Old Vintage Rough Sketches n Doodles of Djehkäujaa 002

Here are some very old vintage 1999 sketches I did when I was at AIPH in Philadelphia.

I feel like Djehkäujaa is probably my most proudest character I've ever created. She's dynamic in many ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, metaphorically, and figuratively... So, if my project ever becomes anything, like a film or video series of shorts, I want it to be worthy and befitting of her.

Some of this stuff I actually don't like anymore...  or, it's not very good... oh well...

Djehkaujaa 1999 Rough Sketches 004 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Rough Sketches 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkeujaa 1999 Rough Sketches 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Dragon Rough Sketch 004 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Dragon Rough Sketch 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Dragon Rough Sketch 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Dragon Rough Sketch 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

The Owl Motif

Unfortunately, the majority of my old concept work with owl motifs are pretty much lost forever... I often liked to work with symbolism, and motifs, when I was younger, and since I first started developing this story & characters, I kept incorporating owls... In the King James version of the Bible (which I did read in various parts as a kid) there's a verse that goes:

King James Job 39:29 

"I am brother to dragons and companion to owls."

There are, however, so many other translations of this verse now, that I've seen it written all different ways... and not even as "dragons" or even "owls"...
As it turns out, the Bible doesn't actually say whatever you previously thought it did... there's much better translations out there now, and different original manuscripts also...

So, I feminized it and changed it to:

I am sister to dragons and familiar to owls....
or various other versions I scribbled out in other lost sketchbooks...

So, here's the only thing I could find, so far, of anything with the owl motifs:

Djehkaujaa 1999 Dragon Owl 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

At the end of the year (2015) in December I started to notice OWLS, but by New Year it was EVERY DAY... It was kinda freaking me out, actually.... But, literally, at least 1 random owl will show up throughout the day, online, on TV, radio commercials....  it's generally way more than that. Usually about 3 per day...

Back in January it kept happening so frequently than even my family began noticing owls also.

I kept wondering why... I'm not really New Age anymore.... but, I kept recalling that in my old Dragon film project (this one) that I often incorporated owls into everything with the dragon character... Now, here I am, scanning my dragon drawings....

Djehkaujaa 1999 Doodles 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Doodles 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 Doodles 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 004 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 1999 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Through the helped of a very wonderful friend of mine, I managed to get the new Free Open Source version of OpenToonz by Studio Gibli. I'm very grateful also.

I manged to get the thing to work...

I think perhaps after I am done scanning my stuff, eventually, I might play around with it...

I know which scenes I would like to experiment with.... but, I don'[t know how to create and arrange music to be exactly what I want....

Old Vintage Rough Sketches n Doodles of Djehkäujaa 001

Let's be very clear about this: There are not 2 Djehkäujaas, there is 1! 

Djehkäujaa is a DRAGON! 

See? She's a DRAGON!!!! 

But, then she screws up REALLY BAD... and THEN she's a Humanoid!


Actually, she looks just like a human, and smells very much like one, and there's actually a number of VERY FUNNY indirect things because of that!

Even tho' I DO NOT intend this to be a comedy, there's several FUNNY bits in the story, all about her!

For one, her name is Djehkäujaa... but, most people can't pronounce her name correctly!

So, not only does she hate being a human, and looks so much like a human, but the humans can;t pronounce her name! She gets REALLY MAD!

OK, for English speaking people It sounds like "Jeh-koy-yaa"

See the double "aa" at the end of her name? That is a Looooong held vowel.

But, for many Germanic language speaking people, they can ALL pronounce her name correctly! ^_^

If you've EVER taken basic lessons in standard High German (Hoch Deutsch) then you WILL be able to pronounce the name, ;P

It's kind of a parody of my own name (Kandice) since people often mispronounce it when I'm in other countries, or in America, people often my write my name and spell it some other way. In Germany, NO ONE AT ALL could pronounce my name, not in Nederland! SO I had to write my name like this: Kändiß or Kändiss... but, even when I wrote it THAT WAY the "i" as they pronounce it would become "ee" like Kandeess... or they would call me "Ken-diss".

Literally, my brother, father, and grand father are named Ken! WTF!?


And, in China, kandice becomes "Kan de si" which means "Able To Hack To Death".
Oh, great! :-/

Then, that was changed to "Kai di se" which kinda means something like "Hey! Fetch me some silk, yo!" or something...  But, I don't like THAT because in German "Kai" is a MAN'S NAME!!!!!

After reading a number of Chinese novels, and watching untold numbers of Kung Fu movies, and Chinese daytime & prime time soap operas... I was like Screw this!

I need a Chinese name. the Ming Zi standard kind. Not this dumb creepy or dorky foreigner sounding name.

So, my ACTUAL Chinese name is 任思麒 Ren SiQi.  There's a whole long story about that also....
AND, I'm SURE u can't pronounce it either!  LOL! XD

It's also a name I can use in other parts of South Asia, including Japan, Korea, and Indonesian areas where they use written Chinese, but all pronounced totally differently.

Another funny thing is her wings and tail...

Well.... she doesn't always have them..... she also doesn't know why.... (I do, tho')

When she first becomes a humanoid, she still has them, but they "burn away" like acid... Poof!

She's, of course, devastated & traumatized by this.... BECAUSE SHE'S A DRAGON.

But, then, they randomly can come back, painfully, and just pop right up... often at THE WORST MOMENTS... so, there's some comedy in there...

Djehkeujaa Wind Swept by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

When Djekäujaa is a dragon, she's so free spirited that she's reckless and careless. But, as a Humanoid she's SO EMO, glum, depressed, or stern, because she's SO DEVASTATED, regretful, humiliated, and lost. Like grief within grief.

Also, she was never supposed to be among humans, and was originally very curious about them, but being stuck as a humanoid form is so revolting to her, because she thought so highly of herself as a DRAGON. And, she will tell you: I AM A DRAGON!

However, being stuck as a human form, means she must adapt... and, altho' she resents it at first, knowing dragons SHE LIKES SHINY THINGS! ....oh... and SHE Starts to get a MAJOR SHOE COLLECTING FETISH!

So, more and more, she starts to take on a lot of characteristics of a human woman, like going CRAZY for SHOES!

Djehkaujaa Dragon 2003 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa Dragon 2003 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 2001 RoughSketch 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa 2001 RoughSketch 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa Vintage RouchSketches 2006 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa Doodles 2001 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkeujaa Dragon 2003 003 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkeujaa Dragon 2001 Rough 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Dragon Project UNTITLED... still....

Dragon Project UNTITLED.... 

This bothers me quite a bit... I've had titles for this project, a number of times, only to change them... for a long time I had it titled "Guardian" or "Guardian Angel" because of something my mother said... or even "Dark Angel"... but, then, in October 2000 a TV show came out called that starting Jessica Alba! I was PISSED!

But, I don't want to call it ANYTHING like I'd called it already...

I've been writing out several possible titles, and have changed my mind several times...

I have a few things that I'm kinda leaning towards tho'... It reminds me of Taoist ideas/concepts....

So, I sat here at my desk today with my notebook open, and I started to feel somewhat like Jia Baoyu trying to figure out something with Chinese characters for a chéngyǔ, or something to do with poetry, or naming a doorway or a room, or a pavilion. (Chinese stuff) Or, perhaps even the author himself, Cao Xueqin....

Apparently, he wrote (as the legend goes) the manuscript for 紅樓夢 Hónglóu Mèng in abject poverty as a destitute person from a very educated high level wealthy background... I've never fully understood the entire complexity of his life, and I've read, heard, and watched, so many carrying versions of who he was, and why he wrote the novel, including different official versions by the People's Republic of China central government.

(Oh, but, wait... here's the part where now that it's 2016, and I mentioned something from another culture that's not my born culture, showing my interest and affection for other cultures, and literature, I have to go on and on about how I could never ever liken myself to them, because if and when i don;t and a person with a different ethnicity or skin color than mine notices it, and might actually know what those things meant, and actually understand the point, actually wants me to suck up, or bow down, or else they get to slander me with "cultural appropriation" labels, because even tho' being open minded and openly excepting of other cultures back in 20002 when I first read the stuff was seen as good, now even doing yoga and not being East Indian means your racist... I have NO IDEA how these things even make any sense... I dunno... if I were anti whatever race, and pro my own, even tho' I'm actually a mongrel, wouldn't my NOT reading other culture's literature make me racist or ethnocentric? Whatever... I used Baoyu as an EXAMPLE since I equate all great world literature as EQUALLY good in the context of THE ENTIRE WORLD and HISTORY... thus, I used the example... and I AM NOT SORRY. I'm a Cosmopolitan. But, of course, you could write your angry comments because you got your panties crumpled up in a bunch, drowning in adrenaline and amygdala overload if you wanted... or you could just 忍 and get back to the subject... OK, whatever... you hate me, you jumped to conclusions... does that help you? 忍 )

My spouse (Wang Li) and I have discussed similar things before many many times... in fact just getting my Chinese name was one of those Taoist things... Tao (actually called "Dao" in Chinese) means "The Way" or just "way".

It's like having n idea or a destination, or a goal, or something you want to get to... but, you can;t get there until YOU GO THE WAY, or FIND THE WAY, or TAKE THE WAY... sometimes its described as "a path" or a a "flow" or a "river" or a "channel" (again meaning river of stream).

But, it's very illusive, and enigmatic... because even Laozi (Lao Tzu) said "The Way that can be named is not The Way" or also put 'The Tao that can be named is not The Tao."

I'm certainly no Li Bai.... so I can't come up with something on the spot... which is odd, because for usually everything I've ever created, having a Title for it was simple, easy, and happened right away... either it just CAME TO ME, or with a slight bit of work, I CAME TO IT.

Yet, for those things, those circumstances, or even for those persons, that was THEIR WAY, that was THE WAY for THEM... but that is NOT MY WAY, ergo I CANNOT GO THEIR WAY, nor THOSE WAYS... because it is NOT THE WAY for THIS... See what I mean???

It's an enigma.

I want it to express a feeling but also an idea... but, also almost abstract, only NOT abstract... But, it can't be TOO LONG, and it CAN'T be TOO SHORT...

And, here's the brain-picker of it all: I'm not even a Taoist! But, even if I were Taoist, calling myself a Taoist would be like saying I wasn't really a Taoist... I also don't want to be a Taoist... and yet, it's still of great interest to me. HOW WEIRD IS THAT?
It's practically ZEN! Yeesh! It's like a Chan/Zen Koan! WTF???

You know what's strange about it, if/when I think about it?

The project its self is very female or feminine... and yet the pondering and contemplation of it all, the perplexing aspects of me, almost seem male or masculine... WTF??? But, it's still me.


So, I sit there, with my notebook, and the crappy pen, running out of ink the I got as a freebie at South Field at some Open House thingy a few years ago... and, it all just sort of seems to feel like it's all just swirling around me, somewhere, invisible, and I'm trying to make it work, like an engineer, or an inventor in a laboratory... but of dreams, and poems, and fantasy... Ain't dat some shit? 

I have a few things in mind... but, I'm not 100% sold on any of them yet... sometimes I just need to mull it over for a while... but, it bothers me so much that I don't have a title yet... 

At the same time.... I'm not sure what to do with it all.....it all seems to be moving, and shifting... 

I also DON'T CARE about MAKING MONEY from it! I just want to gag at the idea of doing the thing for MONEY and profit as my motive! 
Unless, someone is trying to steal it, and/or rip me off, then I'm raining down, thunder, lighting, fire, wrath, and HELL! 

The idea of NOT doing anything for money, profit, fame, or self grandiosity is somehow a crazy idea in the USA, or the world we live in. Well, the internet was NOT started to make money at all! Everything I did on the internet as a kid had NOTHING to do with any of those things! It was JUST BECAUSE WE LOVED AND ENJOYED whatever we were interested in, and we SHARED IT with the WORLD WIDE WEB.  

Sure, everyone either need to make money, or wants to make more.  But, I'm just SO TIRED! I don't CARE anymore! It's just SO EMPTY! 

I just want to keep me, and keep who I am.  Even as changes happen, and I'm changing, I'm still me... and I still want to keep that. I don;t want to be SOMEONE ELSE that isn't me. 

And, I want the title to my project to MEAN SOMETHING.  

Dragon Scans (So Far)

Scanning old vintage sketches, character design, and concept art...

I've torn apart my house looking for my old sketches of Djehkäujaa.

In case you haven't noticed yet, she's a dragon. But, she also has a humanoid form, and there's a reason for that.

Unfortunately, trying to find all my of best work of her is very difficult, and have serious trouble trying to find them!

Luckily, I found some of her character design head sketches. 


I've scanned a number of the sketches in high resolution, and I've been cleaning up some, and publishing them to my DeviantArt gallery.













In honor of post the sketches of her her, I'd like to include this song by the German band "Scooter" called "The First Time" which if you listen to the song, the mood is very much an inspiration to this concept work, and her. The mood very much captures some of what I want for my project, in 1 part. Actually, I feel a number of vintage 1990s (Eurodance, techno, trance, electronica) European music (some Japanese inspiration also) inspires me intensely in the creation of this, where as my "Eyewitness" project is more of a UK synth pop music inspiration and some modern fusion stuff from California.

I really loved the old vintage Scooter music, even tho' I believe all of it is good over the years. Their band members have changed a number of times. Usually, their music has the vocals of HP Baxter, but this one does not.

Even tho' I generally have a major major dislike for "Drum N Bass" styles of garage music, this one is more of a Euro Trance style. the mood it has, keeping the composition simple but with layers of sound effects in the arrangement effectively expresses the mood. Also, the female vocal with a foreign accent adds to that haunting & strange yet beautiful mood feeling...

I would also recommend that  if you are not sober, to be careful when listening to this song, because it's a very moving experience that you will not experience while sober.

However, I felt I wanted, and the project its self wanted, to have and make an entirely new and original song in a slightly similar style, but totally new and original. I would prefer my new version to probably be either a 2-step rhythm (dub step) instead of drum n base, or just Psy Trance style with 4/4 beats....

Also, I feel I might like a slight touch of Eastern fusion into it...Scooter had a down tempo single "She's The Sun" which had some Eastern fusion in it... but, a totally different style. t.A.t.U. has a slight bit of that Eastern fusion vibe in the song "Stars"
If you like Eastern Fusion music, you might like Stellamara or their remixes, or Temple Step Project, or Beats Antique. However, I feel this old Scooter track style and mood fit it better than those which are either too hard, too soft, or a different mood altogether.

If the song and the sketches don't seem to make any sense to you, or seem unrelated, or you don;t understand it. let me put it to you this way:

Imagine you were a dragon all of your life, and then you screwed up really bad, and found yourself totally alone in the desolate wilderness like the plains of Mongolia, far away from anything and anyone familiar to you....  bewildered, lost and confused, and even you were not the same.... your body is not the same.... and, you look down into pond of water and see your face, as not your face.... as a different face that you didn't recognize... 

No one to help you, no one to recognize you, and nothing will ever be the same ever again.... not even you. 




Here are the High Resolution Scans that I somewhat cleaned-up.

Djehkaujaa Character Design 1999 Head Scans HQ by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa Character Design 1999 Head Scan 2 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Djehkaujaa Character Design 1999 Head Scans 3 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

These sketches here aren't very good. they're very terrible rough doodles, and they also didn't scan very well either, nor clean-up very well for that matter...

Djehkaujaa RoughSketch 002 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Vintage 2001 Djehkaujaa Rough Sketch 001 by BlackUniGryphon on DeviantArt

Poem Lyrics: Keep On Going

Keep On Going
By Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman (Black UniGryphon)
©2016 All Rights Reserved 
Draft Lyrics/Poetry

Keep on going.... (echoes)
                           Keep on going.... (echoes)      Keep on going.... (echoes)
                                                                                          Keep me going.... (echoes)

Keep on running.... (echoes)
                           Keep on running.... (echoes)   Keep on running.... (echoes)
                                                                                          Keep me running.... (echoes)

Keep on flying.... (echoes)
                           Keep on flying.... (echoes)      Keep on flying.... (echoes)
                                                                                           I keep on flying.... (echoes)

Keep on going.... (echoes)
                           Keep on running.... (echoes)    Keep on flying.... (echoes) 
                                                                                           I keep on flying....  (echoes) 

                           Keep on going........ (echoes) 

**********************************

The version published on DeviantART is found HERE. 

This one is still another song/lyrics for Djehkäujaa, but it might be inter-cut with Lively. Lively is definitely in this project/story.

This is another simple piece. It's meant to be more music than vocals. the lyrics are a pattern with variations.

I want this one to be 90s Euro trance style but with some strings like guitars and/or dulcimers or zithers, but very strong synthesizers with ambient and melody parts. It will mostly be down tempo, but still a 4/4 beat is very likely. A lot of reverberation and echoing. It will have a slow intro, and tempo changes in different parts... I want to have a balance of bass or notes lower on the scale, with higher pitch as well.

I am not sure whether I want the vocals to be male or female, but I do not want a deep voice for it.

Poem Lyrics: I Take It Higher

I Take It Higher
By Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman (Black UniGryphon)
©2016 All Rights Reserved 
Draft Lyrics/Poetry

Gotta reach!

A little further!

Gonna reach!

A little farther!

For myself,

Make a conscious choice!

Come on! 

Make some noise!

Jump-jump!
I jump some more!
Jump-jump! 
Jump off the floor! 

A little higher!
Gonna make it! 
A little higher! 
Time to soar! 

I take it higher!
I make it higher!

*********

Go forth! 
A little Further! 
Reach forth! 
A little farther! 

For myself,
Spun it 'round! 
Come on!
A glorious sound! 

Jump-jump!
I jumped some more! 
Jump-jump! 
Launched off the floor! 

A little higher! 
Gonna make it! 
A little higher!
And now I soar! 

I take it higher!
I made it higher!

It's also published here on DeviantART.


This one is meant to be more percussion/rhythm based. 
I'm not entirely positive about what I want to do with it... but, I have some ideas...

This one is also for my character Djehkäujaa, but probably in her original dragon form. very highly likely as her original dragon form.

Poem Lyrics: The First Time Seeing

The First Time Seeing
(working title)
By Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman (Black UniGryphon)
©2016 All Rights Reserved 
Rough Draft Lyrics/Poetry

The first time........... (echoes)
               -though these eyes......... (echoes)
                                 I ever witnessed this place........ (echoes)

The first time........... (echoes)
               -through these eyes........ (echoes)
                                 I ever saw this face............ (echoes)

The first time........... (echoes)
               -through these eyes.......... (echoes)
                                 Ever seeing this place.......... (echoes)

The first time........... (echoes)
               -through these eyes.......... (echoes)
                                Ever seeing your face........... (echoes)


Your face........ (echoes)
                     The first time........ (echoes)
                                        The first time......... (echoes)

My face........... (echoes)
                ...........The first time......... (echoes)

You can also find this poem/lyrics published to my DeviantART gallery.

Well, these lyrics here would probably not make much sense without the visuals. the emphasis is on the "FACE". "Face" its self has a lot of meaning.... but, also this is another song for Djehkäujaa, my dragon character but this is when she unfortunately becomes a humanoid form, much to her horror, and her own stupidity & comeuppance that she will regret for the rest of her life.

This song is meant to be Djehkäujaa's voice, but she will not be actually lip-sync singing this one. It will be like a voice-over, but as a song.

The lyrics are just a simple pattern with variation and reverb, to be to-the-point simple yet effective.

It is almost "garage house" sounding with a lot of echo & reverberations.

It will mostly rely on conveying the mood by some echoing piano and layered repercussions, as well as some sound effects, bass, perhaps wobble bass. I'm not sure if I will use a 2-step beat or not. Altho' I want this to be a very heavily European sounding style, I also want some eastern vibes/elements to it also...

Think of it this way: imagine she is in a desolate wide open prairie or savannah landscape, I was thinking more like the planes in Mongolia... but, my story will be an entirely other world. And, Djehkäujaa is literally grounded. No more flying. Her wings fall off, and burn away like acid and steaming clouds of fumes.

And, she looks at her own face, not the face knew herself to be...
A different face. Shock, despair, trauma...

That's what this is....