Creature design WIP could use some direction...

[Virtuoso Neophyte]

Ello all

Working on an illustrated short novel and trying to get one of the creatures pegged down. Having some issues since I don't do a lot of creature design concepts.

This is a slave race that communicates through glyphs and comes from swamplands. Initially I was thinking very reptilian, but I want it to be unique looking and the more I try to make it reptilian or fishy it looks a bit more comical than what I am going for.

The world the creature is based in is low tech sci-fi involving a story revolving around a circus.

Here are a few drawings of what I have so far.

ANY and all help or criticism is much appreciated.

[Velocity Kendall]

maybe try thinking about how the creature's life might influence its body.

its a slave; maybe it needs big muscles to pull a load, or big strong arms and hands to lift and carry things. or maybe it is very thin from starvation.

maybe it has been beaten and its back is bent low both from submissive body language and from overwork..

the environment is low-tech, but the cybernetic arm is a high tech thing, we cant make them anything like as sophisticated as that yet.

dont worry toomuch about putting the background in until youve got the design well explored. maybe try doing 15 small thumbnails on a single sheet exploring ideas and pick (or get a trusted design friend, or readers of this thread to pick) some of the best to work up to more detailed versions. that way you will be guaranteed a well fleshed out concept you can then do a glamour shot of in a cool background.

heres a quality-match example. small 2 colour sketches like this are a standard step in designing many concept art assets. note the orange dots showing designs chosen by the AD to move forward with.

[Virtuoso Neophyte]

First off thanks a bunch for the reply Velocity Kendall!

If there is one thing I still struggle with its working from the ground up to produce a great image. I like to just wing it and work towards a "finished" concept/sketch/whatever without ever going through the basic process. Part of the problem is my lack of doing anything in digital, but that is ultimately another excuse

The example you gave me is exactly what I need to do more, although the level of such simple thumbnails you posted is far from my abilities, it does give me direction, which is exactly what I wanted.

I tried to do what you suggested to the best of my abilities and would appreciate some further assistance.

Also the race is low-tech but certain organizations utilize the creatures abilities/powers and they actually get more advanced equipment and weapons. The initial race is a slave-race though so trying to work from that angle. Does that make sense? It's late so sense making is hard....

Thanks again!

[Velocity Kendall]

Dude GREAT job!
already this is a big move forward; your exploring different possibilities, covering different bases. You would show this to your art director and he would assess which is closest to his vision for the project nd then give you feedback and further instructions.

i personally like digital because you can reuse parts, stretch them, distort them, flip them to make new parts, and so on, so it canbe very fast and loose. although its hard to beat the control you get with a biro or fineliner.

Well done on the designs, i think they're look good. Id say there's at least two potential castes of slaves here; the skinny shamany type and the strong soldier ant type.
my advice would be keep working, keep posting, see what other people here say, but I think youre doing really well.

[Virtuoso Neophyte]

Thanks again for the reply Velocity! It is people like you that keep motivating me!

Here are a few more drawings. I took what you said to heart and really focused on thinking about the creatures anatomy, surroundings, etc.

This is pretty much my final design, but since I am not working on the final illustrations yet I will take more crits to mind before I finalize it completely.

Thanks to everyone for looking at this stuff!

Oh and the feet are a bit small on the one drawing. Didn't scan the one with the change