"The Peculiar Denizens" Monster of the Month Series

We are back from Dragoncon! It was awesome and inspiring, and I have returned with refocused goals, maniacal plans and burning obsessions! And today I'd like to share them all with you in this Monster of the Month Update post. 

First, Dragoncon was incredible and we had such a good show!

While there, I got so much great feedback and super positive encouragement about the monster series at the show. It got me really excited to dive back into the series. So many of you asked, when will it be finished? where is the next sketchbook? What about the field guide? Do you even still paint? or have you given that up and gotten an office job like a real adult? IS the series still going?? WHERE IS THE FIELD GUIDE???

This made me want to take stock of where I was with the series, and what still remained to do. Earlier in the year I mentioned in my goals for 2023 that I wanted to tackle some really large “boss” monsters, (like "Shaz'ral" the Nest of Vipers,) and do some sprawling Halloween battles involving them. And while I am still really excited about working on those, I realized that I was getting waaaay ahead of myself. I don’t need more monster designs. I have TONS of monster drawings already. I just need to color the ones I’ve got!

But where to begin? My files are a complete mess! I started by laying out all of my monsters, (finished, unfinished; all of them!) based on the area of this world I imagined they would inhabit. A sort of blend between faction, and location, arranged on a single sheet. The result was a series of 7 posters, all in various states of finish. They made up a field guide of sorts and I am titling it, "the Peculiar Denizens" series (for now).

Making these layouts was awesome for figuring out where I was with the series, and what I still needed to do. As soon as I started these, I knew I needed to turn them into some kind of print before I started on anything new. It has become my obsession since the show and given me a clear set of goals to pursue for the rest of the year.

MY PLAN for 2023:

My goal is to finish adding color to ALL the monsters shown here, and then release the posters one at a time, until we arrive at a full collection of 7 11"x14" posters. Each poster will be based around a specific location, showing all the creatures encountered there  by our little owl wizard tour guide.

The first will be the "Banisher's Library," since surprisingly, it was the most finished of the 7. We were just missing the Cyclopian Cerberus:

After that, I plan to move on to the next closest, "The Sunken Dungeon," which features our host of diabolical Frog and Bog-creatures:

This one is only missing the vampire tadpole and the "Zombrog.":

I want to have 3 of these posters ready to print and sell on our store by Halloween. After that, the remaining 4 we will slowly chip away at for the rest of the year.

Now, for those of you who have been here from the start, you will likely notice a few casualties... Monsters that I either couldn't fit into the layouts, or that as time has gone on, didn't quite fit into the world. These misfits may eventually end up on a separate sheet as "wanderers." 

After I finish the Zombrog, Vampole, and Cerberus, I will be doing a poll in October to see which monsters people are most excited to see next. Do we start making headway in the Grubbling Mire, which is a long ways off, or tackle the Shattered Keep, which is much closer? Or just one from each until we finish?? You decide!

So wait, Hold on... Is this the FINAL product?? I was promised scented candles and a theme park!

I am still pursuing my bigger game and book projects around the Monster of the Month series, so this isn't a replacement for that. This will simply be a way to finish and share the work we've made thus far, (while I get down to the more challenging task of writing for the main project...)

What about the annual Halloween Battle this year?

We *may* still do one, but the truth is, I am just really excited about finishing these posters before I make any new work for myself.  I think the time may be better spent chipping away at our current line-up of monsters. That said, I am not ruling out a battle scene. If time permits I’ve got a dozen sketch ideas for one: A battle with the goo, a banshee encounter, a spiderwolf, a library battle against were-beasts, and a portrait gallery battle against rose knights. But any of these would be awesome and would take 6 weeks to finish and I worry that the time may be better spent on finishing our existing work before making new images. But we will see!

What about the Martian of the Month game?  That is still going and my love of traditional pencil drawing will keep me tinkering away on designs for that. You can still expect more of those to be sprinkled in as the year goes forward.

Thank you all for your support on this series these last few years! I couldn't have done any of it without you and I'm really looking forward to finishing these!

-jg