April MOTM: The Keeper of Candles and Skulls - concept sketch + design commentary // sfw

thanks again to coldau, who suggested the theme "candles and skulls" for the MOTM poll! :D

this MOTM concept art is a little bit different than usual. normally i'd post a single sketch, usually coloured and somewhat more polished. when i sat down to design this monster i had a vague vision of his general aesthetic but i didn't really have a clear mental image of the specifics, so i ended up making several little doodles to try out various looks. once i had settled on a design i was so eager to start working on the painting that i didn't linger to polish or colour the final sketch--i knew which colour scheme i wanted to go for and i was happy to come up with small details on the fly. before i knew it i had finished the painting and i didn't want to refine and colour the concept art in hindsight (that wouldn't feel genuine), so i decided to simply put the doodles together into a sketch page and show you the "piece by piece" creation of april's monster. 

re: the 'vague vision of his general aesthetic' i knew i wanted him to have a skullface (because with a theme like 'candles and skulls,' how could i not?); that he should have candles on his body; and that he should basically look like he belongs in a crypt or catacomb kind of setting. because he does.

the specific word choice "keeper of candles and skulls" made me imagine a caretaker of an eldritch archive of candle-lit bones, and i started thinking about it as a long forgotten crypt without really realising it. in a way, this design was intrinsically tied to the background i started planning for the painting. naturally, i wanted it to be full of candles and skulls, and soon started drawing inspiration from some fascinating historical and archaeological sites i've visited--specifically (some of) the catacombs of rome, and the capucin crypts of rome and palermo.

the roman catacombs are a series of labyrinthine underground passages and chambers, lined with horisontal niches to hold the dead and interspersed with occasional places of worship. the capucin crypt of rome is a row of six rooms where the bones and mummies of monks have been arranged in artful ways, and the capucin catacombs of palermo is a much larger complex containing the preserved bodies of both clergy and civilians. 

i imagined this monster as looking after a similar location, long forgotten by humanity; a labyrinth of tombs and burials of various types. the painting shows niches where bodies could be stretched out (either left open or sealed with plaster or bricks), though i filled them with urns containing the ashes of cremated people. there's also tomb stones and memorial stelae, if you look closely you can see a double row of stacked long bones, and of course there's skulls--of both humans, animals, and creatures unknown to man, much like the monster himself. 

so in a way his design began with an idea for the setting i wanted to situate him in; i first came up with the crypt, and then started figuring out how to make him look at home in it. basically he should look like someone you'd expect to find in an underground catacomb, where it's dark and dusty and cold and earthy and creepy and there's dead people everywhere.

as you can see from the sketches above, i toyed with the idea of giving him a set of mismatched antlers, or a single 'unicorn' candle on his forehead, but then i fell in love with the idea of a 'crown' of burning candles (st lucia, anyone?). i tried covering his head with a cluster of skulls, but it looked a bit Much, and just a single skullface didn't seem like enough for a keeper and collector of crania--so i settled on three. the patchwork skull idea is cool but i'm saving it for another concept because it felt like 'normal' skulls would be better for this guy. 

i liked the limp tail of the 'robed' doodle, but i wasn't super into the cone-shaped silhouette of the long skirts and sleeves; he needed to look more angular and bony and mummy-esque. i wrapped him in linen strips and gave him dusty, tattered pants, covered with spider webs and ashes and earth. i considered giving him a veil, which would have been suitable for a crypt-themed monster. but once more i didn't want to default to a veil just because i'm really into the look of veils these days, so instead i wrapped his neck in cloth strips as well. on one sketch he has a necklace of small bones, which i regret not including on the final painting, since it would have looked really dope--i forgot about it, to be completely honest. 

aside from the crown of candles there's others perched on his shoulders; he has adorned himself with the same candles that perpetually burn in every corner of his crypt, in remembrance of the dead. his skin is grey, the wrappings are unbleached linen, his clothes are grey and brown from dust and earth; the only splash of colour is the gold jewellery (the necklace, the paper-thin leaves, the occasional ear-ring) that he may or may not have borrowed from a burial. 

i imagine that he barely makes a sound as he moves, that he has a surprisingly pleasant smell (like the crisp scent of cold earth), and despite his eerie appearance he's very gentle and deliberate in everything he does. he's spent too much time alone, dutifully taking care of the forgotten dead, making sure the candles never go out. the caption of the painting hints at a story: "he spent many lonely centuries collecting the skulls of the dead and illuminating them with hundreds of candles, only to find that the brightest fire burned in the heart of a living person. they wandered into his crypt one day, looking for forgotten knowledge, but instead they found a hidden monster longing for someone to treasure." since the setting is inspired by various italian crypts and catacombs, i decided that the human is italian (haven't named them yet, but i should), and the monster talks to them in italian--"tesoro" means "treasure," here as a term of endearment.

// art + character © me.