Bam!!! Here we have a -stunning- bust from the very skilled Invidia Saunder! Look at how freakin amazing this is!!

As I alluded to in an earlier post, I'm going into a redesign for Monstrum that requires no real redesigning at all. For awhile now I've been dissatisfied with him, with him both falling off as a sona and me overall being disheartened with his design. One of the key flaws I noticed is that Monstrum's iconic traits only shine in specific shots. In the past, it was really his tail and his halo that differentiated him from what would otherwise be a somewhat generic and natural colored gryphon design. The halo was hard to get into many applications of Monstrum, and the tail was even worse in that respect. But over time, I began to realize: Those are just the low-hanging fruit. There's other identifiable features on his ref sheet which can define a specific anatomy to him that make him a unique character. It's just a matter of cracking down on those features to make him himself. At the same time, I also realized I wanted to shift his personality toward being one that I've thoroughly enjoyed playing in RP. And so, I've resolved on multiple pillars for Monstrum as a character:
1.) I'm going to be doubling down on the villainous persona I've developed for him behind the scenes. This is something that's going to keep him much truer to the origin of his subspecies, being made by  GoldeneyeGryphonSadist and all. Now that he's not my sona, I have a lot of flexibility to have fun with him.
2.) The eye ring in the color of his eyes is going to be a critical feature. Honestly, It's kinda just something that the ref sheet's artist wordlessly added and I can't take credit for coming up with it xD. It's there on his ref sheet but not called out, and it's something a sizable number of artists have ignored. I think it looks really good and pretty unique, and it really reinforces a more obsessive or predatory personality, and I've decided to make it a core element to his aesthetic profile!
3.) I want his beak to be sharper with more defined edges. Like you can see here, I want it to ooze more of the danger and less of the round idealism.
4.) His long ears are a characteristic part of his subspecies, and I am going to actively call out just how important it is for them to be long.

And this piece is proof that those pillars work for me, and I super freaking love this final result!!

Art:  InvidiaSaunder (P.S. You need to check her out!!! She's awesome and amazing to work with!!)
Character: All mine!