Dahami's Reptoids and Aliens

[skishyish]

Oh I haven't seen this latest post. Yes that's also a great choice for continuation. Number 2 was my second choice.

[skishyish]

P.S. What do you think of making the mouth line a little longer (in an alternative version of the image perhaps)? It seems somehow logical that such a long jaw would be able to open up more, especially in reptiles, but then again a horse has a long jaw and a small opening on the end so I don't know....

[Dahami]

Well skishyish, I started with #2, but added some of the color from #1, so it's kind of a blend. So far I've mostly just cleaned up the stray pencil marks, a time consuming process. I also darkened the background, and the eyes, because I find that if the irises are too bright for the painting, then they look like they're glowing, which is not my intent. I agree that it would look more "reptilian" if the mouth was longer. The proportions are based closely on Kesara's version of the Chukara, in which the mouth wasn't very noticeable. Perhaps in the future I will explore more variations.

[wannabeanimator]

I like your focus and the work you have displayed so far, but I've always wondered every time
I see alien type movies is...why do they have to be of humanoids?

[xenoart5]

I believe it's because humanoids are what most often encountered by abductees and contactees. There are some case of non-humanoid aliens being encounter but they are very rare which makes their existence questionable. From a scientific perspective, aliens shouldn't be so humanoid. The best answer I can give is convergent evolution, life developing around the sun's twin (having the same compositions), and maybe panspermia (same or similar organics seeding different planets).

[Dahami]

The preponderance of humanoid aliens in movies is because the audience needs to be able to relate to them as characters. It is also due to limited effects budgets (or has been in the past). That's my best guess, anyway. The preponderance of humanoids in eyewitness reports of aliens is probably due to some combination of evolutionary convergence and past transgenic experimentation (I don't think the Earth has been as genetically isolated as mainstream astrobiology assumes), perhaps with a dash of Rupert Sheldrake's "morphic resonance" or other exotic concept thrown in.

My latest update on the Chukara reptilian. I've given the picture a darker background, and used the Burn Tool to add some shading. How would you like one of these showing up in your bedroom in the middle of the night? Even scarier if they hauled you off to some spaceship or underground base for who knows what.

[xenoart5]

Did you say that the chukara reptilians were aggressive? Also, were there any greys that were described as having names or are they just like the nordics in that they recognize individuals through their auroras or something like that?

[x145b]

chukara reptilians looks kind of sexy

[Dahami]

xenoart5, I believe the Chukara reptilians can be aggressive. Certainly they can be threatening. Grays do not need names, but sometimes seem to have them. A friend of mine used to be visited by a Gray, and I believe he chose a name for himself, Oshan, which relates to Osho.

x145b, You are not the first person to say that about the Chukara.

Revisiting the Velociraptor-like reptilian from page 16. The one who morphed or shifted, so that its arms seemed to melt into its torso. After looking at the picture I did of Chukara, my friend realized that if its snout was a little longer it would look like this being who seemed to be something like a scout or messenger. Its appearance was a precursor to an encounter with a friendly reptilian, but we're not sure who sent this one. It's possible that the friendly reptilian effectively "rescued" her from this Velociraptor-looking character. She did not get a clear look at its head in profile, so the side view has to be regarded as approximate.

[Dahami]

skishyish, You were correct about making the mouth line longer. This is the latest version of the Chukara reptilian. It is also a darker shade of green than it was previously. It can appear brownish green in a dark room, or hunter green with a dash of yellow in a lighter environment. The scales are fairly prominent. Chukara is all reptile.

[skishyish]

Looks great, more lizard like. As this reptoid gentleman is starting to take shape, those scales with lines visible are starting to look a little bit out of place, sort of like a tattoo. This guy would benefit much from "3d scales", like you did with Captain. The same problem is with that latest image of Ruby. But I know that it's a painstaking work to do that; you'd get caught up in one image for a long time. It's already eye-candy as it is now.

Oh and did you think about adding (not just in this one but in general) more texture to the eye? It's unusual to find a living creature with homogenous clear eye like that. It would also help the usual "glowing eye" problem that you encounter with these illustrations. Kesara's famous Stonebrook reptoid image has such eyes, and this is really what makes that painting great in my opinion (even though It doesn't aim at realism as much as your work does).

http://www.writerscafe.org/uploads/s...406bd9cdc1.jpg

http://beforeitsgone.com.au/wp-conte...2/croc_eye.jpg

[Velocity Kendall]

one quick way to make things 3d, thats a bit rough and ready, but fast, is use layer blending options bevel emboss..

selected all the greed scales (ie select the black areas with the magic wand, invert the selection,) copy and paste the scales onto a new layer, double click the layer in the layers menu, click bevel emboss. you can tweak the settings in the roll out,.

total time, 5mins

[skishyish]

Interesting...but this affects the entire image including the edges of the reptoid, the area beneath the chin etc. it seems to require a lot of fixing afterwards. But it looks great if you look at the individual scales and ignore the entire image.

[skishyish]

Oh, I see now that this was only a rough demonstration of the technique. I guess if you were to have a go at it for real, you'd isolate the areas more cleanly

[Velocity Kendall]

yes exactly, i literally grabbed the black, inverted the selection ie slecting all nonblack, added the back ground and put what was left on a new layer.
you can refine the selection either by using the wand and lassoo more carefully, or by just erasing the beveled layer using the eraser. or using quick mask.
that would add 10 minns to the process max.
you can taylor the area you want to bevel, and change the side, radius hardness of the simulated bevel, and colour of the highlights and shadows, etc.

search any of these terms and youtube for videos on how to use the tools, most are 5mins of which 4 is chatting.

once youve done the lions share in this automatic way, you can go in and paint over each one if you like, but this means the hard boring bit is done for you and you just have to tune it.

[x145b]

What about this?



This is Stronger version...



what kind of eyes they have? emissive (glow) or specuar?
Softer or sharper edge of scales?

[Karpav0li]

Wow, I must say that I really like your last one, especially the eyes and the scurfs.

[skishyish]

Yes, that last version looks a lot cleaner. But still, this technique is no substitude for what Dahami does manually. While it does give a 3d appearance to the scales and lines, it also makes the image look like a relief, rather than a 3d object. It would require additional manual shading (to the entire image not the scales) to fix that. But still, I prefer what he did with Vectra and Captain.

[x145b]

my version can do that shading (its not emboss but NORMAL, Displacement and Specular) just need add directional light source, remove background to separate layer and make it more 2.5D but of course its not drawing anymore, but compute magic with more sophisticated software solutions

In the end its depend what style you want, this was just demonstration that its possible to cheat (speed up) but you will lose that draw/paint look and must be careful to not overdone this.

If he own Wacom he can experimenting and play with it all eternity it will look better than with PS filters or some fakery. Question is if he wanted this.. because i like that clean style with strong lines.

[Velocity Kendall]

Skyshyish you only comment in this thread, why have you no sketchbook?

[skishyish]

I'm not an illustrator, I'm just a fan of Dahami's work, and my interest is perhaps more in his subjects than in art itself. I do work with graphics myself; 3d modeling, vector, photoshop etc., but I have not considered posting anything around here.

[Dahami]

Velocity Kendall, useful tips. Thank you. x145b, I like your version too. skishyish, It's good to have a fan. If you decide to start a sketchbook, I think it would be great, and you can learn a lot here. Karpav0li, thank you. Myself, I wouldn't use the term "scurfs" for reptile scales.

Revisiting the reptilian nicknamed Captain. Only minor touch ups around the eyes in the portrait, and attempted to correct the curve of the mouth to make it more 3D. The witness is satisfied with it. This is the most accurate version to date. I'm sure that I could take it further, however. Or perhaps do a new version of him, or study of his hands and feet. Highly trained, 8 ft. tall warrior/scientist coming at you. He's a good guy, but you should show him some respect.

[skishyish]

Edit: oh I misread something so I erased this line

The Captain looks great. I like what you did with the eyes, this is was I was talking about before.

[Dahami]

Lately she's just been calling him Captain, but "the Captain" works too. It makes him sound even more important.

The White King. The eyes are very large, as shown.

[xenoart5]

Is this "white king" based off a real encounter? If so can you describe him more? He looks really interesting.

[xenoart5]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone !

[Dahami]

xenoart5, Yes, and I expect more information will be forthcoming. I learned that I had the wrong iris color. He has light pink irises and fire red pupils. It may still be off. Of course, the face is covered with scales, but I haven't bothered to render them. There is a V-shaped ridge or pair of ridges on the head, with a set of small bumps on top of the head. They may be too pronounced as shown.

And Happy Thanksgiving!

[Dahami]

Another revision of the White King. The bumps on his head are slightly fewer and smaller than in my last revision, and the lower part of his face is slightly wider.

[xenoart5]

Is White King a name you gave him or is it what the person who encountered him refer him as? Given the name and what I've previously heard about white reptilians, this guy might be a leader of some sort. Still you like to hear more about him, size, behavior, etc.

[skishyish]

I kind of liked the smaller jaw more. Is this correction based on new input from the witness? Of course, accuracy is more important than aesthetics in this kind of work.