Progression walk through and creature design...

Werewolf (Halloween special) progression.

As it was Halloween weekend i produced a Werewolf portrait (which i will be creating a body for :p) so i thought I'd show you guys basically how i did it and how my work tends to be unfolding at the moment. A few weeks ago i was introduced to silhouetting out creature shapes, grey scaling in light rendering and finally working in colour using either a 'color' or 'overlay' layer. This so far is working great for me as i am able to figure out light and dark values easier than working out which is the correct colour tone, it is opening my eyes to shapes i 'accidently' stumble upon generating randomised creature silhouette's and most importantly i have discovered this method is a lot quicker!

Good news all round! I strongly recommend using dark silhouettes when trying to discover a new creature design to develop. I also advise flipping the canvas horizontally to view the imagery from both angles helping your eye not to get lazy and spot potential rendering mistakes.

After several kills during the moon lit hours this creature finds itself feeding upon decaying flesh of its victims for days afterwards (if other scavengers haven't beaten him to it) leading to the harbouring of bacteria within the saliva which acts as a poison or venom when delivering a deadly bite to prey. Some can die from what wouldn't usually be considered as a lethal bite due to the harmful levels of bacteria... This creature relies on this to feed its hunger during the day time, replenishing its energy ready for the following nights rampage.

Wolf by day, crazed Werewolf by night... All creatures fear the Werewolf. 

Crowned Ray creature design.

Continuing with the silhouette method i; Selected, Developed and Finalised another creature design. Based around a Manta Ray and a Cat Fish with a head piece twist i named this guy the Crowned Ray... 

However this 'crown' is not just to look good and flash around at potential female mates, it is used to blend within its environment; a dense coral bed filled with a wide range of corals and sea plants, the Crowned Ray buries itself under a layer of sand between these corals and plants assisting this predators camouflage. The 'crown' fully erects and sways in the sea current and also has the ability to change colours to attract prey. The dorsal fin also sways in the currents but this has a primary purpose; to pick up on movements in the waters nearby. Filled with sensory pours the Crowned Ray can identify predator and prey movements nearby and also changes in water current. Its long tail houses a fin for extra speed and agility but also comes to a stinging point; its only defence against predators. Its 4 barbs mounted on its head and those mounted on its anal fins assist locating creatures below the surface of the sand and also help detect movements nearby. The colouration of both the males and females are similar, variations in colour patterns can be seen but these are entirely random, the blue, green and yellow hues and the black pin striping help in blend with the natural colours and shadows which occur in shallow sea waters. During the mating seasons males flush their crowns with colours of the reef to attract females.

Selected shape of interest from rough silhouettes (Bottom image).

Detailing from rough silhouette selection.

Selection, development, Finalise.

Above shows the entire process i am working to at them moment.

Rough silhouettes - 5-20minutes each max.

Silhouette detailing - 1 hour max.

Rendering, detailing and colouring - 2-4 hours max.

Working roughly to a time frame will help me speed up and produce more in less time.

MUST CONTINUE!

Have a Spooktacular Halloween!

Heres a Halloween treat for you all. A blood thirsty Werewolf with a deadly bite!

More Silhouettes!

Above: Further development from the previous silhouette blog post

After selecting one of the five previous insect silhouettes i chose one to develop a little further; adding rendering using grey scale, detailing specifically the head as i wanted that to be my focal point and finally using a separate 'color layer' to apply colour similar to an overlay however 'color' only applies colour to visibly drawn areas hiding messy bits! This was completed in a few hours at most, but further detailing could be applied if it was chosen as a final concept.

Above 2 images: More creature idea generation using the silhouette technique.

I am enjoying using the silhouette technique as it produces shapes and ideas i hadn't necessarily considered before. Some my not make it further than this but the creation of such diverse ideas is great when i need to churn out designs quickly; at the moment in preparation for my Book but in future to show ideas to potential clients. This saves time but produces more, i spent roughly an hour on each page.

In terms of these assisting my book and 'the undiscovered creatures of a forgotten island' concept, these silhouettes are great as a 'get the basic shape down' and detail later, as if i am churning these out as i see the creature, quickly documenting silhouettes before observing detailing and its habitat.

Silhouette practice and skeleton building?!

Above; Silhouette and detailing

Above; Brief colour suggestions.

The purpose of my trying out silhouette designs was for me to discover forms i hadn't necessarily considered and to produce a range of simple design ideas in a short period of time. With these i then added basic colours to show what i am thinking.
With these basic designs complete i may then choose to take one of them into further development stages.

I think this is a great method of conveying ideas for discussion.


I have also started my first display piece for in my final show. Early? yes, however it is time consuming... I've included a few sneak peeks below. Basically i am in the process of producing a skeleton of one of my designs using modelling clay and wire. When complete i intend to display it in a perspex box similar to how stuffed animals are displayed in museums.

'Speed Painting' practice...

Attempt at 'speed' painting (45min-1hr)

In my recent post i commented on how i wanted to attempt a faster method of painting, here i used the grey scale and overlay technique to achieve an image faster. I didn't care for detailing and kept zoomed out the majority of the time. A little more practise and i am sure i will learn more like; becoming quicker at painting and learn more about rendering along the way.

This is my first attempt at 'speed painting' and i believe with practise i will be using this method a lot more to convey my ideas quickly and effectively.

Female Marine Lizard (Head Shot)

Female head/neck shot.

Above is the head detailing of the female marine lizard i sketched earlier. Honestly this took way too long and i need to find a way to loosen my painting style and reduce time spent. This is my aim for my future Photoshop work as in reality, in industry time is something we don't have!

This creature has a metallic blue and turquoise detailing to the larger scales and spine plates, helping it to  camouflage in the blue depths of the ocean, that is until it becomes closer to a target which by then it would be too late. The spinal panels assist heat absorption as this creature is cold blooded.

I am now going to attempt some faster Photoshop work to see what i can achieve in short spaces of time.

More Drawings...

These are last weeks addition to my sketchbook, i will continue to work in my sketchbook however i am now taking some into Photoshop for further experimentation. I will update on my progress as and when :) ...