Invent a Creature from a Starting Outline
An invented creature can begin with the outline rather than a species name. The artist can decide how it moves, what it notices, and which details make it recognizable.
A separate activity to try
Choose an outline of your own and give it one job in the drawing: a body, head, or small feature. Add a face or another detail only when that fits the idea. An unusual creature does not need every possible feature at once.
Look at the next choice
Ask how it gets around or what it likes doing. A single answer can suggest the next mark, such as an imagined appendage or a useful object. The details are choices for this separate exercise, not promised characters from a published title.
Decide whether to continue
A name or short sentence can finish the session if the artist wants to tell a story. Compare this invention activity with a real monster lesson: one leaves the final creature open, while the other demonstrates a construction sequence.
Use a published book for another starting task
How to Draw: Cute Cartoon Monsters offers build the demonstrated character through six illustrated stages. Compare that task with Shape Drawing Challenge’s repeated outlines and open-ended responses. The practice suggestions in this article are website-created activities, not additional printed features being claimed for either book.
Keep the next idea open
Shape Drawing Challenge gives artists 16 repeated beginnings, six illustrated examples per shape, and room for 480 independently chosen drawings.