Elder Things - At the Mountains of Madness

New artwork based on the Elder Things, an alien race from HP Lovecraft's Novella, "At the Mountains of Madness".

Final Image

“I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why. It is altogether against my will that I tell my reasons for opposing this contemplated invasion of the Antarctic—with its vast fossil-hunt and its wholesale boring and melting of the ancient ice-cap—and I am the more reluctant because my warning may be in vain. Doubt of the real facts, as I must reveal them, is inevitable;”

― H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness

Published in 1936. the story details the events of a disastrous expedition to Antarctica, and what is found there by a group of explorers led by the narrator, Dr. William Dyer of Miskatonic University. Throughout the story, Dyer sheds light on previously untold events in the hope of deterring another group of explorers who wish to return to the continent. These events include the discovery of an ancient alien civilization older than the human race, and the true origins of life on Earth as told through various sculptures and murals.

Below you can see the process of how this image developed:

Lineart

Flat Colors

Partial Rendering