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Laurence A. MacCaskill

"H.G. Wells´ Martian" by Laurence A. MacCaskill

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SciFi and Fantasy Art H.G. Wells´ Martian by Laurence A. MacCaskill
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Tag As FavoriteComment		An exercise in frustration! Wells' ''War Of The Worlds'' has been a favorite since I first read it as a kid and I have tried uncountable times to portray the Martians (and their tripod fighting machines) to my own satisfaction - capturing both the emotional reactions of the story's unnamed narrator and being true to the specific details described. Their appearance, we are told, evokes horror and disgust but some basic features like their large, round heads and big, round, dark eyes are features that to virtually every species on Earth, says 'Baby!' Add to those the Martians 'V-shaped' mouth - skittering dangerously close to a goofy smile - and I find it hard to avoid the dread 'Cuteness Factor'. The obvious 'angry eyebrows' cheat to convey a threatening look is ruled out by the fact that Martians have no eyebrows. After playing with this sketch several evenings, erasing and redrawing, erasing and drawing again, our two year old walked over to see what I was working on, smiled and said ''Oh, cu-u-u-u-ute!'' Arrrgh! If anyone has any advice on how to overcome this 'cuteness curse' while remaining true to Wells' original material, I'm open to ideas. It's suggested that in Mars' lesser gravity Martians ambulate standing on their bundles of coachwhip tentacles, which is how I wanted to portray this one. Martian anatomy combines Earth's familiar 'head, thorax and abdomen' combo into a single unit with huge brain, eyes, mouth and large 'billowing' lungs. I experimented with two approaches to lung expansion on my Martian. It's right side has herringbone accordian pleats and the left, gores like a balloon. I still haven't decided which, if either, I like better. (Unfinished Original: Pencil on card, 3'' x 5'' - a frustrated work-in-progress)


DateNameComment 
27 Jul 200745 Anonymous
No offense to that two-year old kid, but that's not cute...it's freaky...in a good way, I suppose, since that's what was aimed for... good job, all those legs make yu wannarun from it!
3 Aug 200745 Anonymous
Naaah, how cute, I want one!
20 Feb 200845 Ida
It’s so cute ^^,
12 Aug 200845 Zergling55
This is what happens when jellyfish become sentient. LOL! Neat creature.
28 Jan 201045 Gabby
Very good drawing. I would suggest the same as Zhothaqquah with the eyes. I think most of the "menacing" emotion could be portrayed through them. Make them very black and unemotional looking. They don’t care about humanity and just want the planet. They wouldn’t portray so much emotion, at least that’s how i see them in my mind when reading the book. Great job on the tenticles and rest of the body. Maybe make the staff he’s carrying point towards the veiwer as if he is going to strike. 1
1 Nov 201045 Jim Morrison
I enjoyed you picture of the HG Wells Martian. I’m rereading the book right now and I think you have it about right. Hope I never see one in person! Jim
26 Nov 201045 AisKrim
I am trying to sketch a Martian for a homework assignment and found this although simple body very hard to draw. My first drawing looked like something out of a Disney movie. Two things I would recommend is putting the Martian into an environment and the fact that the Martian’s mouth quivered and panted and dropped saliva.
10 Feb 201145 Anon.
This is the best rendering of HG Wells actual description of the Martians I have seen. The others all seem to be copies of George Pal’s movie Martians or other movie Martians. Wells never said the Martians themselves had three legs.
25 Feb 201145 John Barnes
I worked on the same problem in sculpey. Assumed the Martians evolved as squid like beings when Mars had oceans. The V mouth is really a beak. Moved the eyes more to the sides to reduce the "cuteness" and surrounded them with disk eyelids that close like an iris. Lungs expand body up and down, like a bellows. Leather top and bottom, soft sides. Will post on my blog when finished. http://anywhenart.blogspot.com/
4 Aug 201145 Ringman
Yeah this is what, 8 years since you’ve last got a message about this, but I just recently saw this. First off, AWESOME! This is some good work and has inspired me to try some stuff out. Secondly, if your main concern is the beak, try looking at some good pictures of Snapping turtles with those beady ugly eyes. Snapping turtles look funny with their mouths closed (because they look like they’re smiling) but very few people would not be scared with a giant snapper beak opened toward their face. Scary!
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'H.G. Wells' Martian':
 • Created by: :-) Laurence A. MacCaskill
 • Copyright: ©Laurence A. MacCaskill. All rights reserved!

 • Keywords: Mars, Martian, Tentacles, Wells
 • Categories: Extrateresstial, Alien Life Forms, Mythical Creatures & Assorted Monsters
 • Techniques: Pencil/Graphite Pen, Mechanical/Technical Pencils, Erasers
 • Inspirations: H.G. Wells
Modpick •  Mod Pick at: 2003-10-07 11:01:51
 • Submitted: 2003-09-29 00:32:59
 • Views: 23842
 • Resolution: 298x410

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