Ultraviolet Sealife

http://news.uk.msn.com/stunning-ultraviolet-underwater-life#image=2

http://io9.com/5864791/the-blanket-octopus-one-of-the-most-alien-animals-to-swim-the-earth/gallery/4

Seals

Zbrush Media Tests

More Animal Drawings

I visited the McManus galleries at the weekend and again this morning to do some more drawing. Doing these sketches is helping give me a much better idea of animal forms which I can apply to my concept drawings and digital sculpting.

Inbetween 20 and 40 minutes was spent on each of these drawings. It is my aim to be able to increase the speed and accuracy with which I can capture the form of animals so as to aid in my creation of creatures, so I'll be going to the McManus as much as I can.

Satyr WIP

Satyr Concept

Some quick concept drawings for my satyr's head. I used a bunch of pictures of goats for reference and tried to make them look mean. The next stage is to start modelling it in ZBrush.

Animal Drawing

Some sketches I made of the animals at the McManus galleries. I think that doing these sketches is important for getting an idea of existing form in animals which will aid my creation of 3D sculptures.

Zbrush Mock-ups

I'v been working on very quick ZBrush model mockups to get an idea of modelling form quickly as a method for creating quick character concepts using Dynamesh.

Tracker

Tracker concept drawings by Terryl Whitlatch

Form and Function: What looks good, and what actually works

 These images from Creative Character Design by Bryan Tillman show how precarious the balance between form and function is. On first glance, the first image looks pretty cool. But upon closer inspection, we realise that the bottom set of arms can't possibly function as they are, as they lack the muscular and skeletal structures to support and move them.

 However, when we add the appropriate muscles, the design starts to look pretty weird:

Where does the balance lie between creating something that is interesting visually but also looks like it works well enough that the audience doesn't question it? It is a subjective question and the answer varies dependant on the audience and the type of media the character is being portrayed through. People may be more willing to accept unfunctional anatomy in computer games for example, as that is the expectation: computer games are fun. However, in a realistic feature film they would expect to see character design that looks like it would actually work.

Interview with Terryl Whitlatch

 A wonderful interview with my new favorite creature designer, Terryl Whitlatch. Her mastery of animal anatomy and her amazingly creative and original creature designs blow my mind!

http://www.cgchannel.com/2010/01/interview-with-terryl-whitlatch/

Project Plan