Picture mystery solved

Not only does Little Socks have the distinction of being the first person to post a comment to this blog, but she solved the vampire picture mystery: 'Well, instead of doing homework, I put this picture into Tin Eye and played detective for awhile. I can't say for sure, but someone named Chad Savage seems to be a likely candidate.'

If you haven't heard of TinEye, it 'is a reverse image search engine. You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions.'

The dark art of Chad Savage

She provided two links as evidence. The first link leads from Chad Savage's 'Vampire art' page's gallery index. I have screencapped and cropped the relevant portion, above. All the information is there, from the picture's title, 'Penangglan', to the medium in which it was painted, the year it was created, etc.

The second link takes us to Mystic crypt, where the image is is offered for sale as a postcard sticker. It is also called 'Fenangglan', rather than 'Penangglan', but Chad Savage is also credited as its creator. 

I find that 'Penangglan' is its most likely title, as the penangglan [sic] has a relevance to vampires that 'fenangglan' does not. The penanaggalan is 'a peculiar variation of the vampire myth that apparently began in the Malay Peninsula' and 'may be either a beautiful old or young woman who obtained her beauty through the active use of black magic, supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means which are most commonly described in local folklores to be dark or demonic in nature.'

To back up this supposition, not only does Savage list it as 'Penangglan', but he also describes its origins: 'One painting to say everything I had learned about vampires up to the point at which I painted it.' I must admit, I am curious as to why he chose that name for it, as the picture does not depict a penanggalan. I'm also wondering whether it was commissioned by anyone. Either way, it's a beautiful painting.

Diary of an amateur vampirologist

I guess I'll have to ask Chad. The funny thing is, there's already a tenuous link between Chad and myself: his blog, Sinister missives, featured on Diary of an amateur vampirologist's 'Reading list' (above). I had no idea it was his pic. Trippy.

Props goes to Little Socks for tracking down the picture's source. Well done!