Here's an original creation using the 3 point guideline

First the inspiration, bronzework from the Freer & Sackler gallery.

appearance:

The face patterns on these vessels have glaring eyes, it's intimidating. There seems to be a horn-like pattern at the top. The wide mouth has fanged teeth. The vessel itself looks sturdy and strong, with a wide base or thick legs.

history/personality:

The design on the vessels that resembles a beast face on this is called a taotie. There's little known about what they represent or the story behind them, except for a record that describes them as "beasts that devour but are never full". They are from the Shang Dynasty of China, far in the ancient past there is still much to discover about them.


utility/ability:

These vessels would have been used for rituals to honor long forgotten spirits, or maybe ancestors. They may have contained offerings of food (maybe the Taotie 'eats' the food given?)



The strongest theme with this seems to be food, eating, devouring. Looking at it, the creature seems to have a wide mouth with some fanged teeth. What we know of its history and purpose, it was a vessel for accepting food offerings.

A devouring beast is the idea. What kind of animal should it resemble?
Perhaps a dog? There are many stone guardian statues in China, called Fu dogs. Maybe basing this idea off of an existing Chinese beast will work...

But then our Taotie looks like a Fu dog, hmmmm. Those bronze vessels are pretty broad and sturdy looking, maybe incorporate some of that feeling in there. Taotie's are big eaters too, make the mouth even wider... hmmm, that sounds kinda like a hippo. Maybe look at how hippo's are built to get a better idea on how to make a big mouthed, big bodied eating machine











There's no better artist than nature, y'know? When trying to get the right 'feeling' for a creature, referencing animals that give that feeling is a good start.

Now, looking at what Chinese artists did with dogs to create Fu dogs, maybe if we apply that to our new animal...

















It doesn't hurt to make lots of designs when trying to find just the right one (there's even a goldfish inspired one in there!). Don't erase, keep them all! You can always go back and use what wasn't used, you never know when things will just fall perfectly together.

Ah, now I've got the right design, finishing up... something big, powerfully built, sturdy with a mouth made for eatin'.















...and voila, we have a Taotie, the mythical devourer!


this above artwork comes from www.richmondlee.com
take a look around! It's always good to see the works of as many different artists as you can