Cthulhu
“If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings... It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence...” (“The Call of Cthulhu”)
There are some who are of the opinion that Lovecraft borrowed the name “Cthulhu” from Sumerian mythology. This is a hoax perpetrated by the “Simon” hoax edition of the Necronomicon which combines elements of Sumerian mythology and the Lovecraft myths. The name “Cthulhu” was purely an invention of Lovecraft’s.
His sketch of Cthulhu may be seen at Robert Arellano’s “The Lovecraft Web”.
Oddly, much debate surrounds the pronunciation of “Cthulhu.” The pronunciation used by most is perpetuated by the “Call of Cthulhu” roleplaying game by Chaosium, Inc., whose books have “Can you say kuh-THOO-loo?” printed on their backs. Several Lovecraftian scholars prefer to pronounce it “Cloo-loo” based on references in Lovecraft’s revision tales. I choose to take a middle ground and aspirate both hs, with a result similar to “kt’hoo-lhoo.” Here are a couple of excerpts from Lovecraft’s letters where he discusses the pronunciation of this word:
The actual sound—as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it—may be taken as something like Khlûl’-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, since the h represents the guttural thickness. The second syllable is not very well rendered—the l sound being unrepresented. (to Duane Rimel, 23 July 1934)
The best approximation one can make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly-formed syllables Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of the mouth. (to Willis Conover, 29 August 1936)
In “Lovecraft in Providence,” Donald Wandrei claims that Lovecraft pronounced it “K-Lütl-Lütl,” yet in the above-mentioned letter to Duane Rimel, Lovecraft claims that Wandrei’s comments on the pronunciation of the term are “largely fictitious.” Robert H. Barlow, in On Lovecraft and Life, claimed that Lovecraft pronounced it “Koot-u-lew.” One can’t help but think that Lovecraft was toying with his friends, since everyone’s pronunciations differ, including his own. Ultimately, does it really matter?
His sketch of Cthulhu may be seen at Robert Arellano’s “The Lovecraft Web”.
Oddly, much debate surrounds the pronunciation of “Cthulhu.” The pronunciation used by most is perpetuated by the “Call of Cthulhu” roleplaying game by Chaosium, Inc., whose books have “Can you say kuh-THOO-loo?” printed on their backs. Several Lovecraftian scholars prefer to pronounce it “Cloo-loo” based on references in Lovecraft’s revision tales. I choose to take a middle ground and aspirate both hs, with a result similar to “kt’hoo-lhoo.” Here are a couple of excerpts from Lovecraft’s letters where he discusses the pronunciation of this word:
The actual sound—as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it—may be taken as something like Khlûl’-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, since the h represents the guttural thickness. The second syllable is not very well rendered—the l sound being unrepresented. (to Duane Rimel, 23 July 1934)
The best approximation one can make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly-formed syllables Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of the mouth. (to Willis Conover, 29 August 1936)
In “Lovecraft in Providence,” Donald Wandrei claims that Lovecraft pronounced it “K-Lütl-Lütl,” yet in the above-mentioned letter to Duane Rimel, Lovecraft claims that Wandrei’s comments on the pronunciation of the term are “largely fictitious.” Robert H. Barlow, in On Lovecraft and Life, claimed that Lovecraft pronounced it “Koot-u-lew.” One can’t help but think that Lovecraft was toying with his friends, since everyone’s pronunciations differ, including his own. Ultimately, does it really matter?
One of the most famous Old Gods from HP Lovecraft's work, he was almost certainly going to be included. and my idea for him within the game would be the last boss, thought technically cthulhu isnt by any means the most powerful or greatest god, neither does he possess any strict powers with the necronomicon but purely for the fact he is the most famous of the old gods have i made him the final boss of this game idea.
I already had an idea with what i wanted him to be, in the relms of HP Lovecrafts timeline as a Victorian Gentleman. Like with every old god i wanted a humanish disguise and their true form, with this i started out with a few human-ish designs
combining a victorian man or HP Lovecraft and a horrific squid head, incorporated into his features.
I wanted to have him seated in a chair, the view looking up as he has a position of power, possibly holding a glass of something with sharp lighting and shadows.
 |
using Manga studios perspective tool, i tried to get a handle on where the eyeline was and how to go about using the picture as a guild line  |
I really didnt like how that was going, and none of it made any sense to me and it really wasnt going anywhere good.
so i asked a friend to model a body and a chair with the camera position i wanted, resulting in this picture
which i then tried to block out over the top, similar to how i blocked out Shub Niggurath's body.
again it didn't go well, i really didn't understand how to block out the legs or get the perspective right.
plus the head looked ugly
