Basilisk - Tumblr Posts
I had a recent revalation about anjanath which makes me like it quite a bit more.
It's a basilisk, albeit of a more unconventional sort.
For a rundown:
Anjanath was designed as a birdwyvern, and has a number of chicken-like traits; a crest, caruncled skin, "wings" and even ankle spurs.
The crest can also be interpreted as a crown and the feathers as a robe, like on a monarch (basilískos/regulus: "little king" or "kinglet" if you will).
But wait, there's MORE.
The turf war between Tobber and Anja lines up with pretty well with the rivalry between the basilisk and ichneumon (mongoose, stoat or weasel), where the latter is brave enough to fight off or kills the basilisk. Tobi Kadachi has confirmed marten inspiration as well, which makes this all the more fitting.
The whole "kinglet" thing also ties well into its ecology. It's powerful and tends to dominate things below it, but it's nevertheless bested by Rathalos, an actual "king" (apex predator).
However, I am not opposed to other interpretations, and I don't think they are mutually exclusive; Anjanath is also the barbarian, the champion underdog and the animalistic All Yesterdays monster.
In the end, symbolism is a fairly intricate, long-running and significant aspect of Monster Hunter, much like living ecosystems, monster materials for gear and funny hunter and felyne antics, albeit one I find underrated which is what drove me to make this post.
I love basilisks raaargh
Skeletal Anatomy of a Basilisk
I've been thinking about Basilisk anatomy stuff for my brainstorming, and I thought it would be cool to show what I think their skeletons would be like, cause snakes are cool...
yeah, and I wanted to practice drawing bones and body shapes (fun that I don't have to worry about drawing the pelvis, that thing is such a wierd shape), I've never drawn so many ribs before, but thats what snakes are like.
I know many people have different interpretations on what Vee being smaller/more humanoid than the other basilisks means. Some people say she's a different species (lesser basilisk, hybrid etc), But I always got the impression she was much younger than the rest of them.
Apparently, certain kinds of pythons are able to regulate their body temp and generate heat in special conditions.
I think Basilisks are naturally cold blooded, but can expend magic in order to keep their body temperature high in cold climates. Maybe some who have lived in cold climates for a long period of time naturally have adaptations, like increased body fur and cold resistant scales. The idea of Basilisks being able to adapt to their unique situations is such a cool concept, I wish we knew more about them in the show.
I also like drawing Vee with a more realistic appearance while also staying true to her canon proportions in relation to the other characters.
I liked finding a balace between more humanoid skulls, and more Boa/Python skulls, I think what I came up with was pretty cool looking. They can definitely open their jaws super wide, as shown by the inspector (Or at least greater Basilisks can):
I had fun on these drawings, and coming up with ideas, I'd like to hear your thoughts.
In an earlier post I said I was brainstorming for a potential fanfic. It's been super slow and I can't get my brain to start writing anything. That's always been my weakness, same with school writing. Maybe once summer comes, I can practice more with writing for fun and actually get somewhere. Just average struggles, IDK where I'm going with this and why I'm writing this down.
Vee mermay drawing, except I drew her exactly the same as normal because she already looks like a mermaid.
Close ups!
The scales were really fun to shade, and I tried something different with how I picked colors
(color theory is CRAZY, cuz all of them are just different shades of blue and/or gray)
Here's the cockatrice profile! (I think i might paint this one) . The cockatrice is a small wyvern, about the size of a turkey. It's a highly aggressive species, particularly against mammals for some reason. It's not know why, one theory is that mammals around its size are fought or chased off as they represent competition for its food sources, or that the cockatrice makes their territories as safe they can for their offspring. It's not certain wether this behaviour is gender based, or based on the presence of young or anything at all really. Its aggressive nature is also highlighted in its throat pouch; which is adapted to build up a potent blast of noxious and paralyse inducing gass, instead of the normal gass spray/leak of the archosaurian wyverns and the wyrms. The throat pouch is used for either display purposes, or for food/water storage, like the pelican, in many archosaurian wyverns. It is said the mere gaze of a cockatrice is enough to paralyse or even kill one, but its more likely that if you're close enough to look one in the eye, it's probably realised its foul gass in a steady manner instead of its usual blast or spew. . I've started designing several wyverns of late, and have sorted them in archosaurian (dinosaurs, crocodiles, pterosaurs) and squamatan (lizards and snakes) lineages, that I'll go deeper in on at a later time. I enjoy this a lot, and I need it for a long running world building project I've first gone to work at more the past year. Might do a proper creature profile of the designs as I get them done🤔 #smaugust #smaugust2018 #wyvern #dragon #cockatrice #basilisk #mythology #art #artist #beast #creature #creaturedesign #creaturedesigner #conceptart #conceptartist #sketch #sketchbook #worldbuilding #fantasyart #fantasy #paleoartist https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCx9naBiNN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tv4xjloqn0u6
You should read @devilscandycomic Is good (￣^￣)ゞ
Siblings
DvC doobs of varying age
Grimm Plotideas
Drew Wu gets a girlfriend and she works in a museum. Thats why they talk on a cast about mythological creatures. And well her and Drew get into a relationship and so much later he figures out that she is a Wesen. And not just any kind but something totally badass like a Basilisk.
Dazbog | Domovoj | Basilisk | Rusalka | Simargl | Rarog
Last remaining pieces for my Slavic Deities and Bestiary series I've been working on past year and a half. Big thanks to my Patrons for making it possible! It was an honour to have the opportunity to create portrayals like these.
The exhibition is officially over but prints and postcards will remain available online. You can browse my gallery anywhere to find the rest of the project or join my Patreon to even find articles based on my research I wrote to each of the deities and demons.
💀 PATREON | X | IG | Prints
reverse cockatrice doodle that i forgot to post (dragon head and chicken body)
If I had a nickel for every time I was introduced to a character named V that just wanted to be protected and loved, I’d have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
I played a minecraft game and this real nice guy did a drawing for me :)
Look at these! Go tell him he's cool!
