Creature Brief #1 – The Beard Beast

The Beard Beast

Hey Guys.

I’m starting this blog off with a Character Design Challenge.  Years ago, I found on a British website a very interesting Creature Brief called the MUSTACHE MONSTER.  (I can’t remember the website, but if anyone does, please let me know so I could give a shout out.)

The idea is to imagine someone’s mustache (could be a guy, could be a girl…I’ve seen some girls with mustaches)  suddenly come alive and jump off someone’s top lip.  What stories would it tell?  What kind of personality would it have? What actions would it perform?  I added to that idea by adding the detail that it would have to take on the persona of the face it once belonged.  So if it jumped off a cowboy, it would behave as such.  The other detail I was forced to add was to think of the texture of the hair, stringy, matty, curly, etc.,  for the majority of the results from this exercise resulted in a typical, simple handlebar mustache with eyes. (not good enough)  But I have seen some fantastic designs from my students.  

Today’s challenge is a spin off of this idea.

The spark comes from the many categories of annual beard competitions. Check out these names.  There’s a BEST category for goatee, imperial, musketeer, hungarian, Fu Manchu, Dali, kaiser beard, verdi, garibaldi, and my favorite category of all…freestyle.  It makes me want to grow out a crazy beard.  I think I will.

For the Beard Beast Character Design Challenge  this all makes sense.  Crazy hair = a better creature. 

Here’s your first Creature Brief:  Imagine a mustache and beard that is alive on someone’s face and jumps off said face to run around and survive on its own.  What would its profession be? Think about the mood of the character (mellow, hyper, dying, etc), the shapes of the character, and the amount of hair.  Also, think about color, not all beards are black.  You decide bearded-guy or bearded lady. I’m doing both.

Post your best drawing on instagram using #mrvinnyscreaturechallenge

I just made that up.  Comment on your favorites.  Can’t wait to see your designs.

Draw masterfully,

Mr. Vinny

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