December MOTM: snowy gryphon - concept sketch + design commentary // sfw

thanks again to lost misfits for suggesting ‘gryphon’ for the monster of the month polls! in accordance with the season i made it wintery by specifying it as a gryphon based on a snowy owl combined with a snow leopard, and i’m not gonna lie - that made the designing process pretty easy. allow me to elaborate.

i’ve been doing monsters of the month for two years now and designing them is usually much less straightforward. some of them have been based on an environment or element, like ice & snow, coral reefs, or shadows. in those cases the theme is a clear starting point, but the sheer amount of possibilities means a whole lot of decisions must be made along the way regarding how i want to translate an elemental theme into a living character.

other monsters have been based on creatures of folklore, like my camazotz, phoenix, and feathered serpent, sometimes with a qualifier like the creepy unicorn, heavenly naga, or eldritch minotaur. in these cases i know what type of monsters they are but that doesn’t necessarily make things less complex. i usually do a bunch of research to learn more about the monster and the associated lore, looking for interesting opportunities to depict them in a unique way, not to mention figuring out exactly how to make them look creepy, heavenly, or eldritch.

sometimes, the monster has been based on a more cryptic prompt, like the keeper of candles and skulls, what lurks in the deep woods, the void, and strange lantern bearer. these type of monster of the month themes set the mood and provide ‘props’ that should somehow be incorporated into the design (candles, skulls, lantern) but otherwise set no limits for exactly how the design should look. i’m free to go with any of the countless possible ways to interpret and portray them.

other times still, the monster has been inspired by a real world creature, once more often with additional qualifiers like queen bee, nightmarish corvid, mother-of-pearl shark, or stag beetle knight. when designing such a monster the animal is my starting point, and sometimes i know to theme them on something elemental (mother-of-pearl) or a certain vibe (royal, scary, warrior-like), so the direction is usually quite clear. but even then it can be challenging to come up with a design that’s clearly based on a well-known beast without merely being an anthropomorphic version thereof; something more monstrous and original, and in accordance with the theme or mood.

the thing about this monster, our snowy gryphon, is that ... well, we all know what a snowy owl and a snow leopard look like, right? it seemed like the major design decisions were already packed into the prompt; a gryphon is a classic and well-known monster basically consisting of some avian parts mashed together with some feline parts, and since i knew which species to base them on i also knew the colour scheme, textures, all that jazz. snowy owls and snow leopards are both fluffy and soft, with rounded silhouettes and few hard edges; the long, spotted fur of the feline would blend smoothly into the downy, speckled feathers of the owl; and the colours would go together seamlessly. the lack of a qualifier made it easy, too—the design didn’t need to look nightmarish, queenly, or heavenly. it’s just a straight up gryphon based on two animals that happen to go super well together aesthetically. i felt like i didn’t need to ask myself many designing questions as i was concept sketching them. it was all right there, y’know?

could i have gone down a less predictable route, designing a more wild take on a snowy owl + snow leopard gryphon? yes, absolutely. did i need to? no. i felt like the design was interesting enough just like this. it’s aesthetically pleasing, in line with the wintery theme, and it didn’t have to be revolutionary or unique to be good. 

all in all, i only added a couple of quirks. gryphons sometimes have ears inspired by the feline part, but rather than giving them snow leopard ears i gave them ‘horns’ inspired by eagle-owls and horned owls. i also wanted to give them a ‘mane’ of thick braids, matching their fur and feathers, but in the end that feature only made it into the sketch - i felt like it ‘got in the way’ in the painting so i gave them a smooth neck instead, covered with downy fluff.

since the designing process was unusually straightforward i find that i honestly don’t have too much to say about this monster. i don’t want to bullshit just to get my word count up, and that’s why this design commentary turned into a general reflection on the past two years of designing monthly monsters. i hope you don’t mind, and i personally think it was quite satisfying to observe some patterns in my designing process.

whatever the starting point, i absolutely love designing my monsters of the month. i love it when it’s hard and i find myself tearing my hair out in frustration, trying to come up with a unique take on a classic monster or an interesting way to interpret a certain prompt. i love it when i have to figure out how to portray an abstract concept as a person or when i end up doing hours of research as i attempt to learn enough about a folklore beast to do them justice. i love it when it’s easy, too - when the ideas appear out of nowhere, when i know exactly how i want to draw a themed monster, or when i’m already well familiar with a classic type of creature. i love how two years of designing something new every month has made me create monsters i might never have drawn otherwise. 

i also love how almost all of the 2019 monsters have been based on patron suggestions. i love your ideas, your feedback, your reactions to seeing monsters based on a prompt you suggested, your excitement at new polls and the available options, and the fact that people enjoy the behind the scenes stuff. i’ve always loved getting insight into other people’s designing process and it feels so cool to be able to give that to others. <3 thanks for everything - i hope to have you along for 2020 as well!

art + character © me.