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thomastapir — Polymorphic Werewolves
Published: 2009-12-08 05:15:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 3697; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 1143
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I was just browsing Tim's gallery and his badass "anti-Twilight werewolf" [link] reminded me of these werewolf sketches I did WAY back, probably around 2001 or so. I was trying to emphasize the shape-changing aspects of the creatures, make them truly polymorphic monsters, almost like the alien from The Thing. I envisioned the final transformation being a wolf-like form that's fluid and malleable, constantly flowing and changing. Kind of a "Lovecraftian" take on werewolves, I guess, though I was almost certainly influenced by Barlowe's demons as well. This concept was partially inspired by Clive Barker's short story "Twilight at the Towers"--probably my favorite werewolf story of all time--and also by the Iced Earth song "Wolf" from the Horror Show album.Related content
Comments: 54
I love the monstrousness of the transformations.
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Thank you! I was going for something that would be as painful and traumatic for the werewolves themselves as for anybody viewing the transformation...That it's a real "curse," I guess.
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And a good one! I like the row of nips on the females and the multiple eyes.
[link] I have a fondness for the proportions of this version. Some inspiration?
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That's pretty sweet, I like the spindly, attenuated limbs! The arms give it almost more of a bat- than a wolf-like appearance.
I think my favorite werewolf transformation ever is from "The Company of Wolves" (WARNING: assorted (and sordid) gory grossness):
[link]
The movie poster alone haunted my dreams when I was a kid!
[link]
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That is wicked cool! I knew there was a good reason to see that film.
The old werewolf stories say that the cursed person had a wolf skin they hid, during the full moon they would wear it. The best way to kill a werewolf was to find the skin and burn it or throw it down a well. The werewolf would die when it was destroyed.
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I have heard that before! I was thinking a while back about all these neglected tropes related to werewolves--the eyebrows meeting in the middle, the ring finger as long as the middle finger and the hairy knuckles, that kind of thing. It seems like as the vampire mythology (or its pop-culture interpretation) has been more and more embellished, the werewolf mythology has become more and more impoverished. It makes me sad.
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Makes me mad really. Stupid vampires.
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Why they gotta be all up in my grill??
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I dunno? You smell like bacon? Invest in garlic.
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Mmm...Garlic bacon.
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I am sooo Team Otherguy.
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I spend pretty much all day looking at an endless steram of cheap paperback horror romances with cheeky titles like "You're So Vein," "Nice Girls Don't Bite," "Fangs But No Fangs," and "Fangs for the Memories," so.....yeah. Same here.
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It is madness down here. It seems to be the top of every shopping list. My friends cover my eyes and steer me away from all the merchandise just in case it sets off a rant.
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I'm seeing a lot of "The Thing" in these, particularly in the lower right sketch, but not really any Barlowe. It's great to see how much your sketching style and skill has progressed since 2001!
I just saw "The Thing" for the first time a few weeks ago. Never has shape-shifting been so disturbing!
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Thank you! It's really difficult for me to tell if I'm improving over time, so it's a relief to hear you think I've "progressed" at all.
I LOVE "The Thing"! I also discovered another extremely disturbing transformation sequence, from "The Company of Wolves":
[link]
The poster alone completely freaked me out when I was a kid, and it's tame by comparison!
[link]
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Why, you silly man, you've progressed even since I've started watching your work on Deviantart!
That transformation was indeed disturbing! The guy ripping his skin off was the worst part. I found the transformation to be quite interesting after that point, though, particularly how the structure of the skull changed.
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Ohh, you!
Yeah, I noticed they did a really good job on the anatomy with that! And I loved the way the muzzle and then the neck extended...Pure creepiness.
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You know, in many ways, the special effects from that era are more impressive than the special effects of today. It's incredible what those guys achieved without the benefits of computers. I watched "The Making of 'The Thing'" on the DVD's special features, and the ingenuity of the special effects artists was incredibly impressive. In the scene where the guy's torso opens up and bites off the doctor's arms, the arms were made of things like jello and wax, and the strings of green guts that showed when the thing's head was stretching away to escape its burning body were made of things like toothpaste and melted plastic. Also, having the effects be composed of actual physical, tangible objects makes them more convincing than CGI. I think digital effects are only just now getting to the point that they can really emulate that feeling of solidity.
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Oh man, I agree with you 100% here...I've actually had this same discussion many times with friends of my own generation who grew up watching a lot of the same movies--Star Wars being a favorite point of contention, of course, because of the stark differences between the original trilogy and the "new" movies. Somebody always plays devil's advocate and suggests that it's simply the bias of childhood fondness for the original films--an argument with which I vehemently disagree...Even watching them side-by-side today, there is a sense of mass and solidity to those painstakingly crafted analog models that is unmatched by the slick digital fabrications of the modern era. The raw physicality of them, the way light and shadow plays across their forms; it's something CGI has yet to approach, though of course it's getting closer all the time.
Those are some fascinating tidbits on The Thing, I didn't know that! Reminds me of some of the really ingenuous FX solutions I've heard about for other movies, like the use of clams and oysters for the "facehugger dissection" in the original Alien. Those authentic organic elements gave the creature a gruesome believability approaching that of the full-grown Alien itself!
That reminds me, have you read the original story upon which The Thing was based? It's one of my all-time favorites, and the 1982 remake comes much closer to the original premise and spirit than the "classic" 1951 version!
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You stated my opinion better than I could! Star Wars (and particularly, the spaceships of Star Wars) is a perfect example. The actual model spaceships used in those films are so much more convincing than the CG spaceships of today. This is true also when comparing the Nostromo in Alien to the spacecraft in Resurrection.
"Somebody always plays devil's advocate and suggests that it's simply the bias of childhood fondness for the original films"
I'm living disproof of that. I was born too late to feel childhood nostalgia for those films, and I still think that their special effects are superior in many ways.
I highly recommend getting your hands on "The Thing" DVD and watching the special features. Very interesting stuff!
I have not read "Who Goes There," unfortunately. Even so, I know enough to get irritated when they refer to "The Thing" as a remake of the 1951 film. They're two separate films based on the same story, not remakes!
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Great "shaping" if you get my meaning but they also have great dynamic quality the way you drew them.
Very inspiring!
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thats pretty bitchin dude, i liked your last one as well. getting pretty damn good
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Thanks man, I really appreciate it!
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Wow, that's a rare sinister side you're showing here, boss. Are the bottom two... female?
I don't even know what the werewolves in Twilight look like, sad to say. They can't be as good as this. (The Harry Potter werewolf was also a major letdown).
The Thing influence here is lovely, but the equine, alien, polymorphic look instantly suggested something else to me: the carnivorous water-horse Kelpie, the Antwerp canal ogre Lange-Wapper, and the shapeshifting Flemish predators Kludde, Osschart, and Roeschaard - all of which change shape constantly, and will take on the shape of a horse to ensnare unwary travelers. Gotta love those obscure creatures of European folklore...
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Thanks very much! Yeah, the top two are male and the bottom two are female. The line of multiple pendulous teats was another idea I got from the story "Twilight at the Towers."
I'm really digging the connection you're seeing with other polymorphic creatures from European mythology. I like the implication that they may all be related in some way, perhaps only adapting their forms to human expectation throughout the ages. Could be the basis for a sci-fi as much as a horror tale.
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You're welcome!
Oh, they're all pretty horrifying, and would make fine fantasy horror stories. All of them little-known fantasy creatures need more exposure.
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Agreed! Hey, did I ever mention The Monstrumologist?
[link]
Now this one should NOT be hard to find, I'm sure you could get a copy at the library. I can almost guarantee you'll love it, it's right up your alley!
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Ooooooooh. Sounds interesting. Does it have a lot of horror-bio (to coin a phrase opposite bio-horror)?
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It's PURE horror-bio...That's a great phrase for it, actually. It's very much spec bio saturated with horror elements, in a very atmospheric 19th century New England setting. It was recommended to me by somebody I work with who found it too dark and gory but said, "All I could think while I was reading it was, 'Tom should be reading this book instead of me!'"
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Sweet, I might have to check it out.
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Even before I read the comments, that lower right one definitely reminded me of the alien from The Thing. If we only saw more werewolves like these in popular culture! The creatures of the night of European folklore are in a very sad state these days.
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As for the whole Twilight phenomenon, there's something morbidly fascinating about it, like staring at a train wreck. I'm perplexed at how so many people are obsessed with what is by all accounts a poorly written wish-fulfillment fantasy that's demeaning to women.
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Hmm, Twilight at the Towers. Another thing I have to read now. I still have yet to read The Colour out of Space, this reminds me. I loke the bottommost equine versions also!
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Huh, interesting--I never would have thought of these as equine, but you're the second person to describe them in those terms. I must have been in a horsey frame of mind when I drew them.
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The horsey looking one at the bottom looks incredibly sinister.
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There's usually something sinister about anything labelled "horsey":
[link]
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Horsey Sauce? With real horse? Who eats that?
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I just had some on my Classic Italian about 40 minutes ago.
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Doesn't sound all that nice, although in my head all I can see is a lumpy paste with horse bits in.
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Aw, it's not so bad once you get past the coarse black hairs.
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I really like these, finding original werewolf designs or ideas seem very sparse these days. My favorite film for most of these transformations would have to be "The company of wolves"
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Hah, that's so funny--I had JUST sent somebody a link to the insane Company of Wolves poster right before I posted these! Yeah, that's one of my all-time favorite takes on the werewolf transformation. Gory and imaginative...
Thanks for the feedback!
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heheh your welcome ^w^. I found the film through my english lit class as we had to write an essay on the original short storys for it
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Then my work is done here.
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