Visual Design Assignment: Halloween Monster

Assignment 4: Halloween Monster

Monster Reference

While looking for reference, I decided that an undead or demonic monster would be interesting to do, since they have very recognizable properties, such as horns or rotten flesh but have been interpreted in a variety of ways.

Zombies for one, have been portrayed as shambling husks or feral sprinting hunters or intelligent beings with personalities and characters. These changes also allow for a variety of physical changes, such as bloated bodies or additional limbs. The morbid transformation into a zombie also means that a bodies innards could be exposed or even changed to serve a new and sinister purpose.

Demon's are also more subject to to interpretation. While some appear as more tradition horned beings or physical monsters, others are more abstract or symbolic, either representing horrors, fears, sins or other forms of pain and suffering.

Initial Sketches

Out of the designs I did, I decided to run with the bloated creature design but also incorporate elements from the others. The idea of a creature with a detachable head could be very creepy and has been used in stories like Sleepy Hollow or The Thing. I also liked the large jaws on the middle creature and the armoured sections on the top creature.

These elements could be used together to make a monster that looked like it had unnaturally formed, and was a lopsided, twisted being, that was knotted together by different creatures flesh and was struggling to hold itself together.

Rough Figure Ideas

I decided to go with a four armed humanoid monster, to better contrast with the rotten or malformed features it possess. The more assymetrical design is more interesting and suits it's mish-mash nature.

Feature Sketches

For the head, I decided to split it between the detachable head and the massive jaws. The lower section is much larger than the other jaw and features huge, oddly angled teeth. The top half is more skull based but also features demonic horns and fleshy tendrils to hold it in place on the beasts neck.

Guidelines

Lineart

The final design for the creature also features a secondary mouth, so it can still effectively consume it's victims. The right arm is covered in thick armor and has pumpkins growing out of it, since it's a rotting body, it's especially fertile. The creature also carries simple curved blade, since it still possesses some intelligence.

Coloured Version

Final Version