October Monster Challenge 2009
Statement from Oct 1, 2009;
I decided to encourage my production by taking on an artistic challenge. I used to create a lot of monsters during the month of October when I was drawing and enjoyed it very much. So, for the month of October; I decided to create 31 monsters in 31 days. Night is perhaps the time I will be submitting these drawings since I work practically every day and the evening is the best time to belt these out. My criteria is focused on creatures from myths, folklore, and cryptids, so I have a wealth of material to pull from.
This is the first in the series called the Basilisk, a creature of Medieval myth that is capable of killing or turning people to stone with its gaze and that the creature is so ugly that to kill it, you merely put a mirror in front of it so that it dies from the sheer horror of seeing its own face. It also has poisonous breath.
I drew my version of the Basilisk by combining some of the descriptions of it with a reptilian body with a rooster (or cock's) head as well as adding teeth as part of its beak. I also added the spiny ridge to simulate the crown portion of its description, followed by its enlarged eyes to give it its glare. Drawn and shaded in pencil.