Gnoll

Art asset for Scott Washington's upcoming indie game, Relentless Dungeon. 19 more monsters to go. This is the first entry of my "Every 36 Hours" crunch project where I draw a monster every 36 hours for month.
5 hours spent painting in Photoshop, and a couple hours on research.

A gnoll is a half man half hyena. I wanted to significantly tell a gnoll apart from a werewolf, and so had to research a bit of hyena biology (thanks Wikipedia). My first idea was to emphasize the legs, but that gave a centaur/satyr vibe or silly parachute pants. I made a list of important hyena distinguishing features: spots, 'mohawk' (mane at withers), and a Cheshire cat style grin. Hyenas are primarily feline with canine features, but there were some werewolf traits I wanted to avoid: whites of the eyes, pointy ears, and a long snout. The ears also couldn't be too rounded or it might look like a rat. Other hyena traits I used: back slopes down toward croups with limited movement for the backbone, short hind legs, a thick/short neck, short facial portions, digitigrade (walking on toes, longer middle of foot), claws are short and blunt, fur is coarse and sparse, an additional pair of ribs, biggest teeth are shifted back (especially the uppers). I thought about having a tongue hanging out but decided that was too lovable. I think I need better shadows and I went a bit too overboard with the blue side light in the feet area, but I must move on. It's never perfect.

Initial sketch for the gnoll.

I can't really explain what made this one go so well. I hit a groove with the initial pass and just flew loose and quick. This one was a lot of fun.


Influences: Lion King, Gmork from NeverEnding Story, and the gnolls from D&D and World of Warcraft.