Fantasy Creatures

[Star Girl]

When I'm writing I sometimes like to draw my characters to kind of reference the type of thing I'm writing about so I have consistency. I find this most helpful when I'm designing a creature. At the moment I've got a dragon style creature in one of the stories I'm writing.Even though I'm terrible at drawing I do find it helps to let you know clearly what it is that your writing about.

Does anyone else do this? If so what creatures have you been creating?

[Fantastyfan]

I can't draw curved lines to save my life, but I would draw creatures if I could. I thought of a cool race that can't be exposed to sunlight and are much stronger at night, similar to vampires, except they don't suck blood and act differently.

I imagine them being really pale, large irises, taller than humans, and wearing tight dark clothes that cover every inch of their body to protect themselves from the sun. Not real original, but the way the interact in the book I think will be.

[P.G.Bell]

I'm told that, when creating new planets for the Star Wars films, George Lucas would make a rough outline of each world's ecosystem, complete with climate, super predators, minor predators, herbivores, plant life, etc. Obviously, he had Industrial Light And Magic to help him, but it proves the theory is sound.

I love drawing and I don't do anywhere near enough of it. As soon as I start writing something that requires a creature, you can bet I'll be sharpening my pencil.

[Starbeast]

Originally Posted by Star Girl

Does anyone else do this? If so what creatures have you been creating?

It's always good to sketch an idea of a creature, having even a doodle can be a great key for reference.

I like drawing dragon-like too. Either funny looking or posing with spheres.

Originally Posted by Fantastyfan

I can't draw curved lines to save my life

I started off drawing stick figures, then I got the idea to learn the art of illustration by drawing comic books exactely as they look in pencil. Ironically, as I practiced drawing figures of people, animals and fantasy creatures from comic books, I found myself illustrating in many differnt styles. Eventually I was drawing pictures exactly like many artists of DC and Marvel Comics.

Originally Posted by P.G.Bell

I love drawing and I don't do anywhere near enough of it. As soon as I start writing something that requires a creature, you can bet I'll be sharpening my pencil.

We're in the same boat my friend, I would love to illustrate every day. In fact I would love to do that as a living, but for now I'm still searching for employment.

[TheTomG]

My hand sketching is awful, which is why I took up 3D. Sadly I remain not so good at organics, and hard surfaces are my specialty. Now if I COULD draw worth a jot, I would indeed sketch out my creatures!

[P.G.Bell]

This discussion has just called to mind a series of 'concept sketches' (if that doesn't sound too pretentious) that I did in my late teens, for a dark science fantasy story I was working on at the time.

I had terrific fun working up a series character sketches - far future crusaders in the Warhammer 40K mould, and the zombie-like, half clockwork 'wraiths' that they fought. The story never came to anything but I did enter the drawings as part of my A-level art project and passed, so it wasn't a total waste!

[TheTomG]

All this discussion about the drawings and sketches - can we convince / cajole / threaten / bribe anyone into sharing some?

[Glen]

I don't usually draw the creatures I have in my writing. The last piece had a few creatures in there, but not generally main characters, so to speak.

I'm not bad at drawing from life, but pretty crappy at drawing from in my head, and so find the results frustrating. And worse than that, for that frustrating result, I've lost some time I could have spent writing!

However, that said, I do tend to doodle when outlining plots, and I agree that when I do this it does help me visualise and put more detail into the story.

So, there, I've argued both ways. I'll finish then by taking up the challenge from the last post and putting in a pic. This large ruminant type creature was going, for a long, long time, to be in the last book, but I re-cast to use cattle at the last minute. He was devastated.



Pic doesn't seem to work, so here's the link: http://screencast.com/t/9kfKDfP4

I hope sharing this pic doesn't earn me another slap for self-promotion.

[Rebell L]

I'd like to draw more often, and I often draw characters and creatures in my stories. I also make game characters, like sims, to represent them occasionally, mostly because it's easy and fun. I recently made a chat bot to represent a difficult character I'm working on,as a kind of "living" character bio. Not technically drawing, but I have a better understanding of her now.

[Flugel Meister]

I find drawing various elements form my manuscript extremely helpful, especially for reference and keeping things in perspective. I also draw maps and routes just so I can keep track of things.