Another Year, another Creatuanary!
I love this challenge and I really needed a kick in the but in the beginning of this year.
So here we go, I hope you enjoy it!
Creatuanary Day 1: Piranha-Dog
For my first creature I mixed piranhas with doberman, I hope you like him.
Creatuanary Day 2: Bat God
I mixed bat with sugar glider DNA and gave him a long tongue and a mane as a crown.
Also still trying to figure out the best technique for this Sketchbook…
In Maya mythology, Camazotz is a bat god. Camazotz means “death bat” in the Kʼicheʼ language. In Mesoamerica, the bat is associated with night, death, and sacrifice.
Creatuanary Day 3: Zebra-woman
By this topic my brain went to all the tropes so decided to mix it up a bit and mix zebra with gorilla DNA, close enough…
Creatuanary Day 4: Narwhal
Since it’s just one animal today, I freely chose other ones to go in the mix. I mashed up Narwhale, sea lion, and manta-DNA!
Creatuanary Day 5: Nanook bear
First I wanted to make a mighty polar bear warrior, but I remembered a picture of a super-thin polar bear I’ve seen… So I decided they already are mighty warriors, just by surviving.
In the Inuit religion, Nanook (lit. “polar bear”) was the master of bears, meaning he decided if hunters deserved success in finding and hunting bears and punished violations of taboos.
Creatuanary Day 6: Akselloak
Since it’s creatuanary, I decided to mix the rock spirit with a snapping turtle. Its shell is a huge rock and its skin is also stone-like.
In Native American mythology (specifically the Inuit), the Akselloak is a spirit of rocks.
Creatuanary Day 7: Mystery Creature 01 – Lamia
I tried to not go the obvious road and combined flying snakes with the desert horned viper and threw in a bit of human DNA.
Lamia, in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and was later regarded as a type of haunting spirit. In the earliest stories, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who had an affair with Zeus. Upon learning this, Zeus’s wife Hera robbed her of her children, which she had with Zeus, by killing them. The loss of her children drove Lamia insane, and in vengeance and despair, Lamia snatched up any children she could find and devoured them. Because of her cruel acts, her physical appearance changed to become ugly and monstrous. Lamia has been ascribed serpentine qualities, which some commentators believe can be firmly traced to mythology from antiquity.
Creatuanary Day 8: Sedna
For Sedna, I knew I didn’t wanna make her a mermaid, but bring out her dark and creepy side. I mixed human, swordfish, squid, terrebellidae, and Alitta Virens.
Sedna (previously Sedna or Sidne) is the goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology, also known as the Mother of the Sea or Mistress of the Sea. The story of Sedna, which is a creation myth, describes how she came to rule over Adlivun, the Inuit underworld.
Creatuanary Day 9: Kikimora
So I found the original Slavic mythology but also the witcher creature… So I figured I mash them up a bit… I took the spidery parts and the human-like head from the witcher creature, the bird legs from Slavic mythology, and threw in some brahim moth caterpillar (because of the polish mythology around the part mora).
In original Slavic mythology, Kikimores, or more correctly, Kikimoras are human-like creatures with legs of a sparrow (and many different animal parts). They are peaceful but mischevious creatures which live in the forests or households, and female counterparts of the domovoi. When the house is in order, Kikimora looks after the chickens and does the housework. If not, she whistles, breaks dishes, and makes noises at night. She also comes out at night to spin.
In Polish folklore, mora are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair or as moths
Witcher: Kikimore, or kikimora, is an insectoid monster species that lives underground, as well as in swamps.
Creatuanary Day 10: Hirikka
For this one I “only” found the creature from the witcher (explanation below). But besides the series, I found a picture of the bestiary page where it was portrayed more liked a hoofed mammal in adult form and went with a mix again. I mashed up rhino DNA (as the hoofed mammal part) with aye-aye DNA (which seems to be an inspiration for the series version).
Witcher: An increasingly rare creature, even more so than a dragon, hirikkas live in the mountains. Their bodies are covered in thick skin, colored light yellow or brown, and long fur which hangs by sides and abdomen. While young hirikkas tend to be about human height, adult individuals grow 4-5 cubits high and 7-8 cubits long.
Creatuanary Day 11: Ghoul
Most ghouls I’ve seen so far are human-like. Because I think that’s especially creepy, I wanted to keep that part. To stay with the “eating dead flesh” I mixed in some hyenas because they are scavengers.
Ghoul is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid originating in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh. In modern fiction, the term has often been used for a certain kind of undead monster. Also, there are ghouls in the witcher as well 😜
Creatuanary Day 12: Death dealer
I took quite the free interpretation with this one. I combined human with Moth-DNA. The Calyptra thalictri (vampire moth) drinks blood. But my creature would not drink blood, but suck the soul of their victims. This seemed more fitting for death dealer 😁
Did you know about the Vampire moth?
For Death dealer, I found the Frank Frazetta and the Underworld version:
Death Dealer (painting), a 1973 fantasy painting, fictional character and book series created by Frank Frazetta
Death Dealer (Underworld), the vampire warriors from the Underworld film series
Creatuanary Day 13: Tree of Death
I struggled quite a bit with this one… I had a totally different idea at first, but couldn’t make it work… So my tired brain came up with a monster tree…I tried some markers, but the paper is definitely not really good for them so I went in with some gouache again at the end.
My first thought was Yggdrasil, the tree of life, from north mythology. But Is there a tree of death?
I found one in Celtic culture: The Life Tree and the Death Tree – jstor
The yew tree is another of our native trees which the Druids held sacred in pre-Christian times… Thus the yew came to symbolize death and resurrection in Celtic culture. The Celts will also have been familiar with the toxicity of the tree’s needles in particular.
The interesting real tree I found while researching: The Manchineel tree, found in the Florida Everglades and parts of the Caribbean coast, was dubbed the most dangerous tree in the world by “The Guinness Book of World Records” in 2011.”This ‘Tree of Death’ Is So Toxic, You Can’t Even Stand Under It When It Rains”
Creatuanary Day 14: Mystery Creature 2 Katakan
The Katakan is another creature from the witcher, but I’m pretty sure it’s inspired by the Strigoi. I decided to mix bat with warthog-DNA.
Strigoi in Romanian mythology are troubled spirits that are said to have arisen from the grave. They are attributed with the abilities to transform into an animal, become invisible, and gain vitality from the blood of their victims.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula has become the modern interpretation of the Strigoi through their historic links with vampirism.
The Witcher: Katakans are a vampire race found in the Northern Kingdoms, where they first appeared around the 230s BR, through the Conjunction of the Spheres. In natural form, katakans have many bat-like traits although somewhat larger and monstrous. They have long claws which continue to grow during all its life. They are also capable of disguising themselves and acting like normal humans. Like the rest of vampires, katakans are fully invisible to magical scanning and probing which means they cannot be detected by witcher medallions or master level detecting spells. Unlike alps, bruxae, mulas, and Higher Vampires they are susceptible to the sun.
Creatuanary Day 15 : Triton
So many tropes in my head again. My brain immediately goes to Arielle’s dad (childhood memories). But why always fish? There are many other creatures in the sea. I decided for one I didn’t draw before: The shield shrimp (if you don’t know them, totally look them up, they are so cool!) They also are called triops, which fits fairly well with triton 😜
Triton is a Greek god of the sea, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, god and goddess of the sea respectively. Triton lived with his parents in a golden palace on the bottom of the sea. Later he was often depicted as having a conch shell he would blow like a trumpet. Triton is usually represented as a merman, with the upper body of a human and the tailed lower body of a fish.
Creatuanary Day 16: Hippocampus
Well I first thought about the part of the brain, after some googling it made more sense. I decided to mix Horse with Eel-DNA. I choose the ribbon eel which is also called leaf-nosed moray. If you haven’t seen their marvelous anterior nostrils, totally check them out.
The hippocampus or hippocamp, also hippocampus, often called a sea-horse in English, is a mythological creature shared by Phoenician, Etruscan, Pictish, Roman and Greek mythology, though its name has a Greek origin. The hippocampus has typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish. The “sea-horse” in medieval heraldry was a legendary creature that was part horse and part fish, not to be confused with the later heraldic hippocampus, which was a natural seahorse.
Creatuanary Day 17: Fruit Princess
Haha, I wanted to try something like this for a while… totally different, but I hope you like her!
My fruit Princess is the Rambutan Princess, a very fancy lady…but also really sweet if she likes you.
Creatuanary Day 18: Butterfly warrior
Have you ever looked at a butterfly without wings? For the longest time I haven’t really, butterfly equals wings, right? So I thought for the sake of it, I make my Butterfly Warrior without wings (not sure if he doesn’t have any or lost them yet). I mixed in some praying manta and got inspired by the woodpecker tongue for the nozzle and some modifications…
Creatuanary Day 19: Big Forest Dragon
This prompt was very free and I wanted to do something completely different than what you expect for a dragon. I mixed deer with frill-necked lizard and gliding lizard-DNA. I think he’s a fun guy, maybe I need to draw him again 😁
Creatuanary Day 20: Pigeon Man
So the DNA mix was given and after some struggles, I came up with this guy.
I took the typical swiss pigeon in the iconic pigeon walk pose… I think he would be quite the funny guy to hang around with…
Creatuanary Day 21: Mystery Creature 3 Time Keeper
First thoughts the typical symbolism and the reaper. I googled around a bit found three greek gods that are associated with time, but they didn’t speak to me today. Then I found Thoth, the aegyptian god and remembered the myth from beira in scottish mythology (you can read them below). So I took the ibis for Thoth and the cattle from beira and mixed in just a hint of human.
Thoth was always closely associated with Ra and the concept of divine order and justice. Thoth was credited with creating the art of writing, inventing the calendar, and controlling space and time. Since he was the god of the moon, he had celestial functions and replaced the sun god, Ra, in the sky at night. Thoth gradually became seen as a god of wisdom, magic, and the measurement and regulation of events and of time.
Dark Beira was the mother of all the gods and goddesses in Scotland. She was of great height and very old, and everyone feared her. When roused to anger she was fierce as the biting north wind and harsh as the tempest-stricken sea. Each winter she reigned as Queen of the Four Red Divisions of the World, and none disputed her sway. But when the sweet spring season drew nigh, her subjects began to rebel against her and to long for the coming of the Summer King, Angus of the White Steed, and Bride his beautiful Queen who were loved by all, former they were the bringers of plenty and of bright and happy days.Although aging and bitter Beira of the winter turned into something horrific, to look upon the young rejuvenated Beira of the summer was a joy. She gave her protection to the fleet-footed deer and wide horned shaggy cattle, the black pigs and other creatures that roamed the earth in those days. She kept goats and cattle on the mountains so that they could graze the sweet mountain grass and these she milked.
Creatuanary Day 22: Moon Woman
I came up with this concept quite some time ago and immediately had to think about it when I read the prompt. She is inspired by the Hawaiian moon goddess Hina.
Hawaiian Moon Goddess Hina represents the feminine power of strength and conviction. With determination and creativity, your wildest dreams are possible. Hina is the female generating force in Hawaiian cosmology and one of the oldest goddesses in Hawaii. As creatrix, she is paired with the god Ku, the male generating force. Hina is also worshiped as a specific goddess as well, usually in association with the moon and presiding over all other goddesses. The Hawaiian word for moon (Mahina) also means month and moonlight, symbols usually associated with women.
Creatuanary Day 23: H.R. Giger Creature
I took the birth machine creature as inspiration and mixed in some of the typical Giger features.
Hans Ruedi Giger (1940 – 12 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as “biomechanical”. Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, markers, and ink. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for the visual design of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien. His work is on permanent display at the H.R. Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland. His style has been adapted to many forms of media, including album covers, furniture, and tattoos.
His museum is awesome and if you would like to know more about his life and inspirations I highly recommend episode 9 HRGiger of the podcast creative codex. Brilliant podcast by the way.
Creatuanary Day 24: Flower Turtle
I mixed Hawaiian green sea turtle with water lily and some jelp elements. My thought was that when the turtle emerges from the water, it would look like a water lily. The head is the flower and the shell is the leaf.
Creatuanary Day 25: Chrysalis Queen
I could only find the one from my little pony… I don’t really know that but I like her concept! I mixed horse with fly, ladybug and pill bugs.
Heres what I found about her: Queen Chrysalis is a female changeling. She is the queen of the changelings and a shapeshifter. She is a pony-like creature with a twisted unicorn horn, a pair of tattered insectoid wings. In addition, she has a sharp pair of fangs and dark green eyes with elongated oval pupils. She has a teal mane and tail, blue-green chitinous plating over her midsection.
Also: A chrysalis is a hard-shelled pupa in which the transition of the butterfly or moth takes place.
Creatuanary Day 26: Haku
I couldn’t find mythology for just Haku, but for some similar-sounding creatures. I decided to go for a mix of Haku from spirited away, Hakushika (white deer) and hakutaku (white ox, nine eyes).
Dragon from spirited away: Haku is actually short for Nigihayami Kohakunushi, or “god of the swift amber river.” Unfortunately for Chihiro, mizuchi weren’t always believed to morph into cute, green-haired, preteen boys who would save you even if it meant crashing headfirst into Yubaba’s.
“Hakushika,” which literally means “white deer,” is the subject of an old Chinese fairytale.
The hakutaku is a wise chimerical beast that resembles a white ox. It has nine eyes — three on its head, three on each of its broad sides — and six horns.
Creatuanary Day 27: Ancient Parrot
I found out about a giant parrot. So for my creature, I mixed parrot with a bit of cockatoo and some terror bird DNA. Loved this one!
A giant parrot that roamed New Zealand about 19 million years ago had a height of 1m (3ft 3in) – more than half the average height of a human, a new study has found… Given its size, the parrot is believed to have been flightless and carnivorous, unlike most birds today.
Creatuanary Day 28: Mystery Creature 4 Tardigrade
I mixed these fascinating microscopic creatures with bristle worms and made it huuuge 😜
Tardigrades, known as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. … Tardigrades are usually about 0.5 mm long when fully grown. They are short and plump, with four pairs of legs, each ending in claws (usually four to eight) or suction disks. The actual word ‘tardigrade’ means ‘slow-paced’. It was originally an adjective applied to tortoises, but since 1800 it has been the name of these microscopic creatures.
The Polychaeta, also known as the bristle worms or polychaetes, are a paraphyletic class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia.
Creatuanary Day 29: Mutant flying Dinosaur
Since it says mutant, I wanted to mix flying dinosaurs with something different. I mixed pterosaurs, nyctosaurids, and saber-toothed carnivores.
Pterosaurs (from Greek pteron and sauros, meaning “wing lizard”) were flying reptiles of the extinct clade or order Pterosauria. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.
Nyctosauridae (meaning “night lizards” or “bat lizards”) is a family of specialized soaring pterosaurs
A saber-tooth (alternatively spelled sabre-tooth) is any member of various extinct groups of predatory therapsids, predominantly carnivoran mammals, that are characterized by long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth which protruded from the mouth when closed. One of the best-known genera is Smilodon, the species of which, especially S. fatalis, are popularly, but incorrectly, referred to as “saber-toothed tigers”. However, usage of the word cat is in some cases a misnomer, as many species referred to as saber-toothed “cats” are not closely related to modern cats (Felidae).
Creatuanary Day 30: Acnologia
I did my turn on Acnologia from fairy tale. I took the dragon from the manga as a base and mixed in some other dragon DNA (no separate arms) and some green basilisk DNA.
Acnologia was a Dragon and the divine guardian of the hidden land Montes Secreta, whose name was taken by the Dragon Slayer Acnologia as an act of spite towards his race’s evil doings.
Creatuanary Day 31: #felicianothefaun goes to war!
I love how @rafaterofficals (Instagram) portrays him! It seems like he gets in all sorts of weird situations by accident and somehow manages to get out of it fine…So this is the image that popped into my mind for the prompt.