FRÉMIET DEMON

FRÉMIET DEMON

"French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet merged the contemporary fascination with medieval imagery—particularly gargoyles—with his lifelong zoological studies. The gothic influence shows in each creature’s set of batlike wings, while the pelican’s mismatched but eerily realistic frog body displays Frémiet’s naturalist bent."

The Chicago Art Institute

YATES THOMPSON DEMON

YATES THOMPSON DEMON

"The devils shown tormenting the saint have become much more imaginative in form. One is based on a lobster, two have accessory faces in their abdomens, and they are starting to depart from nature."

Hoakley, The Story In Paintings: The Temptation Of Saint Anthony, Before 1560

*This demon is inspired by the painting Saint Anthony And Tormenting Demons, a page from an illuminated version of Jean de Vignay, La Légende Dorée, Volume II from 1465-1475

FGS DEMON

 FGS DEMON

"The scene—featuring a monstrous creature conjured by an evil rite, a terrified sorcerer fleeing the scene, and an unsuspecting, bound child destined for sacrifice—clearly reveals its debt to the paintings of magic and witchcraft created by Salvator Rosa during his Florentine period (autumn 1639–1650), works that were highly coveted by connoisseurs."

Gonnelli

*This demon is inspired by the painting A Scene Of Witchcraft (1674) by FGS.

UVUUDAUM

UVUUDAUM

"An uvuudaum is a humanoid creature with two standard human arms that protrude from the torso where expected, but whose lower body has six arms instead of legs, splayed spiderlike below it (tough loose clothing somewhat drapes its grotesque legs). The real horror is the taillike appendage replacing what would be a head on a normal creature. At the very end of the appendage is an ironhard spike."

Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordeil & Tomas M. Reid, Epic Level Handbook

SIBRIEX

SIBRIEX

"The unsettling stink of rotting flowers surrounds the large, bloated figure that floats lazily in the air. The demon is hardly more than a malformed face the size of a wagon. Where its ears should be are instead a pair of atrophied arms with hands ending in tremulous digits. Instead of a body, everything below its neck is a writhing nest of puckers and stalks. It is tethered to the surrounding ground by four steel chains that end in razor-sharp spikes."

Ed Stark, Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss

RUTTERKIN

RUTTERKIN

"Rutterkin look much like ugly humans or humanoids. They are nearly hairless and have pointed skulls, large features and backward pointing ears. Rutterkin have misshapen bodies and limbs. They are one of the weakest but most bullying kinds of demons."

Gary Gygax, The Lost Caverns Of Tsojcanth

"This hunched and misshapen figure stands 6 feet tall. Its features are asymmetrical and deformed, and its mottled green and violet skin is hairless except for one or two uncomfortable looking patches of wiry bristles. The fiend has an elongated head with tiny red eyes that swell with hate."

Ed Stark, Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss

MIND FLAYER

MIND FLAYER

"This is a super-intelligent, man-shaped creature with four tentacles by its mouth which it uses to strike its prey. If a tentacle hits it will then penetrate to the brain, draw it forth, and the monster will devour it."

Gary Gygax, Strategic Review Volume 1 Number 1

The mindflayer's skin glistens with slime. Its skin color is a nauseous mauve, its tentacles being purplish black, A mind flayer's eyes are a dead while, no pupil being evident. The long fingers of each hand are reddish, but the hands are mauve."

Gary Gygax, Monster Manual I

DHARCULUS

DHARCULUS

"The dharculus is a creature native to the Far Realm. These particularly deadly creatures hunt all other creatures that cross their paths without regard to rank or hierarchy. They possess little fear, being well protected from its prey."

"The dharculus are swimmers of the Border Ethereal; however, they have a singular ability to insert their made tentacle ends into the Prime Material Plane. These tentacles appear as a swarm of blind eel-like creatures slinging through the very air in a deadly school. To those who can see into the Ethereal, the 'eels' are merely the protruding tentacle tips of the dharculus. Following the multiple tentacles back, one would see that they come together in a fused braid, a thick and rigid worm link tube coming the main body of the creature. The posterior end of the cylindrical body loops back towards the front the a giant question mark, ending in a huge, drooling maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. Five of the darculus' tentacle end in eyes instead of manipulator maws;"

Bruce Cordell, The Gates Of Firestorm Peak

INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVELER

INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVELER

This one is a bit different than my usual posts. There's no literary, folkloric or mythological source material. My friend Alan (medusawolf) is working on a new comic. In it, a character sees into various other dimensions or universes and the creatures that live therein. Alan left part of 8 panels blank and asked other artists to draw a creature. This weirdo is what I drew. Well, I only drew the head and upper torso for Alan, but I liked the idea so much I went back and drew the entire body. 

I thought this would also be a good time to show a bit of my process. 

First we have my pencil drawing where I originally had a second face on the back of the creature. Followed by the inks where I removed the second face. Then the inks after they'd been cleaned up in Photoshop. Next is the flat color.

Then we have the first part of the rendering process. I started with the head. Then I moved on to the torso and arms and finished with the tail and the final stage. As a bonus, the very last image is the rendered color without the linework.

I'm taking a break for the rest of the week but I'll be back next week with a full week of D&D monsters!

THOUGHT MONSTER

THOUGHT MONSTER

"'There is one alternative: perhaps there was nothing for the dying man to see.'"

"'But,' objected the doctor, 'I thought it was what he saw that killed him.'"

"'Fear,' said Cummings, 'can enter a man's soul through other senses than sight. Anyway, I shall work on that hypothesis for a while, and see where it leads me.'"

"And then the air was filled with something that had being, yet was not made of matter. Great, waving tentacles were groping for my mind, trying to suck it into themselves! With a scream, I rushed from the room. The experiment which I began last fall had succeeded without my knowing it, and I have let a thought-monster loose upon the community!"

"The intelligence that was James Gibson has been swallowed up in the maw of my detestable invention!"

"I can feel its tentacles groping for my mind, trying to read my thoughts."

Amelia Reynolds Long, The Thought Monster