Winter Goblin

More playing with Photoshop CS4. My scarecrow emboldened me to trying drawing a real monster, which is something I've been wanting to practice for a while. Between the weather last night and this--
[link] decided to finally sit down and draw this guy.

Winter Goblin has a story behind him. Between my love of mythology and multiple reads of Changeling: the Dreaming and Rob Thurman's Nightlife series, he's an image I've had in my head for years.

The story goes that there are two courts of the faeries. The Seelie rule in beauty and light in the summer, but at Samhain, the courts change leadership and the Unseelie rule over the harsh, unforgiving winter. The winter night is filled with these frightening fairies who lurk beyond the light, waiting to "play" with people who venture too far from home after the sun goes down. Winter Goblin hides in the shadows under trees, so he looks just like more snow-covered branches...till he leaps out to get you!

I grew up around the woods, so they don't hold much fear for me, but I've found spots that don't feel safe at night. I can imagine things like this lurking in those places. I can imagine packs of them skittering over rocks and logs on their nightly hunts through the forest.

Originally my winter goblin was supposed to be another two-color piece like the scarecrow, but he wanted to be monochrome. With a mouth like that, I'm gonna listen to him.