Is this based off of Lovecraft's mythology and monsters? The creature in the middle reminds me of Shub-Niggurath, the "Goat with a Thousand Young" for some reason.
I think I often had dreams like this. Like, I sometimes entered some place I know little about and ran into something I shouldn't(?) Even as I worked on this, I told myself "no, you shouldn't go that way" repeatedly. Ha ha. You see the child in red clothes at the tail of the group, you see she's looking behind. I wanted to express something like she's the one leading the others or maybe she noticed something.
Mazryonh said: Maybe the artist should get acquainted with the Cthulhu Mythos, then. This looks like it could be the cover to a great horror video game or manga.
I agree. I thought of one of Nyarlathotep as soon as I saw this.
The types of trees and aspects of the style remind me of European (especially Germanic) art, because of the children it makes me think fairytales (the original gory versions that aren't censored), and a towering hairy monster without a face... This just captures what "horror" is in a magical way.
"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein." –
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" – "Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. –"
"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there? My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care My daughters by night on the dance floor you lead, They'll cradle and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."
"My father, my father, and dost thou not see, How the Alder King is showing his daughters to me?" "My darling, my darling, I see it aright, 'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."
Who says The Erlkoning's daughters don't have a mother...
Funny, first thing I think when I see this is that the kids are going to suddenly have grins impossible on human jaws, pull meat cleavers from their coats, and descend upon their prey, talking about what parts of their victim are "theirs".
... Probably tells you what types of fantasy I'm used to...