Making creatures and monsters

Making creatures and monsters This tuturial is all about designing different creatures and monsters, possibly for a fiction story, drawing, or video game. Includes an extra section on plants :) Creatures and monsters First, there are big differences between creatures and monsters. Creatures are living beings that exist in an ecosystem and must have proper functions for existing in this ecosystem during its life. They are pieces in a puzzle-each creature will compliment another in the way it acts in an enviorment, and the ecosystem as a whole. In this way, creatures should be highly specialized as to the way they eat, act and reproduce. When designing creatures, your goal is to make it live in a harmonious envoirment with other creatures. Creatures are designed individually, with no real resembelance to humans. They can range from small bugs, to huge birds, to tiny flowers and huge trees that span the sky. Carnivores, herbivores, all walks of life. Your goal is to create these creatures and make them all work together to live in an enviorment. Realism is key here. You have to make the enviorment beliveable. No 300 year old fairies living in volcanoes, that act like teenage girls. :P To get in the mood for drawing creatures and enviorments, try listening to lite music or "inspiring" music that reminds one of looking at an alien landscape. Monsters are spawned, and have no other purpose in existance than to kill and cause terror and destruction. Their bodies are controlled and animated by the magic that spawned them. They can have all sorts of wild body mechanisms and functions. Monsters tend to be very untolerant, and will attack other monsters if provoked. When designing monsters, your goal is to make it as hideous as possible, and design it to kill and destroy. Monsters usually have humanoid shapes, but don't let this get in the way of you designing some abomination that isn't slightly humanoid. :) Go wild with your design, and don't let a few spare arms or mouth get in the way of making the monster extra disgusting. :) To get in the mood for drawing monsters, try listening to some heavy rock music or wierd techno music. Or play DOOM/Quake till your eyes fall out of your skull (optional! XD) Body parts The main components of your being. In creatures, their bodies need to be highly specialized to perform their paticular biological function. With monsters, however, you have a wide array of material to slap onto that freakish beast lying on your paper :) Keep in mind this is only to give you a general idea, and should not restrict you to using just these for designing. A creature may have all or none of these - it may be designed entirley different. Very simple creatures may not even be complex enough to have any of these, and may be composed of a simple blob or sensors. Head: The main center of biological activity. Monsters can have a few of these :) Most common features are a head, jaw, mouth that leads to a stomach, etc. Main body: The center of the body where all other parts eventually enter or exit. Torso, lower body, etc. Hands, claws & paws: Used for grabbing, gripping, bending or attacking. Arms: flexible, L-shaped components made of a forearm, elbow, and lower arm. Wings: Allows flight. Can be used by flapping, or something more creative like gliding via hot air vents in the surface of the ground. Horns: The ever-popular horns, seen on everything from rams to antelope to demons from hell. They can be straight, twist, turn, or otherwise be deformed in any way. Used as body weapons. They are usually seen on the head or spine. Don't let that get in the way of throwing them all over the place :) Misc: Body parts that are just shaped wierd or differently for a specific biological purpose. Extra body muscles for balance, claws, pinchers, grabbers, suction.. anything you can think of and slap on. Fur: Lots of options. Multicolors, patches, designs, etc. can all be used to give a being that extra touch. Also used for warmth, protection. Plants Plants are entirely different from animal-type creatures we have discussed this far. Plants can also have a monster or creature status. Creature plants can be very beautiful, and monster plants can be.. well.. really ugly :) The main components for plants will usually be branches, trunks, roots, etc. Making a good design sketch When you make a design sketch, you should draw the being from a front, side, and top view. Then, draw it at various angles and positions, doing different things like moving, how it's mouth opens/closes, sleeping, etc. Try to be as detailed as possible. Include a description of how it moves, acts, reproduces, etc.