creatures of the unknown
A character design study that explores creatures with intertwined human and animal DNA.
I first started brainstorming different animals that I thought would be interesting to combine with human DNA. After creating an initial list, I thought about which of those animals would be the most interesting and original. For example, I didn't want to do the bat or the butterfly because I feel like it has been done so many times previously. I settled on porcupine, lizard, and eel.
I wanted my character design study to have a hero, a villain, and a neutral character so I figured out which one I wanted to be which, and started sketching.
The first illustration is a close up of her face. With all of the illustrations, I wanted to equally incorporate human features with eel features. Her face for example, has the general format of a human face, but with gills, nocturnal eyes, a fin, and a pointed nose (to resemble the snout of an eel).
I also wanted to include a perspective that seems like more of a scientific "on display" position. This perspective is not supposed to be very action-based, but more of a visual description that you would see in a scientific journal.
I decided not to include arms or legs, but rather one long "limb" like an eel has.
This illustration is more action-oriented; it shows the eel swimming/moving. One of the qualities of this creature is it's speed, so I wanted to show that.
Finally, I illustrated how this creature would attack and kill, since she is a villain and a predator.
For each character, I also created a biography and a short synopsis of their abilities and background.
TENEBRIS: This creature, whose name means “darkness,” contains human and eel DNA. She resides in the deep sea and is extremely dangerous. With her electrocution, strength, speed, and carnivorous tendencies, she often kills for pleasure. She can swim up to 20 mph, has razor sharp teeth, and enjoys suffocating her victims. Avoid this creature at all costs.
The second character is the hero; her name is Acies, which is Latin for "sharpness." This creature is the combination of human and porcupine DNA, so I did research on porcupines and their various abilities and traits. I wanted this creature to be able to throw her quills, but it turns out this is a myth and actual porcupines can't do this. However, I took some artistic liberties since I am creating a whole new species, so I decided I was going to make it one of her abilities.
I then wrote out and sketched the 4 positions that I wanted to illustrate.
I wanted the quills to be the main attraction of the character, but not so much so that they completely take her over and she wouldn't be able to move in the ways that I wanted. I noticed that porcupines have large, dark, and far apart eyes and a wide nose, so I made sure to incorporate that into the face.
When thinking of the abilities that I wanted her to have, I wanted her to be able to do acrobatic movements and flips during combat. I created a way that the quills could be projected during these movements by having the quills be placed on her arms, calves, and back. The quills on her back and head are more for defensive positions, but can still be used to attack.
As a fighter, her "ready" position is very important, so I make sure to illustrate how she would look if she was faced with a threat.
Finally, I wanted to illustrate her in action to show how limber and coordinated she is. Also, I wanted to show how specific the placement of her quills are. When she does flips and other acrobatic movements, she would not harm herself.
ACIES: This creature contains human and porcupine DNA. She lives in the deep, desolate mountains in a shelter made of moss and rock. She watches over the creatures of the forest and protects them from any predators that may harm their utopic environment. She is extremely fast, agile, has nocturnal abilities, and can project her quills out of her arms and legs while fighting. She does not kill for pleasure, but is also not to be underestimated- she can kill faster and more efficiently than anything else in the forest.
The final character that I created was a human and lizard combo. Her name is Renati, which means "regenerate" in Latin. This character is a neutral character that is neither good nor bad. While doing research, I realized how many different types of lizards there actually are. So I decided to combine many of them and picked the traits that I liked from each.
After deciding on the traits and abilities I wanted to include, I wrote out and sketched the different positions I wanted. I was not as decided with this character; I wasn't sure which illustrations I wanted the neck frill to be open, and which I wanted it to be closed. I decided in the end to change up the last illustration to fit the character more.
I wanted to incorporate the neck frill in the close up of the face, to truly illustrate how it would look and how it would connect to the head. I also included slitted eyes and other lizard traits, like far apart eyes, arched brow bones, a small nose, and wide lips.
With the scientific "on display" pose, I wanted the neck frill to be closed to show how that would look. I actually ended up redoing this pose at the end; the first rendition was too stiff and didn't incorporate as many lizard qualities as I wanted. I made the legs and arms longer than normal human limbs, included a tail, a very small torso and made the hands and feet very similar to lizard hands and feet. The large feet in particular help her run extremely fast.
Unlike the other characters, since Renati is neutral, she is not often seen in defensive or offensive positions. So I decided to show her doing what lizards often do; crawling up vertical surfaces and sunbathing.
Finally, I wanted to show one of the other lizard abilities that I found interesting; how fast they can run, and how some even run on two feet. This position also shows her exaggerated arms and legs.
RENATI: This creature contains human and lizard DNA. She lives in the warm and tropical climate of Australia and enjoys regulating her body temperature on large boulders. She is a fairly neutral creature, who will not attack unless provoked, but still has many defensive and offensive abilities. She can regenerate her limbs, is nocturnal, can use her tail as a whip, and can run up to 60mph. She is a mostly peaceful creature, but should not be provoked; it may be the last thing you ever do.
I enjoyed this character study very much. I particularly enjoyed the brainstorming part of each character; doing research on the animals and figuring out how to incorporate the various traits into a human body.
