The rise of the Batfolk

All art by me, Josh "Skull" Dixon

Batfolk

Another week and another new monster, but for this site, this will be my first post about a weekly monster drawing I made. So I think it's is great that a creature that turned out really well should mark this occasion. I would suck if the first Monster drawing post I had to make for this site was for a monster that I thought was less than what I was hoping for.

The Process

The way I create all my monster drawings usually follows the same process and the Batfolk monster is no different. almost every time I sit down to start drawing I don't have an idea in mind. I come to the board seeking something awesome and see where the session takes me. Some times it is good to let your mind wander and to express itself however it wants. this practice helps you generate ideas that you probably wouldn't have thought of and allows you to stretch and grow as an artist.
Most of the time, when I start, I begin by creating a silhouette. I use a Concept artist technique, where I just create a random shape and from there find the creature or person that the shape inspires me to make. I have many examples of this up on my Youtube Channel, which you can find a link to off to the side of this page. So check them out if you want to see how the random silhouette works in a timelapse video.
Once I find my inspiration, I break the silhouette down into shapes and build out the character from there. I don't stay strictly to the shape of the silhouette, I break out of it when needed, to create a strong character pose.
Once that is done I draw the final version of the creature in black ink and then color the whole thing, staying in a 3 color process for the whole thing. This is not that I only use three colors, but that at most there is a Base color, a Shade, and a Highlight (when needed).

My Thoughts on the Creature

As I draw I usually think about what this creature is, how it moves, what it eats, etc. This all helps me try and reflect this through the pose and some of the characteristics I choose to add tot he creature. So for the Batfolk, I knew I didn't want it to be a brainless creature. So I made it standing upright like a human and gave it clothing and tools. I wanted them to be scary looking, but I didn't want them to be a clique, so I gave them some of the colorings you see in fruit bats. The Orange chest hair for instance. I could have made them a flying race but I didn't want them to be like the Mna-bat from Batman. I imagine if any of their race does fly, maybe its the females. Maybe that's how you can tell them apart. I also thought it would be great if they were vampire hunters and so added Silver jewelry to this guy above. I also wanted to make his head huge just because I love the contrast between that and the rest of his body.

Anyway, hope you like the drawing. This is all thanks to my patron who encourage me to keep up with these drawings by supporting me on Patreon. As well as all you people who give me high fives and heart emojis when I post art on Social Media.
Until next time, Have a good weekend.