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UrnamBOT — Meet My Monster
#monster
Published: 2015-02-02 20:27:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 11206; Favourites: 575; Downloads: 0
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Description
Part 3Part 2 - Come Inside
Part 1 - I Want to Go
I present the last upload of my childhood... and on the subject of childhood, I decided to revisit an idea/interest that's popped up for the past few years that I've been trying to pinpoint for quite some time.
The idea came back to me when I read Lord of the Flies two years ago, and I don't know exactly what it was, but there was a scary, yet somehow familiar feel that I got when reading it. I had this feeling before, but I wanted to find out where. So, I decided to find out my mixing together a few ideas that seemed to stem from the feeling I got. It was a bit of "monster" and "uncanny valley" and "jungle" (specifically "desert island jungle")... as if those monsters---a new kind of creature never seen before---lived in that jungle. But where I got this feeling was still a mystery.
Just a couple days ago I remembered. I was afraid of the movie Labyrinth (so afraid of I don't think I have ever seen it in full) that included puppetry in place of today's CGI. The idea that a real object in space was filmed and was made to be a character is very different than creating an object in a computer and simulating that it is in space. The difference between CGI and puppetry that made all the difference to me is that you can pretty much always tell when something is a puppet; it has a few moving parts and can sometimes even tell the materials that have been used to create it. It leaves so much to the imagination, and although earlier attempts at CGI have been a bit more obviously fake, you know it is all simulated and is not a real object that has been crafted.
I don't have a clue as to why "jungle", "monster" and "uncanny" has to be connected, but I think the renewed interest came from my fear of Labyrinth. So a big thank-you to Jim Henson here... but I'm not sure why Lord of the Flies had such a big role in discovering why I like it so much.
I think that while I was reading the book, some of those monsters made an appearance in the more "unreal" parts of the book... those who remember it know what I'm talking about. 
*coughpigheadcough*I think that Lord of the Flies might've also reminded me of Jumanji (the movie), which made use of a ton of puppetry (I think there was an alligator that was a puppet?) and even CGI. I was also afraid of Jumanji as a kid... which might say something.
I'm not sure about the "no eyes" thing going on here. I designed a few characters a while back that would fit in a "desert island jungle" setting, but they were monsters, and they had no eyes. That idea tends to stick with the feeling... as well as a mop-top for some reason. I blame this vulture: statici.behindthevoiceactors.c… (The Jungle Book was also childhood favorite of mine, but it never scared me).
So, in an attempt to connect some of these ideas, I drew this a year ago: The Watchful Ones
And if you would like another example of what exactly I'm feeling, this video does a decent job: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7IAX…
Fear, general uncanniness, and the unknown...
That being said...
The message behind this is a little different. This is part 3, and as I upload parts 2 and 1, the initial idea that caused me to draw this should become more clear.
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Comments: 34
Very much like something out of a Storybook, rather nice work.
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My English class is reading "Lord of the Flies" at the moment. It's a really good book. ^^
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great! I love these crisp colors. 
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Yay, now I will come comment on this beauty! Your painting skills really blow me away; the depth and color and form is all there and I really hope to paint like that some day soon.
Also it’s just really beautiful how personal you made this - I might have to take a page out of your book as well and create something really me before i turn 18 this summer. It’s a wonderful insight into you as a person to see these elements together. I didn’t realize that creatures with no eyes were so important but that’s really interesting! I love that you made the girl’s hair in her face to mirror that too.
Also overall this is just really charming with the big stubby hands on the monster, and the whimsical look of the pond, grass, etc. Your blending with the colors there is really soothing and it makes a nice mood, I think.
I’m so excited to see the other parts of this!
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Thanks! I'm excited to see what you come up with. I like seeing things so personal come out of people.
The creatures had to have no eyes. Maybe it's a "coping mechanism", seeing as something this revealing has come out, maybe if the faces are covered the "blow" can be reduced. But who knows.
Thanks again--- I'm still eager to see what you will do, now.
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Ah, me too. I'd better start making a list of my influences/meaningful elements so I can get some ideas. ^^
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featured here features of the week! and my new art
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oh wow, that is an incredible amount of thought for this piece! i know as a kid, I was also very afraid of Jumanji haha. something about otherworldly forces manipulating real life really freaked me out.
Anyways, the colors in the piece are really astounding, at the attention to detail is really great, especially in the wrinkles of the creature's giant hands and the reflecting of light in its gums. Awesome!
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Ah, Jumanji was one of my favourite movies as a child, although I also thought it was kind of creepy
(I think it was because of the flowers with the poison darts and...the drums...haunting everyone)
Labyrinth was a weird movie...I've only seen it like twice as a child. Got a really strange nostalgic feeling to it.
On another note I highly prefer puppets, robots and costumes over CGI, it simply has a more realistic feel to it.
Like in Jurassic Park with the robotic dinosaur heads and such, or Men in Black with the alien costumes, or classic Alien.
Or Hellboy with the badass creature costumes, those were amazing. It just has a different and more real feeling to it than GCI has today.
Also this painting looks really great, fun fact: I read the title as "Meet My Mother" wich made it entertaining when I saw the full picture
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Apart from the creepy, unknown world Robin Williams gets sucked into as a kid, It was the drums that made me afraid of Jumanji. That film does a nice job keeping us scared at what isn't shown and builds up the atmosphere with sound instead. I haven't seen it in years, but now I want to so I can pick more out of it.
The difference I see between CGI and puppetry/animatronics is that you're taking an object that already exists and manipulating it, whereas in CGI, you must create the space for it to be manipulated and simulate its light sources (I think I said this in the description, but I'm not sure. I posted this over 10 days ago.)
Haha... I had myself a little laugh with that last bit.
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"Mum, you look different today" x)
Yeah you said it in the description, while todays CGI is very realistic already there's still something about it that makes you know its just an animation, most of the time the movement or texture.
Alien was pretty impressive for its time with the costume and puppets, especially because of the original alien design. I remember watching a making of and when it was released some people were so terrified they ran out of the movie theatre
In the Hellboy movies they did an amazing job on the costumes, although they also used CGI on bigger monsters and some scenes, Idk if you have seen it but heres a trailer of 2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWvpuw…
I'm really into monster/alien/werewolf movies and get excited when they use real costumes x3
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And yet it is oddly cute
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Man, you are truly improving at your painting skills.
Like, looks at this work, the composition and the colors are so harmonic, and I just loved how you painted the fur in the monster's head and the mouth too!
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Thank you. 
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