Semester 1
Elephant/T-Rex - Elephant Dino
(Started; Sat 15th Oct - Finished; Fri 21st Oct)
Below you will find my stages of creating a new creature from a T-Rex and Elephant, using my inspirational photographs from my Museum visit and the knowledge i have gained through my experimentation.
Above you can see my initial playing around with shapes of the two creatures and putting them together to see what i get. The arrows on the image explain my process.
I considered the bulky body of and elephant whilst making the creature scary in appearance, with sharp teeth like those of a T-Rex, and a long reptilian tail. (below)
As this creature is starting to take shape i am picturing it living in a forest environment, its skin tones are those of greens and greys while its tusks appear a wood colour. This creature like the elephant skeleton i discussed in my Inspiration Section, is not built for speed. It is built for power, as a creature-like bulldozer it can destroy most things in its path with the combination of a powerful muscular body and the toughness of its tusks. (below)
I have been working on this creature for roughly around 6-7 hours on and off, so far. I apologise for the previous images being dark.
The image below, i have spent most of today lightening darker areas and adding more detail to the face, i have also introduced a lime colored green. I have had an idea following from my previous comments as i picture this creature living in a forest i have thought about introducing root like veins within the creatures skin, and even eventually develop a tree like sculpture mounted on its back? Who knows! (below)
Hope you like how its looking so far...
I have finished this version of the creature and i am now going to try developing on this to create something new, as i explained earlier in this post about developing some form of plant or tree being mounted on its back. From the image below you can clearly see the root-like veins ready for development. I will try it from here and see how it looks!
I am personally very pleased with the out come so far. I tried to combine features of a T-Rex and an Elephant based on the photographs in my inspiration section and rough drawings in my sketch book. This creature has the bulky, muscular body of an elephant and its tusks protruding from its skull and also stumpy looking feet. Whilst the head looks more that of a T-Rex, sharp teeth, and a long reptilian tail. As i started playing with colour and texture i began visioning it living in a forest environment. Its green coloured skin and brown tusks help camouflage it a little, even its eyes remain green, as for example yellow would stand out too much. its head, spine and vein structures are inspiration from a forest environment such as tree trunks and roots. (above) See 'The Creature Gallery' for a larger image.
Enjoy!
The Great Crested Bird
(Started 13th Dec, Completed 15th Dec 2011)
This creature has been developed from my early sketches in my sketch book into a final concept. i have endured development exercises i see as necessary in the creation of a creature.
Below is a selection of progress images to help you understand how i built up the final image.
Above i have finally added a shadow beneath its feet to finish it off.
Blog.
Semester 2 -
Green Woodpecker Marmoset - Bird-Monkey Development Progress...
Above: Initial concept in white sketchbook with basic annotation.
Above: Started the life cycle for this creature, starting with an egg and progressing into 'hatchlings'. I have chosen eggs as apposed to live young as i like the possibility of designing egg shells. Even tho this creature is a mammal there is one mammal that we know of that does lay eggs - the Platypus, so this design decision backs the concept.
Design Decision - Egg Laying Mammal.
Above: I have shown the 'hatchlings' above in a nest, but this is subject to change, as i like the idea of nests being built within tree trunks rather than on full vulnerable display to predators. Here i also show time scales and how the creature grows, and sheds away baby fur to reveal more attractive distinguishing colours of the Green Woodpecker.
Design Decision - Creates dens (nests) within tree trunks for safety and shelter, like squirrels have been know to do.
Above 2 Images: After my Alien Apple Studios one to one opportunity, i had shown them the above images so far in my progression and one comment stuck in my head,
"They look a little Cut & Paste"
Which i totally understood and even though i was still going through the design processes i had a dabble at a few rough, less 'cut and paste' creatures based on the original concept.
Above: After a brief experiment with more obscure designs, i had a feedback session with my tutor and together we decided continuing on with my Bird-Monkey development and from this development i will eventually produce something new. Above shows the male concept for the creature, showing its adult fur and colouration. But the first speed bum i came across was the colouring i had selected, originally i had coloured it based on inspirations from the Green Woodpecker, but thinking a little deeper into BELIEVABILITY i soon discover that green furred mammals do not exist, except for the Sloth, who's fur is not naturally green, in fact algae lives between creases in each individual hair which makes the fur appear green in the wet season as it is more prominent, but in the dry season this colouration fades to the more natural fur colours. This i thought is an interesting discovery to include as this colouration an contribute to camouflage - wet season = green to blend with foliage, dry season - returns to a more fur tone = blending as some foliage dries and fades.
Design Decision - Long, sticky, saliva covered tongue for grasping insects, similar to that of the Wood Pecker, Anteater and Chameleon.
Above: Female design, both very similar as with inspiration from the Green Woodpecker there is actually only a slight facial difference to tell them apart (see notes below).
Design Decision - Like the Common Marmoset the Males are slightly Larger than the female. They are also community creatures, who live in groups of between 6-10, similar to the Common Marmoset (6).
Above: Notes on discoveries so far.
Above: Facts to consider in my design to back believability.
Above: 1st new design, flatter ended beak to assist bark scrapping. Looks less 'cute' and too dinosaur-like.
Above: Rough design 1. Design Possibility 1 - Less like original concept in face, shorter more precise beak for accuracy when bark pealing.
Above: Design possibility 2 - Looking into flight, looked at flying squirrel for inspiration, still has smaller beak, but now looks to 'Squirrely'...
Design Decision - creature has fur similar to that of the sloth making a green appearance, but its much finer and lighter to assist easier flight. Red colouring on head plumage has similar colouring to that of a Fox.
Above: The creature gliding and clinging to a tree using am adapted skin membrane similar to that of a flying squirrel.
Above: Feedback from my Tutor - we where after some form of design enabling leverage for the creature to be able to scrape away bark to reveal insects and larvae. Looking as a Rhinos skull and the head of a hammer (DIY Tool).
Above: Design Possibility 3 - Gliding capability, balancing tail and shorter beak. Experimentation with skull enlargements to allow leverage.
Above: Decided to keep the more compact head design, raising the nostrils high on the skull to decrease chance of insects crawling into the nasal cavity whilst feeding from a hole. Started to look at new ways of providing leverage by using claws on the hands and the idea of having a retractable Raptor style claw as a thumb on each hand.
Design Decision - After a quick experiment on a tree outside the studio with my tutor, we came to the decision that the retractable claw idea would be uncomfortable and also impractical. From this i decided simply using the thumb with a short claw as support, the creature can use its clawed fingers to grasp beneath the bark and leaver it away.
Design Decision - High positioned nostrils to prevent insects entering nasal cavity.
Upper jaw moves freely from the skull increasing leverage and manoeuvrability made of bone but coated in Keratin for protection (strong tissue found in mammals, birds reptiles and amphibians).
Archway formed to ease the collection of food.
Above: Head experimentation and trying to make it look smaller. Design is coming together now and is in final stages.
Above: Plan of action. List of Design Decisions and a few i have yet to establish.
Above: My final design with all Design Decisions in place.
Above: Final design with annotation. Now i will be moving on to texturing techniques in Photoshop.
Above: I knew i wanted to find a fur texture which didn't appear to thick or heavy as my creature is designed to glide so a solid chunky fur wouldn't be appropriate and decrease believability. I found the one above by simply searching the Internet.
Above: Here i have decreased the size of the texture to a more realistic fur size to the proportion of he creatures body. I will now continue to use this size so the fur appears even throughout the creatures body and to decrease chances of image stretching and blur of the texture.
Above: Here i ave completed the basic rendering of the fingers and toes and i am about to proceed to the face. However i have discovered a flaw in this method of texturing which i am not comfortable with (being a perfectionist and all).
You may have noticed you can see the irritating eye-sore that are JOIN LINES in the texture! Euuurgh!
I needed advice from an expert... my tutor checked out the situation and after pondering and messing around i was introduced to creating my own textures using Maya Software... Well this was very impressive as you will discover below...
Above: The creature so far.
Above: The final concept shows the detailing completed. As i had never used this method of texturing before in my concepts i have found this to be beneficial, as my piece looks more realistic and it also saved me valuable time.
Above: As i wasn't 100% happy with the presentation of the final image i further improved upon it by adding a small sample of the creatures envirnoment. I chose not to produce a full environment backdrop as i didn't want to direct the eye away from the creature. Here i have used a bark texture and added details of moss, algae and cracks.
Above: Using the brushes in Maya software i was able to select a desired tree which i felt would work best as a shadow, by selecting the alpha view i was able to see exactly how the shadowing of that particular branch would look. As i wanted something that wasn't too full, allowing for light to pass between branches and clumps of leaves.
Above: After selecting and carefully painted the desired branch effect, i saved this as a targa file and opened it in photoshop, where i selected the alpha channel and brought it into my creature concept.
Above: Here i was able to arrange the branches to the desire position and continued to Fill, Desaturate and change the Opacity of the branch layer enabled me to provide depth within the shadowing. Further more using the Blur Filter tool some branches and leaves where blurred more so than others to create further depth in the shadows.
I will continue to experiment with this method of texturing when appropriate.
It was also easier for my to add necessary detailing over the top of the texture to achieve the desired effect. To see final concept visit the CREATURE GALLERY section of this Blog.
Flying Chameleon / Lizard vs Bat Design Process...
Above: Initial idea, and notes. Creature would feed upon low level foliage in the day usually in open areas to gain as much heat from the sun as possible being cold blooded. Only small creatures who's defence against predator's is the element of surprise. Opening wings suddenly making a sharp Fap! sound, revealing the bright colours of its underside, whilst parachuting into the air and gliding on the breeze to safety.
Above: Researching facts and discovering areas of interest. Discovery of infra sound detection through the head piece of the Veiled Chameleon, interesting function to incorporate in my creature enabling t to detect wind movement and approaching predator's.
Above: Design experimentation.
Above: More research into lizards.
Above: More designing, at this stage i don't like the wings as they look to similar to those of a bat.
Above: Looking to plants for inspiration, Dandelion seed and sycamore seed inspiration.
Above: Arms are fully evolved to support a wing structure, this creature can fly as well as glide in predatory situations. Inspirations here have been taken from Butterfly wings. Sharp tooth-like structure crosses over when closed, allows the creature to pierce open fruits.
Above: Addition of tree shadows on the wings as this creature flies back to the tree canopy for the night.
