Hannah Hitchman

The first monster and my first foray into trying to combine watercolour paints with digital effects. This monster likes to stick to silty, warm swamps and to hide amongst the weeds. We're not sure if he's just leisurely enjoying the view of passing turtles or waiting for an unsuspecting swimmer to pass by. We recommend keeping your distance if you spy this critter hiding in a pond near you, and maybe thinking twice before going for a paddle.

The Yeti, sometimes known as Big Foot, is a reclusive beast that lives in snowy, wooded areas in the mountains. This monster is so shy that so far only giant footprints in the snow indicate that it actually exists. Since animals are scarce so high up in the freezing mountains, my yeti has resorted to vegetarianism and eats mostly pine trees and the occasional evergreen bush to survive.

Centaurs are another beast from Greek Mythology and have the torso of a human and the body of a horse. Centaurs usually tend to be male so I decided I'd make mine a lady for a change. My entaur's body is based on a gazelle - a herbivore similar to a deer mostly found in the savannahs of Africa. The gazelle is considered food by many predators so my centaur is geared up with a spear to fend off any lions that might be eyeing her up as a tasty snack.

This Mermaid is a little different, instead of being part fish she has the curling tail of a seahorse. Seahorses use their tails to anchor themselves in place so that currents don't pull them away. They will sometimes even use their tails to hold onto other seahorses and float around in little groups. Just like real seahorses, this Mermaid has impressive camouflage abilities and uses her markings to blend in with surrounding coral and plants to avoid predators.

Yet another Greek monster, this time with three fire breathing heads composed of a goat, a lion and a snake. I bet having three heads would get very annoying quickly, especially if the heads didn't get along. Chimera has now become a word used to describe any creature made up of different animals and parts. What animals would you use to make a Chimera?

I am told by my parents that when I was very little I had some impressively bad night terrors (I don't remember them much which is lucky.) What's more scary than battling a monster from your own imagination every night? Luckily I had my special stuffed duck and dragon to keep me company and protect me from lurking nightmares, and eventually, the monster wasn't so scary any more.

A mysterious Witch that makes its home in a remote cavern deep in some dark woods. Who knows what magical lotions and potions it cooks up there in its cauldron? All we know for sure is that no one who's travelled to the cave to find out has ever returned.

This Werewolf is a bit of a shy guy. He doesn't like bothering anyone too much so he's a lumberjack by trade and lives in a little cabin in the woods. Whenever the full moon rolls around he roams the forest, occasionally kept company by his Vampire buddy and her bat.

This Vampire is a modern one. She's not a fan of sneaking into bedrooms at night to suck blood like her family back home in Transylvania. Why waste an evening when she could be out partying? She prefers to buy herself blood packs from shifty black market merchants and spend her days shopping, hanging out with her Werewolf friend and walking her pet bat, Snuffles.

This has to be one of the more absurd monsters. I tried to think of one of the sillier members of the animal kingdom for inspiration and settled on Llamas. His body is made of candy floss, his tail, a flump marshmallow, his neck is a licorice all sorts, his legs, chocolate matchsticks and jelly tots and his ears are jellybeans. He also may have made some chocolate drop *ahem* deposits...

Even robots can appreciate beautiful bird songs, but all is perhaps not what it seems. Can you spot anything in the background that seems odd? What do you think the story is behind what happened here?

Spiders aren't that scary, she promises! this moinster uses her web weaving skills to knit lovely scarves and tea cosies for friends. She also has a passion for shoes which gets very expensive since she has eight feet to buy for.

The Sphinx is an ancient Egyptian beast that has the body of a lion and the face of a beautiful woman. The Sphinx used to sit on the road to Thebes, a Greek city, and pose riddles to travellers wanting to pass. If you could guess the answer to her riddle you could continue by unharmed, get it wrong, however, and she would devour you. My Sphinx has gotten bored with riddles after asking them for thousands upon thousands of years and instead now tries to tell terrible knock-knock jokes.

Looks like this gooey monster has managed to find its way into your house and left a slimy snail-trail of destruction through your living room. How many things has it eaten, can you spot them all?

The Nāga (or nāgī since mine is a female) is a deity from a variety of religions and regions, including Hinduism and Buddhism that takes the form of a giant snake, usually a King Cobra. My Nāga is half snake in form but characteristically snake-like all over. Her head scarf resembles a Cobra hood and her tongue is long and forked. She enjoys most things snakes do - hiding under rocks, sleeping in the sun and the occasional snack in the form of small rodents.

Medusa was a Gorgon, a woman with venemous snakes in the place of hair, tusks like a wild boar and a gaze that would turn anyone looking directly at her into stone. I feel kind of sorry for Medusa, she must have been pretty lonely with only her snakes for company don't you think?

The Praying Mantis, an amazing insect well known for certain amorous dietary habits. Praying Mantis are impressive enough to pass as a monster on their own, especially when looked at closely - their giant spiky forelegs are used for grasping prey and some have beautifully coloured wings for alarming predators. I decided to keep my Mantis monster fairly close to the original insect, adding a flashy coat for this stealthy predator to wear and show off on its hunt for food.

The Kitsune is a cunning fox spirit from Japanese folklore than can disguise itself as a human, the only give-away of its real form being its multiple furry tails. It is said that the more tails the spirit has, the more powerful it is. The Pokémon Ninetails is, in-fact, based on a Kitsune.

Randolph's favourite thing to do in the whole wide world is to collect socks. Your socks. My socks. Everyone's socks. Any will do but he prefers the ones with exciting patterns and brighter colours. He wanders around with his little cart at night collecting them to take home with him. The problem is, Randolph exclusively collects left socks. All those times you think the dryer has eaten a single sock of your favourite pair it's actually Randolph who has decided your sock is too special to miss.

Traditionally found in Greek and Roman mythology, Harpies have the face and torso of a woman and the wings and feet of a bird. Their name means 'Snatcher' and according to the various myths surrounding them they sound rather unpleasant and smelly to be around. I designed my Harpy to be more on the bird side of things in order to make her seem more monsterous and less like the Harpies of old, whose human and bird body parts were quite distinctly different from one another.

This Ghost may seem pretty scary but really she's just a bit lonely. Most people are scared off by her glowing eyes and supernatural hair but all she really wants is a nice chat and maybe someone to play with.

This beast was oddly enough inspired by the slogan and image on Lyle's Golden Syrup tins (which is in turn from a Biblical story.) The slogan 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness' immediately came to mind when I was working on this prompt, which then led to the image of a lion with a mane of flowers. this monster probably smells a lot more palatable than a normal lion and I like to imagine his mane bouquet changes throughout the year to match whatever flowers are in season.

I think if I was a cat girl I'd do exactly what this monster does; take advantage of my feline talents of balancing and sneaking in order to have some adventures across the rooftops at night. Maybe I'd go hunting with my other cat friends or maybe I'd just sit and enjoy the moonlight and quiet while the city sleeps.

This little Fairy's design is based on a moth since I find them a lot cuter and fuzzier than butterflies. With her pilot cap securely on her warm, furry coat this little Fairy is ready to fly! Accompanied by her pet Bumble Bee of course.

Dryads are Nymphs or Tree Spirits when found in mythology, mine is a little, tiny mushroom spirit. He likes damp spots like rotting trees or leaf mulch and makes great friends with the insect life that lives close by. He's very shy so if you ever spot him stay nice and quiet. If you're very lucky, he may come out to say hello.

I used the Deep Sea Angler fish as inspiration for this creepy mermaid. These fish spend their whole lives in the darkness and have developed a stalk on the top of their heads that acts rather like a fishing rod. The end of the stalk glows in the dark and is used to lure prey right into the waiting Angler fish's mouth. Instead of a head stalk, my mermaid has been given a tiny glowing jellyfish to use when fishing for her dinner in the dark depths.

Covered in precious jewels, intricately embroidered cloth and delicate lace, this monster's intent isn't obvious until it's too late. Hiding behind that decorated porcelain mask is a less than friendly face, and one that's particularly hungry.

This monster lives in caves too, but ones so far beneath the earth's crust you'll probably never meet him. His body is made from geodes and giant crystal formations that gently glow in the dark so that he can light his way and avoid tripping on any stray stalagmites.