Our Mother - Our Matriarch (WIP)

[Divine Oblivion]

Alright, first time poster, and a not so long-time lurker. Been hanging about such sites as Fur Affinity (I'm not a furry, I swearz! (Do Xenomorphs count as scalies..?)), Deviant Art, Sheezy Art, and to be quite honest - I'm sick of the asspats. Yeah, sure, they help with my motivation and will to strive and do better, but you could say it's all in a dead-end cycle.

Even though the only place I actually post my work is Fur Affinity.. But, in any case, this shouldn't have much relevance. I have a serious interest in wanting a career as a professional artist, mostly within the graphic design and/or monster/creature design for the movie/videogame realm.

My friends say I have limitless potential what with being 14 going on 15, but I'm not so sure. I want different opinions outside my meager 'fan base' and circle of friends.

Anywho, enough with my drabble, onto the sketch!



About two hours worth of work, mostly just finding a position I found suitable, and just letting it 'come alive', so to speak. Been drawing since I could hold a pencil, 'bout eleven to twelve years, started at about three and a half...

Overall, I enjoy artwork, and the freedom it gives me, but lately I've been craving to expand my horizons. Asspats and the like are all fine and dandy, but I want critique! This may not be the proper place for critique, but I felt it the most appropriate place to post this particular piece up.

G'head. Rip it apart, tear me and my artwork to pieces - I assure you I'll be loving every damned minute of it!

(Please excuse the scan quality; I don't like ripping out un-inked or otherwise messy sketches from my sketchbook to scan.)

[Nezumi Works]

You know what might make this piece have a lot of impact, is if you moved the queen up, mostly out of the shot, so she's coming downwards from out of frame, leaving a fair amount of space between her and the eggs, but in turn making the field of eggs immense. Lay in some heavy blacks and highlights to boost the look of dramatic threats and pay attention to your atmosphere, and you're practically home.

One of the things that made the original Alien so effective was that you never really got a good look at it through most of the movie, so the effect was more subtle. Seeing the creature all at once just makes it a beastie. To paraphrase Vincent Price, once you've seen the monster, it's not scary any more.

[Divine Oblivion]

Indeed, what I wanted to do to make more of an impact, as you've said, was to just do the Queen mostly enveloped in heavy shadows, with only little pin pricks of highlights as though it were twilight to show SOME of her; but you can't see all of her.

I'm rather reluctant to do anything with the queen in the sketch/inking phase, because she's already placed there, and moving her up and semi out-of the shot would mean sacrificing everything else around her. (The scan may not say much, but, there is a massive maze of resin and her large and bulbous egg sac sort of making me hesitate.)

But then again I could just purposefully cut off some of her while scanning her. The egg field is something I'm willing to distance from her, so it could work. But then, it sort of semi-destroys my original concept.

A mother-like figure, that is both loving, and caring, yet a threatening and hostile monster when she has to be. That's why you could say the egg proximity is close. "You come near 'em and I splatter your brain all over the ground!" Your comments are very much appreciated, and I will try to incorporate some of what you have suggested into it. :3

[Divine Oblivion]

Took the advice of Nezumi; got rid of the original egg field and tried to make her have a more 'massive' presence. Made the sea of eggs beneath her look immense. (Or, tried, anyway...) Just a quick re-do to the sketch, had to cut off some of her in the scan.

The scanner still refuses to show some of the finer and more lightly sketched strands. Which bugs me, but, none the less - find errors, and tear into them if you feel so inclined!