Tag: Lovecraft

Oral Horror

Below we see another crypto-microbial monster, X. devorans, the devourer.

A Lovecraft-inspired microbe.
The cilia of ‘the devourer’ serve both as lures and for feeding.

This organism displays from four to seven ‘mouths’ around the circumference of its barrel shaped body. Devorans uses the cilia-like appendages at either ends of its length to counterfeit the biosignature of common prey, attracting would be hunters. Once another microbe has come close enough to investigate, the devourer uses its fearsome mouths to clutch its victim. Most digestion occurs on the exterior surface of the organism. As devorans’s quarry breaks down, creating a nutrient-rich soup, the cilia sweep the atomized remains into its true mouths, which are located at both ends of the barrel.

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This was a Saturday double dip on monster drawings. I should have been working, but I had a quiet house and I wasn’t going to waste it!

The Enigma

One of the most bizarre microbes yet documented by researchers using the revolutionary aether field nanoscope is HP 1939. The true nature of ‘the enigma’ is unknown: though superficially artificial in morphology and behavior, no known process of manufacture could produce the apparent complexity of HP 1939 on this scale.

A nanotechnological organism known as 'the enigma'. The organism inserts a complex, non-standard code into host DNA.
The enigma defies all known rules of biology.

HP 1939 can best be described as a unique type of benign and self-stabilizing carcinogenic cell. The enigma inserts strings of diverse code into the DNA of nearby cells, which then create a finite number of copies of themselves. This apparently genetic information, though legible to most species of all biological kingdoms, does not employ the four nucleotide bases of the canonical code, but rather a complex, almost syntactical system that varies from one specimen to another. Many of the amino acids produced by this ‘enigmatical’ code are unknown elsewhere in the catalogue of terrestrial life.

After a brief period of replication, the altered cells form a cluster around HP 1939. Once the microbe has entered its chrysalis, as it is fancifully known, it ceased interaction with the host and begins faintly emitting a complex but regular electromagnetic signal.

The means of reproduction of this fascinating organism remain a mystery to researchers.

Hawley’s Crab

Continuing our catalogue of exotic microfauna, here is Hawley’s crab, also called Hawley’s manta ray.

An example of the Lovecraft-esque Hawley's crab collecting a gyron.
A monster on the smallest scale, Hawley’s crab hunts and devours the gyrons themselves.

In the plate above a fully grown specimen can be seen preparing to ingest a gyron. Gyrons form the entire basis of the organism’s diet. Contrary to scientific consensus and popular opinion, gyrons are neither indestructible nor innumerable. Indeed, Hawley’s crab is but one of several known species which threaten the fabric of reality by feeding upon its most basic constituent.

Hawley’s crab is very tiny indeed. Recall that Dr. Meno demonstrated in his seminal Cats, Atoms, Gyrons, Aether, and the Universe that the span of a gyron is only 10-35 the length of a salami.

Psychophage

Here is the psychophage. It feeds upon the humors, particularly yellow & black bile. Anger and melancholy are to be avoided in order to reduce the risk of infection. The psychophage is so named because physicians at one point believed that the organism somehow ingested these emotions. This is superstitious twaddle and unworthy of scientific consideration.

This microscopic monster almost resembles a Venus fly trap.
The psychophage has teeth which serve the functions of spines, as well as aid in feeding.

I wasn’t sure I was going to keep my little streak of illustrations alive, but I finished without staying up too late. The pointillism on the digestive membrane took a long time. I didn’t want to rush the drawing, and I’m glad I didn’t. I’m happy with this one!

This monstrous microbe is dedicated to my father-in-law Gary, who first introduced me to carnivorous plant husbandry (which I’m more enthusiastic for than capable at).

Lovecraft-Inspired Microbes Everywhere!

I’ve been having fun drawing these little portraits of imaginary microfauna, so here comes another one. These are quick, fun little illustrations I can crank out in a couple of hours. It would be cool to do enough that I have a sort of handmade bestiary of tiny monsters.

An illustration of a germ inspired by Lovecraft's Yog Sothoth.
These globules can pop into existence, seemingly from nowhere.

This one has a pretty obvious Yog Sothoth vibe. He’s cute, but that’s some serious stuff. Don’t want to catch it. Or rather… don’t want it to catch you!

If you’d like to see some WIP shots, I’ve included a few below. Plus a small goodie.

Continue reading “Lovecraft-Inspired Microbes Everywhere!”

Microscopic Monster

As I lay in bed ill today, watching sketchbook tours on YouTube, admiring cool doodle art and feeling bored…

An illustration of a invented germ inspired by the monsters of H.P. Lovecraft

I started imagining a sort of Lovecraftian monster lurking below the threshold of perception, making me sick. Anyway, I’m pretty sure this is what’s got me under the weather.

I plan to draw a few elder signs on my lymph nodes and hope for the best.