start. The trade winds are a'singin

This is a real start.
The trade winds are a'singing.
Can you hear them now?

Follow on Instagram