"Werewolf" by Zachariah Campbell

Oh, and I just found some accounts from the 17th century of werewolves being killed by silver.

Wolves in ancient lore were feared because of their mysterious nature.They are most active during the night and travelers found the eerie howls terrifying. Wolves live deep within the forrests and avoid human contact. This fear led humans to believe they were evil and so they cooked up all sorts of nonsense about evil werewolves.
Recently, some light has been shed on wolves and their lives and people found out that wolves are not evil at all.
They have a well structured family and rarely fight. They howl to tell other packs where they are to avoid confrontation. Wolves are in fact verry peace loving.
Thats why werewolves have gone from bloodthirsty monsters to peaceloving critters.
Just thought i'd shed a little light on the subject. No offence intended.

Zachariah Campbell replies: "No offence taken! Naturally wolves aren't evil... nor are any animals, other than humans. Plus, wolves are cool for their social behaviour and stuff.However, I think that medieval folks also had real reasons for fearing wolves. Nowadays, since we've removed ourselves from the wilderness food chain, wolves avoid people instinctively. Synthetic fibres, guns, vehicles, large numbers... wolves keep clear because we smell too weird. But in the middle ages, small communities had to live in proximity with wolves other beasts. True, it'd be a rare, fearless, and likely desperate wolf to attack a man, even in the woods at night, but nabbing some sheep or the occasional unattended child? Too easy. Wolves (and all predators) are nothing if not opportunists. Add that fear to the fact that a man turning into a wolf for God-fearing medieval folks is wholly abominable, and werewolves seem pretty scary. "

You've got a talent for art, there's no question about it. And I agree, it's nice to sometimes see a variation on the "Garou" from WoD's Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

But just because continuing the conversation seems to be the topic of the hour, consider this. There were myths about "Animal Shifters" and "Wolf Shifters" and "Bear Skins" (See Berserker) and all other forms of people who generally had the ability to shapeshift, long before Christianity.
Satan was not even a concept before the introduction of Christianity, thusly with the fact that there were such myths before hand leads one to the conclusion that it couldn't have origionally been about Satanism at all.

Werewolves, Werebears, and the like were people who idolized animals for one reason or another, be it the fact that the chosen animal was better at hunting, killing, running long distances, surviving winter, tending family etc... These people believed that if the animals could do these things, it was only a short step for them to be able to also. That step only involved somehow becoming more like that animal. Of course many methods were created for this, including many that involved mind-altering drugs or ointments, long drawn out rituals, bloodshed, or what have you. The fact that Satanists may have picked up on some of the older practices just lends truth to the fact that new religions have to base their beliefs in something.

Regardless, since I've ranted enough, I commend the artist once more on an evocative picture. Keep up the good work!

Zachariah Campbell replies: "Good points all. I agree... and no doubt the pagan animal-"transformation" traditions for hunting, ferocity, etc, probably had some key influence on the traditional Christian werewolf myth. Add to that the fact that some people with mental instabilities were said to become savage depending on the phases of the moon (hence "lunatics"), and a legend is born. "

I really like the picture. The way that you used the crayons was a good effect, especially the shadows and the eyes. They almost look like glowing embers. Anyways, I totally agree with werewolves coming long before Christianity, particularly what Cody said. I was even going to bring up Berserkers except for the fact that he did. ^^

As for the cute and fluffy thing, Wolf Ravenstar makes a good point. I don't agree with the peaceful werewolf though. At first werewolves were perhaps meant to represent wolves because they were shrouded in mystery and scare us. Now though, I think the werewolf isn't really supposed to represent the wolf as we have found much more out about these creatures. No, I think the werewolf represents the darker side of whoever they happen to transform from. The fact that it looks like a wolf is just because that's how it always was in the past.

Oh and by the way I have seen a brown wolf before. It was a much lighter brown than you'd see on a bear though...

Zachariah Campbell replies: "I agree that the traditional idea of a werewolf representing our "dark sides" is pretty right on... though more and more, people are embracing that dark side, and making it into a cool alter-ego. Meanwhile, werewolves continue to turn up in movies like VAN HELSING and DOG SOLDIERS just because they're cool scary monsters, subtext be damned. Or in the case of HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN the (considerably less idealised) werewolf becomes a sort of AIDS metaphor... or that's how I saw it at least. "

Is this a debate about what a werewolf is or a commenting box for the picture? Who cares about what is what, what kills a werewolf, how they should behave and where they originate from. Don't you think people are allowed to make their own decisions as to what a werewolf is to them? I like the picture by the way.

The crayola effect is neat

Werewolves can be brown! The wolfman was brown. I really like using crayons to colour. All the fun of pastel without all the mess!

The shading in this is excellent, actually the shading in most of your pictures is excellent. I never really bother with light sources.

Zachariah Campbell replies: "Wasn't the Wolf Man black and white? Just like Godzilla. Up until 2000, he was never always grey, not green, even in the colour movies. But people always think of him as being green.Similarly, I always think of wolves as brown in the graphical sense, but I've never seen one photo of a brown wolf ever. Weird.As for my shading and light sources, I'm actually pretty cheap about it. If you look, you'll notice that most of my figures always seem to have a perpetual light hovering just overhead. I'm lame. "

Very cool. Has a feel of Berni Wrightson to it. You're very talented.

Hey this is cool, i rarely color my drawings so this kicks i drew a werewolf but not as "dark" but still has the ferosity <-- can't spell that.....Anyways mine is here
http://www.Fanart-central.Net/pic-559491.Html
p.S. It's sideways because i was in a hurry

When man come to earth wolves became the messenger's......
...... great drawing