At any rate, I've started a small side-project for myself that I'm calling "Ugly Vamp" until I can come up with a better name (I guess you could call it the production title).
Generally speaking, vampires are considered very attractive or charismatic creatures; this is a trait necessary for luring in victims (or stalking insecure teenage girls, if you're in the Twilight universe - blech). So, I thought, what happens when you get an ugly vampire? How would he be treated amongst his peers? How would he feed himself? And so on.
I've already been developing some back story for the character and the world he lives in. I don't have a name for him, though, so I suppose I'll call him "Ugly Vamp" for now (or "U.V." for short).
When I first started sketching ideas the other night, I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take U.V. in visually. I originally considered making him a wretchedly skinny little thing, on account of his inability to lure in prey. I also thought about making him a bit nerdy/emo.
... It wasn't really working out, though. 'Course, I was warming my hand/mind up, too, so I suppose the drawings were destined to fail on some level. Alas.
"Okay," I thought, "this isn't working. I need direction. What does the typical vampire look like?"
"Alright... Tall, slender, long in the face, extraordinarily well-kempt, yadda yadda... What's the opposite of that?"
So, I'm starting to get somewhere. I haven't nailed anything down, yet, but I feel like I'm headed to the right place.
Here are some little odds and ends. I want to give U.V. buck teeth or something along those lines. There's also a small thumbnail showing the shape differences between U.V. and a couple of average vampires. Finally, a couple of small sketches in preparation of the first story.
U.V. has a vampire dad and a mom of Igor decent.
Okay, enough vampires and such! Now for the werewolves! That's right. You heard me.
WEREWOLVES!
Say hello to The Gang!
From left to right, they are Biggs, Fumes, and - last but not least - Fronds, the Gang leader.
Each of the characters have their own little quirks, and aren't what they seem to be at first glance. For example, though Fronds looks like your typical jerk-face jock...
... he's actually a drama nerd!
And Biggs, well... Okay, yeah, he's more or less your typical nerd, but when he goes into wolf form...
It's a whole other story.
Poor Biggs is at that time of life where a boy begins to become a man - that is, he gains his shape-shifting powers. Unfortunately, like many hormone-based growth spurts, his changing abilities are a little out of control. Nearly every time he comes back to human form, there's some remnant of the wolf that sticks with him!
As for Fumes... Well, we'll let him remain a mystery for now.
