Halloween Project: Monster Assignment

Halloween Monster Moodboard

Its Halloween! This week we have been set the task of designing a scary/ creepy monster.

I started off by researching different aspects of scary creatures. Classic monsters from movies and video games were heavily influential on me and my decision making with this project. I also took into account any creatures I found scary and were the stuff of nightmares to me as a kid.

To me creepy is more scary than your typical scary monster. I want my creature to retain elements of typical scary monsters but be more creepy than scary.

V Sauce - Why are things Creepy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc&list=UU6nSFpj9HTCZ5t-N3Rm3-HA

Above is probably one of the most influential pieces of research I have conducted. Things being 'Creepy' are simply aspects we aren't used to. For example, a human face with normal features isnt scary, however enlarge the eyes and the person starts to become creepy. Proportion and posture is easily the best way to make something creepy. Out of proportion features are freaky because we aren't used to them. Out of place characters or objects can also be seen as creepy. An innocent child confidently walking about a dark place can be creepy because it isn't normal behavior for a child. That change in behavior does put people on edge because something is wrong. But you cant quite put your finger on what is wrong. That feeling of unrest plants a seed of doubt that quickly grows into fear the longer the character is in the audiences concious thoughts. That is how people/ places create a creepy environment and come to be labelled 'creepy'.

Personally skinny tall monsters are creepy to me. I believe this is due to my fear as a kid of Lupin from Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban. Towards the end of this movie Lupin transforms from a man into a werewolf. His werewolf form was tall, skinny with yellow eyes and sharp extruding teeth.

Professor Lupin from Harry Potter. Still gives me the creeps today.

I would like to create a monster that follows this pattern. Tall, skinny, with huge arms and legs; maybe even claws? I will start a sketch in my book then take it over into Photoshop. Where I will paint it.

My Final Monster

Here is my final drawing. I am very happy with the way this turned out, I managed to create something that is original and that has been inspired by other monsters. Unnatural proportions, long finger nails and bleeding scratch marks all roll together to create an image of terror. The only thing I am unhappy with would be the feet. I have always struggled to draw hands and feet so I ignore them if I can. The feet should of been bigger to match the hands. They don't look big enough to hold up a creature of that size. Apart from that I am happy. The color/shading in my opinion worked well. it is the first time I have painted something using a tablet and been happy with the result. 

The shadow was created by duplicating the monster, I then blacked out this layer by reducing the lightness of the monster by 100% this gave me a crisp black silhouette. I then reduced the opacity and used the skew tool to flatten the image behind my monster. I positioned the shadow to line up with the feet and made any final touches to the image.

If I was to repeat this project I would definitely adjust the feet, they would be bigger and have a different shape, I would also add more detail to the figure feet and legs. Giving my creature a background to create perspective and a sense of place.