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garmr — On Beyond Lovecraft
Published: 2005-03-17 22:42:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 7422; Favourites: 101; Downloads: 497
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Description
[Work in Progress: I'd upload this as a scrap, but I'm not sure people watch my scraps, so here it is. Shh.][I'm asking for help & opinions. I need a secondary (and possibly tertiary) element to establish scale and balance composition in this image. This creature is a distant relative of the cuttlefish , a cephalopod like squid & octopus. An adult male, this specimen is about 40 feet long. It lives at or below the abyssal plain in the deep sea; here we see the creature swimming in an ocean crevasse. The light source may be a man-made intrusion, or not. I don't know.]
[Any idea's worth hearing. I've thought of research submarines, military submarines, a drowned diver, sunken architectural bits, a sperm whale, or a giant squid. They all seem too obvious. Maybe an alien-looking lamp built from the skeletal remains of humans? He could be leading it like a balloon, holding a leash in his farthest arm. That'd establish scale, anyway.]
[PS: no, this isn't Cthulhu. It's not his cousin, either.]
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Comments: 21
well, since this is a Lovecraftian piece, why not use a Deep One for scale?
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I love this. Amazing skill. The detail is astounding.
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what about........
an eye in the background? This might sound silly and far out!! But, to me, the swirls behind him seem to form an eye. Just open it.
Could be Cthulhu hiding behind him as an easter eggy thing or I dunno...
Just an idea!
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Take care to not approach this piece too literally. While Lovecraft may firmly occupy the realm of SCIENCE fiction/fantasy you should look at his works as what this site is dedicated to; indeed what it has in its very name.
Art
When I look at this piece I don't think logically. Mostly I think emotionally. The long tentacles create something of a beard, and his eyes speak of a deep rooted yet casual disdain. And his bony carapace is remarkably similar to a ceremonial head ornament. The overall image is that of a wise old man who has been gifted with a prestigious yet long forgotten position. He watches the advancing foolishness of the world with a disgust that has long since burned down from a roaring blaze. Only the last coals of his disapproval remain. You should include something by which he would watch the world. Since the age old options of seers ponds or fountains are ruled out due to the underwater setting, I would recommend a series of mirrors of some sort. The mirrors could be human sized and each one could show different elements of human culture he views with his ancient contempt. Human figures in the mirrors could add the crucial element of scale to the piece. Overall the image would send a signal decidedly different from that of Cthulhu. More logos, less pathos.
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whoa
That's the best comment I've received in a year. Thank you. Thank you very much.
I've been conceiving of this species as psionic, using its decentralized nervous system like both a multi-processor computer and a huge antenna array. A divination/meditation focus with a human scale-reference makes perfect sense.
Again, thanks for your input.
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Hey, no problem. I just saw it and felt it was my duty to help you out.
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Perhaps a large oil tanker, or sunken container ship, split open, on its side, leaning up against a rocky cliff of some sort.
For a light source you could do a submersible that is exploring the wreck, put the cephalopod so itsa little distant fromt he wreck and so the submersible cant see him.
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Great job blending science and sci-fi!
And of course it's not Cthulhu. It doesn't have wings.
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You know, the "wing" description actually refers to the small statue described earlier in Call of Cthulhu; there's no reference to Cthulhu's wings in the final, first-hand description:
[link]
You'll also note that he pursue's the protagonist via water, and not through the air.
I've wondered if the iconic statue of the beast and its actual countenance might have been distinctly different. What artist could properly represent Cthulhu after having beheld him? The beast's true form does not lend itself to wings or flight; perhaps the large organs on its back are misinterpreted by the human mind as wings? Could they be astral gills? Maybe they are vestigial wings; from what earlier species did Cthulhu evolve?
That's kinda where my head was when I was working on this particular piece: On Beyond Lovecraft is asking questions about the nature and history of the Great Old Ones.
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You're right, you are, about the statue description.
Hypothetically, Cthulhu could have had "wings" in terms of fins, like how some squid have larger fins than others (or like the dumbo octopus, but that would look more hilarious than horrifying), but the depiction in the statue was made by someone without much knowledge of cephalopod anatomy. Or, like you said, someone who had never actually seen Cthulhu. I'd imagine if they had seen it, they'd have gone too mad to make a carving. 
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Extraordinary! 
Looking forward to the final work
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illuminate the sacs behind the eye and skull-crest. those mostly green areas, possibly the brain... only slightyly, so as to give off a small glow. it would almost be like headlights and tail-lights. heh
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Fave'd!
The only problem I have is I'm having a hard time seeing how this creature would manage to move around.
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Work in progress you say? Well its starting out pretty nicely. I like it.
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Fantastic pic! I love Lovecraft. 
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If your intent is to be at least somewhat derivative of Lovecraft you could throw in a Cthulhu priest or one or more of the formerly-human denizens of the deep.
There's nothing wrong with going with any of your "obvious" ideas. The primary subject is derivative anyway. The only thing that's not obvious is something that doesn't already belong in either the late 19th or early 20th century, or something that doesn't belong in the ocean, such as a large temple dedicated to the Elder Gods or something similar. But I think a lot of those ideas are cheesy, and going with things that obviously belong in the ocean ca. 1914 are going to work better.
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I think this is great............. maybe a good scal would be a sunken ship lodged in the stones.
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I rather like the idea of the bioluminescent lantern . . . either the bones of drowned sailors (a ribcage around the lamp?) or maybe a pet anglerfish on the end of a string :>
-- A <3
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Why not have it be its own source of illumination?
A good half of all known cephalopods are luminescent.
One kind of pelagic octopus has suckers that have become luminescent organs that effectively direct its prey toward its mouth.
I recommend having the tips of its tentacles having glowing organs.
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I read about bioluminescense when I was doing my research. It's a good idea, but it's a bear to execute; the multiple light sources makes for a very complicated light structure. I'll have to see; I'm letting this image rest for a few months so I can come back with a fresh mind.
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Good point.
Though a few species have light organs only on the tips of their tentacles, or in the case of Taningia danae, only on the tips of two tentacles.
[link]
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