Another random beastie

This is...

...where I'm going with Smaug. Emphasis on the face, fire, and action. Also no background, haha.

That reptilian hauteur

He exemplifies the combination of menace, power, and poorly contained amusement re: your sorry ass... The perfect character to inspire my interpretation of Smaug - Mr. Robert Mitchum. Drawn from an amazing uncredited B&W portrait I found online. I wanted to internalize his features and proportions, his cheekbones, and especially that look. Yeah. He'll do.

Gnomon 3D Forum Challenge of the month: Smaug!

I loves me a dragon! Sketches for my early concepts of the great dragon Smaug; the Big Bad from 'The Hobbit', for the three people left on Earth not exposed to Tolkien. Tough design challenge - that is, to make a dintinct character out of a legendary monster. To make a face that can eat ten ponies at a sitting, and still have the personality to banter with Bilbo. He needs to look ancient, avaricious, arrogant, and just plain vicious.
I also have a problem with the way wings are often depicted as being tacked on in many dragon designs, as well as being far to small to move a beast this size. Any wing that could realistically move this much mass would really dominate any design, though, so I see why folks do it. I have to install some deep chest musculature, to suggest a keeled sternum such as birds have. I have to at least have the beast feel like it could work...
I want to get the feel of 'the worm' in his design as well, emphasizing his corpulence, and a more reptilian long body and splayed hips. I imagine him uncomfortable moving on the ground for too long, like a crocodile -trying to lure prey close with his hypnotic eyes, then lunging to finish them.
Conversely, I see him in his element while aloft; gliding around and raining terror wherever he chooses, or on whatever all-wood town that happens to be near (What were they thinking? Silly Lakemen.)
I'm still working on facial details, but I like where this is going. If interested, please check out the progress to 3D on my sculptblog - see link to right!

A Merdude

I like the pencil rendering in this one - I need to work on my scanning technique; I find it difficult to catch a lot of the nuances in the pencil sketch.

Just some anatomy warmups today

I like the dancing girl

I like...

...to sketch alien heads. Or maybe monster heads. That is all.

Proof

I don't just draw monsters and aliens. I just draw aliens and monsters mostly.

Sometimes...

The pencil hits the page, and you just don't know what's going to come out...

Sharkmouthed demon doggish thing.

Yep. Not much more to say...

Another eyeless beastie

Next up...

...the beasts with no eyes.
Eyes give character, personality and warmth. With eyes, we can imagine how a creature sees, how it might see us, and allow us an 'in' to its motivations and immediate intentions (lunch?).
The lack of them, then, gives any creature design a bit of creepiness. It becomes more distant, alien and other. We can't create an internal map of its desires - we must be very alert. Can it smell us? Hear us? How can we tell if it knows we're there? Or if we are tasty? Eyes make a face. A face makes a character - a face without eyes is broken and monstrous; at least in our face-loving human-centric world, anyway.
Ok, beasts!

First!

...armor on the brain! Trying to create techy, organic armor suits in an original way. Getting close?