Sooo, anyways, I know it's considered bad form to do a big name creature, since they're well known and show-boaty, but I digress.
Anywho, our buddy Dracon ('member him?) has been practicing art and getting pretty respectable (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/albatrosstrevelyan/Drawings/FinalSummon.jpg) with his drawing skills. So, when I saw some of his stuff, and reading the new monster creation guide, I was like "Dude, you should draw something for Battling Dragons." And of course, with Leviathan being one of Kevin's favorites, we considered giving it a go.
So, now, I'm just wondering about opinions on this... Some questions/ideas that I've had:
-Should we avoid making it blue? Final Fantasy made it pretty much the default color for Leviathan, so I'm thinking that we might want to steer clear of that trap. Not to mention the Ryu already being blue and serpentine and watery...
-Speaking of Final Fantasy, I will be sure to keep Kevin from doing a Tidal Wave spell. Any other traps to look out for?
-How many stages? Leviathan is tricky. It's a reptile, but a seagoing one, meaning that live birth would be par for the course.
-Some descriptions due to the fact that a lot of it is figurative/poetry contradict themselves. It's said to have "heads", but only has one jaw spoken of. It's described as a serpent, yet with limbs... Yes, I know this just means cover it in stages, but I'm just trying to figure out how we'll do this without infringing on the signature looks of the Tatzelwurm, Ryu, and Hydra. Tricky!
-Finally, any advice on coloring/cleaning it up with the computer? Kev and I are both rank novices at it, though we do have access to a decent version of Photoshop.
Well, thanks for your time, and hope to get back to you all soon with an update on the situation.
[Edited by LeeTupper on Jan 14, 2009 17:47]
MintMan
Posts: 4061
Member #1
Jan 14, 2009 18:24
More boggly emoticons~!
Hey, no need to steer away from the big names. There is no rule or even suggestion about it; Gobbs and I just happen to root for the little guy more often than not, which is why this place is populated by the C- and D-list beasties.
Yes, that art is respectable indeed. How his stuff will look colored, I know not, but seeing as how that is smudged pencil (Shock! Traditional art techniques on the internet!), I'm going to guess it'll be fine.
Blue is a color that is avoided at all costs like brown, green, and gray. The reason for that, however, is because those colors are used so often by monsters out of necessity. Levi may be one such occasion; won't be any problem with blue there, but Dracon can use whatever discretion he feels like.
As long as her skin looks tent-y, I guess.
One thing to remember is that it is not necessarily a serpent; pretty much all occurrences of sea monsters are called serpent, but it often has whale-like aspects, too. And crocodilian. And fish. It has a lotta descriptions.
It can be given one head, sure, as I do not think that the multiple heads is all that important or consistent an aspect. I think that is inherited more from the related Lotan, or the Hebrew way of making stuff big by pluralizing it (heads = giant head). I would, however, like to see the inclusion of multiple glowing eyes in at least one form. Hundred of eyes? Not necessarily, as that would be annoying to draw.
Behemoth only has two forms, so I would not be opposed to its counterpart having two as well. Of course, Ziz would have three, so it can go either way. As long as they make sense and have significant differences. Given the number of potential descriptions, three forms could be pretty easy.
As for cleaning up, use GIMP since it is completely free. Most anything I do consists of slight Gaussian Blur and adjusting Brightness/Contrast. Just fiddle with the numbers until it looks good.
If I were to make the Leviathan (which I'm not), I would definitely avoid the Tidal Wave spell. It will probably have some wave techs, but I have never seen anything about it making waves. My spell list would probably include its brightness, breath, invulnerability, envy, and eating.
dracon
Posts: 49
Member #143
Jan 14, 2009 23:32
I would be happy to do it, I did some concept art on it, and I will get to the coloring aspect.
I don't usually color my drawings, but I would more or less need a good description, and how many of the drawings I am going to need. I have right now a basic potrait, for the idle status.
I started the potrait as a serpent, with fin like wing things, but those can be erased. As far as whale like, I am not sure (fat middle small tail and kinda wonky head?). I don't really know the way a mytholigical Leviathan would look, but Lee will do most of the research, and I am sure he will do the stats as well as research, and I be the artist.
"When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade"
(Mine)"When Life Gives You Water, Have Fun"
[Edited by dracon on Jan 14, 2009 23:41]
MintMan
Posts: 4061
Member #1
Jan 14, 2009 23:49
The mythical Leviathan looked a heap of different ways. Normally, in that case, you can just do a grab-bag of three or two for its different stages.
Well, for the description, you're outta luck. I make it a point not to interfere in the development of a creature, and since a really bad experience with a "potential" (i.e. waste-of-time had-to-explain-everything-infinity-times still-never-any-results) monster makin', I try to be even less involved.
Bottom line is, it's your monster; you have to make it. I'll just note anything wrong -- not say what is right or best. You'll have to come up with all the descriptions and details yourself as set out in the relatively simple guidelines. Pretty much, the only requirement not listed in the one page guideline list is that spell images have no scenery in them -- typically just black-white swirls or streaks. I don't know why I started that exactly...
The number of images needed depends on the number of forms. Funny that I don't have this tabulated in the monster guide; I know I had to draw it up before. Maybe it is in a forum topic someplace:
2 Stages - 3 Spells + 1 "Idle Status" Image for each stage (4 + 4 = 8 Images total)
3 Stages - 2 Spells + "Idle Status" Image for the first stage, 3 Spells + 1 "Idle Status" Image for the latter two (3 + 4 + 4 = 11 Images)
If the final stage has an alternate spell, then an additional image must be made, bumping the totals to nine and twelve, respectively.
And now you know why there are so many B-monsters made instead. Well, that, and most monsters are a lot more difficult to make spells for than Levi. That guy's -- er, girl's -- got spells comin' outta the wahzoo, which I hear it has five of.
No need to draw those them out, tho' "When no one was looking, Luthor took forty cakes. He took 40 cakes. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible." ~ DC's The Super Dictionary
[Edited by MintMan on Jan 14, 2009 23:51]
LeeTupper
Posts: 158
Member #42
Jan 15, 2009 17:12
On Jan 14, 2009 23:49, MintMan said:
since a really bad experience with a "potential" (i.e. waste-of-time had-to-explain-everything-infinity-times still-never-any-results) monster makin', I try to be even less involved.
The Alicanto!
I'm thinking that the right idea may be to Tatzelwurm out. More realistic comes first, so a somewhat crocodilian form would be first, probably with some precursors to the distinguishing features of the adult stage.
For the adult stage, I'm thinking it should be part whale, part sea serpent, part crocodile, and all awesome. Key features are massive, powerful jaws with jagged teeth, some kind of armor/scutes/plates on the back, jagged scales on its belly... Hmmm... Those are the really big ones. For our extra two cents, I say that though it's a sea serpent, try giving it a blowhole like a cetean (Not sure how to pull that off and make it look cool, but we'll hash that out later.), and flukes like a whale's for its tail. The rest? Go wild. Be careful not to make it too "Final Fantasy", because that just wouldn't jive with the rest of the cast. I'd say overall, make it serpentine, but make it clearly muscled and powerful looking. Any further advice will come after seeing your scans.
