I have a friend – Meredith – who is a very talented writer and artist (see her art here…I am hoping her writing is will be available at some point in the future). I wanted to highlight some pretty interesting sketches that she created a few years ago. These sketches got my creativity going – specifically, the differences in approach to something pretty well established like a pixie (left) or demon-type monster (right).
Meredith wrote a bit about each sketch as well, which I’ve included below.
The Pixie And The Monster
The pixie drawing was really fun to play with, mostly because I love messing around with anatomy, exaggerating and embellishing it which is perfect for fantastical creatures. I definitely drew some inspiration from the pixies in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but wanted to add my own spin on it. I thought the potbellied little creatures were fun and whimsical, and I liked the idea of their long dexterous fingers as I feel they’re quite helpful for getting the pixies into places they shouldn’t.
The tusk monster was fun too because I specifically remember drawing him on an airplane. The man that was sitting in the seat next to me kept glancing down at my sketchbook, the image I was drawing at the time probably some portrait or another. I then started to draw the monster because I’d had a particular fascination with drawing demons earlier that week and wanted to test the limits of anatomy in some other way.
Thus this monster was born. He does have a rather ripped torso for how skinny his arms are, clearly he skips arm day. Also sometimes I wonder what his ankles must be made of to make up for the mass of his quadriceps, but he does seem to be doing rather well for himself.
The man on the airplane had a bit more of a disgruntled expression on his face when I started drawing this guy. I don’t think he expected something of this genre after the more pleasant and, stereo-typically, feminine images I had been drawing before. Not that this monster is unpleasant. I think he’s a trip personally.
Another fun fact about him is he made a second appearance in one of my illustration projects for my BFA. I had been speaking with my professor Ned Gannon about the plane experience and the man’s reaction to the monster sketch. Ned told me I should implement that into some sort of project, basically what it might look like if a monster like that tried to fit himself into every day society.
The result was a rather comical cartoon of my Tusk Monster trying to fit himself onto a subway car, wrenched between a couple of disgruntled passengers trying to sit as far from him as space will allow, while a second smaller monster sits a top his lap. It was a really fun concept to mess with, one I might continue in the future with a couple of the other creatures I’ve come up with.
Why I Love This
I am always looking for interesting ways to explore old concepts, and I think both sketches do this quite well. In particular, the pixie gives a much rougher feel to the creature than something we are used to. Like Meredith said, it has a Harry Potter feel to it, but certainly she put her own spin on it. I would love to explore the concept of a dopey, disgruntled pixie flying around and getting into trouble, rather than something in a green swimsuit sprinkling magical dust on kids to make them fly.
The tusk monster demon looks awesome. I just want to create a stat block for.
Fantasy Art
Art like this is why I love browsing images. These two sketches bring new life to old concepts. I’m always looking for more art to inspire the games that I am a part of!
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Paper Dice Games 