#wyrmchatter
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psst... if you use Photoshop, gradient map adjustment layers set to overlay/other blending modes are underrated and cool - also experiment with setting the gradient type to noise and randomizing it
I'll probably make a tutorial about this at some point but its powerful stuff
#wyrmchatter#I've got to make a tutorial about this and the monster/creature design process because someone asked about that#and i am always ecstatic to talk about research
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I'm looking at some of my art and coming to the distinct conclusion that its probably really obvious I adored Majora's Mask as a very small child
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Looking for monster inspiration material!
Send me your favorite poems, quotes, word fragments, song lyrics, phrases (with credit please!)
I can't guarantee if and when I'll get to these, but this has been really helpful in the past!
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Ok, so I’m chronically flitting between personal projects and need some help focusing. I have four-ish large comic projects I would like to develop pitches for, which one should I focus on first?
(I realize these are really vague pitches but I’m just interested to see what my audience is most excited about)
Option 1 - Two entities ponder their love for one and other during the end of the world. Broody and slow, very much exploring ace/aro feelings.
Option 2 - A horror? graphic novel set during the Greek Bronze Age, spooky and mythological (but leaning into more eldritch territory?) Big gender themes.
Option 3 - Series of slice of life comic strips about art school and having a mental health crisis (Semi-auto biographical but also very not)
Option 4 - A catalog of made-up internet anomalies (Short story collection/anthology)
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I'm pretty busy freelance wise currently, but the minute I have any free time I'm going to draw a lot more human Koh the Face Stealer
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RE the monster inspiration.. one of my favorites of all time is "Torment of the Worgen" from WoW :' )
I did this. I don't remember doing it, but it cannot be otherwise.
I have committed sins in my life before. I even killed a man once who didn't deserve it. But this is different.
I am changed.
These murders were not my choice. A beast lives inside of me.
I will be hunted and shunned. I need to hide. Run. Bury the bodies.
I start to walk outside when I realize what truly bothers me.
I feel no guilt.
I know it's 95% werewolf flavored, but I still like it a lot for monsters in general
Oooooo very nice thank you for the inspo!!!
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just found your account, holy shit your art is AWESOME
Thank you!!!
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Hi! Younger artist here, I just saw your post with all those super cool monster designs and I took a quick stroll through your blog, and I was wondering if you had any specific inspirations for those designs or where you get inspo for character designs in general? Or perhaps some tidbits on how you learned how to make wild designs like that?
Sorry if this is a bit of a big ask, I just think it's really cool and I was curious!
Hello! Thank you for your question and apologies for taking so long to answer, I just got really excited and wanted to be thorough!
My biggest piece of advice is research and develop a visual library of reference material! Your visual library is like a mental database of everything you’ve ever seen in your life, and this is what you can pull from to design concepts.
There are a couple ways to start this as a practice:
Notice what you see! It can be a chair, a sunset, a shoe, the light on a tree, but if you see something you think is beautiful or interesting, mentally make a note of it!
Document what you like! With computers and cameras this is a lot easier to do nowadays, but if you see something interesting to you, document it. You can draw it, or take/save a photo to folder.
Organize it! I highly recommend coming up with a system for referencing back to find things, either through image tags or folders or even a manual filing system.
Pay attention to your personal preferences and experiences. Try to think about what draws you to certain visual elements, identifying them can lead you to more things you like. Also pay attention to what you don’t like and why, it doesn’t necessarily need to be bad or amoral, we all have personal tastes.
Get out of your comfort zone! I recommend trying to see something you’ve never seen before often. Find a new artist, a new genre, research a new type of design movement, go to a new place, etc.
Try to find context for your research! For example, If you really love a specific era of fashion, research that time period and the way historical context informs it. Context can be really important, especially if you are working with references new to you!
Important Note 01: You don’t want to copy or rip-off these things. In my experience the best way to avoid that is to have a lot of reference points for any project and embrace your authentic personal interests, experiences, and identity.
Important Note 02: Like any research, be conscious of primary person vs secondary sources! One is not better than another necessarily, but I find I work my best with a mix of both. I like to start with primary sources and then move to secondary sources, Ie: looking at authentic suits of armor before moving to contemporary armor concept art. You don’t have to do this, it’s just something I find helpful.
Important Note 03: While mostly I’m referring to visual references, audio, music, and writing are also super helpful!
Ok now, how do you curate all that for a project. For those monster illustrations I wanted to explore how color can be horrific. Keywords: Color & Horror. So I start looking through references for things that have the effect I want color wise, vivid and maximalist, and things that I find scary or horrifying. Here are some of the things I knew about or discovered during the research process that had the vibe I wanted.
Notable Influences
Color and Design
Peruvian & Guatemalan Textiles and Traditional Clothing
Spanish Traditional/Folk Clothing
Sammezzano Castle, Italy
Nasir al-Mulk Mosque, Iran
Russian Traditional/Folk Costumes
Fonthill Castle, Pennsylvania
Zhangye National Geopark
Nick Cave - sculpture artist
Lousie Zhang
Magnhild Kennedy - “Damselfrau”
Horror
Catacomb Saints
Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
Japanese Yokai
Greek & Roman Mythology
Mandrills & Monkeys
Charles Fréger’s Photographs of European Pagan Costuming
Avant Garde Fashion
Alexander McQueen
Vedas by Nicolas Alan Cope and Dustin Edward Arnold
Stephen Jones - Hats
Mummies
Reliquaries
Marina González Eme
Lorenzo Nanni
H.R Giger
Intersections of Color & Horror
Microscopic Imagery
Moths, Beetles & Shrimp
Suspiria (1977)
AJ Fosik
Hungry | Johannes J. Jaruraak
Once you’ve gathered these references in one place (like a moodboard, folder, or Pinterest board) It’s time to pay attention to wear aesthetics intersect, what patterns are coming up, what proportions of color, what textures reoccur, what elements of clothing reoccur, etc.. What relationship do different images have with each other, what emotional effect do they create.
Now that you’ve studied up, it’s time to sketch, try and create things that feel similar to the work you are looking at but not copy it, instead try mixing things together. Experiment! Let your personal style and preferences sink in! Interpret what you’ve learned!
From there, it’s more of a design process, how to use proportion, light, anatomy, perspective, form, repetition, etc, to create the desired effect. Then you refine and refine.
For new or different projects you repeat the process, maybe you use similar points of reference, maybe you go a completely different direction.
Anyway that was long, but I hope it was helpful!
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in a weird spot job wise where I'm like fuck do I make pitches or webcomics or an etsy or get a non-art job or get a fancier art job or pivot to editorial illustration or make a concept art portfolio or make more monsters or or or or
it's a spot I'm very grateful to be in but lord is it kinda spooky
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my gender is 50% Allan, 50% Weird Barbie
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I know there's a lot of site chatter about alternative social media so I'm just popping in to remind y'all that my carrd lists all the places I am currently active to semi-active.
(also I have like 4 extra bsky codes so if you are interested DM me )
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Ngl all I really want in life rn is to be able to talk about and share my characters and stories with people but I am the biggest worrywart about it
#wyrmchatter#I can't figure out if I should do it separately from my professional accounts or what#social media fills me with a deep fear
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thinking about aphantasia and like... is this how people daydream? I can picture things in my dreams as clear as night and day but I can't see anything in my minds eye awake. Are people just? Picturing things in their head?
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what is the name of the inkling on the far left?
The inkling on the far left is named Bennie! While I'm here I should name the others too, middle is Michi, and far right octoling is Vera!
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