The Making of a Monster! You know, these pics don't make themselves up all by their lonesome. A piece can take from two hours to several days to complete. So, to give you a glimpse of the whole process that I proceed into making one of these babies, I put this little special feature together. Let's take a look, shall we? Pencil Art It all starts here. Finding the right pose is as challenging as drawing the right anatomy. Here I decided to give the ghoul a "predator" pose, ready to jump on a victim. The body evokes the idea that the ghoul is always ravenously hungry, even if they are undead. You can notice the many lines that helped define the muscles, but which will eventually be erased during the next step. Inked Art In Step 2, I ink the lines that define the piece boldly, erasing all unnecessary clutter away. Some details, like some hair and a little fly are added, and the picture starts taking its final shape. Colored Art Here, the color is defined. For the ghoul's skin, I chose to do a stained beige, then de-saturate it to an almost gray, like the corpse it is. This process was used in "Saving Private Ryan", resulting in a more somber feel. Note that at this point the colors are all still flat, without any shading. The most important part of this stage is deciding the colors. Imagine this ghoul using a shocking pink loincloth! On second thought, don't imagine. Brrr... Finished Art Here it is! After adding the shadows, I erase them away to reveal the illuminated parts. Note that the shading helps accentuate the tridimensional feel of the bones and tendons. It also helps the illustration "jump" at the onlooker. But maybe, in the case of the ghoul, that isn't such a good idea... Look out!