Monster Competition Entry

My entries for an illustration competition for a book of monsters to be published next year by Murdoch. The winner gets to illustrate around 70 creatures dreamt up by the writer Peter Macinnis. I must say that I found doing just the three set monsters quite challenging: I assume that by the time the winner gets to monster number 69 it will get easier. I have learnt from this experience that I just don't exercise my drawing and sketching skills often enough, particularly when it comes to animals. A study trip to the zoo, or the Collingwood Children's Farm, is long overdue.

Above: my favourite, probably because I am very fond of pigs and because I like the colour palette. Actually, it's because I think I succeeded in making the Long Legged Underbed Pig look slightly annoyed by the little Aunt-eater running along its back. I wouldn't want my lunch interrupted, either.


Above: The Quarking Duck. Before I received the author's descriptions, I had thought that the monsters would resemble alien creatures, or at least something from recent films and cartoons with 'monster' in the title. Instead, Macinnis has concentrated on variations on the familiar, possibly to reassure his young readers that monsters aren't that scary after all. As a result, I am not sure that my pictures look like monsters. Perhaps that alien element was meant to come from me? Maybe that's why I couldn't help making the "trained shoe-lace monster" (not described beyond that) look a bit more strange.

Above: The Nose Ghoul, which I am least happy with. The monsters are not meant to be 'in-situ', but rather in a "static pose" with optional props. In this case, the fact that he is actually meant to be inside a person's nose gets lost. Perhaps another entrant came up with a better solution.

[Character descriptions copyright Peter Macinnis.]