April Monster Round Up

April Showers, Drawing Monsters.

Welp, another month has passed and once again I forgot to make a post about each monster after I drew them. So once again I will be running through all of them in one post. I might as well just accept that these month rundowns will become s permanent monthly posting.

As I type this, I am rendering out timelapse videos of some of the drawing streams to put up on youtube. Another endeavor that I keep putting up due to a very busy work schedule this month. You can always check out these timelapse videos over on my youtube channel; they allow you a glimpse at my working process for each of the monsters that I create each week in a fraction of the time that they take to make.

Dungeon Pets

All of April's drawings were from my top tier Backers on the Dungeon Pets Zine that I am making as part of Zinequest2.

The Pilfer Monkey

That darn thieving monkey. This pet monkey is a bit of a klepto and probably the pet of the party's rogue. He comes with a variety of pouches and bags to smuggle all his ill-gotten gains in and a fashionable scarf that he can use as a head and face covering. The soft fur on his feet allows him to move silently through any area and he can turn invisible at will.

I had fun with this and used several pieces of reference when designing him since I already knew he was going to be a monkey since that was the backer's request. As usual, I was happily surprised by the end and each little decision I made along the way seemed to be a success. Even now I'm adding to his write up to make him as valuable of a pet as many of the other pets that will appear in the zine.

The Hermes Rabbit, a.k.a. The Cloud Hopper

Originally I had the idea to name this cute little guy after the Hermes the messenger god of greek legends; However, the next day I realized that it would be a missed opportunity if I did not call it the most obvious name for this fine creature. The Cloud Hopper. I figure one name is possibly its academic name while the other is its common name. 

Again for this one since the backer's suggestion was only for a flying rabbit, I knew what kind of creature I was drawing and used photo reference. One thing I thought long and hard on though was how it flew. I did not want it to be the most obvious or common solution to make something able to fly. Which is to attach wings to its back. I also thought maybe making its ears rotate like a helicopter, but saw this as a bit too cartoon of a solution. So drawing inspiration from the Sandals of Hermes, I attached the wing to its legs. I have to say that this was an excellent solution. As for what else this amazing critter does, well you'll have to wait and see when the Zine comes.

The Hammer Boar

With backer suggested was for a Mini- Bullette, a well known and fully made up a creature from D&D. I couldn't use the likeness or the name of the Bullette from D&D, but the general idea of a smaller creature that can ram its way through a crowd of people gave me an idea to run with. The Hammer Boar is the final outcome of this process. Nothing like a charging boar to give anyone a fright, but a charging large ridable boar is doubly so. The Hammer boar can charge into enemies while conveying its rider forward. Plowing through the enemy as if they were made of paper and toss them into the air with dread speed and force.

Honestly, with his little saddle, it makes me think of He-Man a little. If can see one of the masters of the universe just sitting astride this mighty beast as they give their battle cry and make a mess of Skeletor's evil plans.

Well, that is all for this past month's monsters, or as I should say - Dungeon Pets. If you get the chance and see me post an update on twitter, come hang out on Friday mornings while I make creature weird and fierce.