Mothman’s Eyes: What Color?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on May 24th, 2007
Bill Rebsamen’s illustration completed for me in 2001, for use on the cover of my Mothman book.
Does it matter what color the eyes of a more stylized imaging of Mothman appears in graphic art?
Two color drawings of “Coleman’s Cryptozoo” arrived overnight from Len Peralta. What version of Mothman’s eyes do you like?
For a look at the black and white initial example of Len Peralta’ art again, go to ” Cryptozoo by Mail”.
Should illustrative, graphic, and comic art stay close to the original descriptions of cryptids, or can it be appreciated as a form and extension of the creativity of the artist? Talking about how Mothman is shown here may be a good place to start.
- Similar Phenomena:
Well we have to go with the classic red eyes…
If the goal is art, than any interpretation is acceptable. But if the goal is factual representation, none of those look remotely close to what I saw.
This really is a question of feeling vs. form or art as accurate representation vs. interpretation. We might as well be dicussing pointilism vs. impressionism…
Just my two cents.
Red. Definitely red.
And what’s with giving Mothman a head? Boo!
No doubt, classic “bicycle reflector” red.
The green glow makes him look a bit…stupid. Death red all the way.
I think where it comes to cryptids, or in fact any beast that we want to instill a sense of fear, red eye colouring triggers the primal instinct in us when our ancestors sat around the fire and watch the glowing eyes circle looking for the next potential meal.
Psychologically, the red eye colour creates a sense of doom and foreboding that seems appropriate for these mysterious creatures, it gives them the “Scare Factor”.
How many times have we seen comic books and children’s toys, showing Bigfoot with glowing red scary eyes, all used to make the beast seem large and terrifying? For scarability, nothing beats a set of glowing red eyes.
Red!
Red eyes.
Gotta be red.
Where in nature, except for bad photography, do we find animals that reflect red eyes? I think only fish do (without doing major research). As far as I can remember I have seen green, blue or yellow, never have seen red. Then again, if the witness was so close that they can actually see the eye, I’m sure they can figure out the difference between the pupils and the rest of the eye. In which case, for hominids at least, only what would be the white area is the only part that turns red.
Anyone out there with a medical background or doctorate in ocular research or medicine, please correct me or guide my misled conclusions…
I have seen bats at night and their eyes reflected back as yellow, I am extremely sure so do owls.