Character Design
For this task we were given the choice between four character archetypes, those being : The brains, The brawn, The leader, and The wildcard. We chose one of the tropes and decided as a group what our setting and theme would be, our group chose Sci fi [specifically retrofuturism/atompunk] and our setting would be in outer space. We decided our hero group would be a group of aliens from different places all coming together to work on a spaceship, similar to how star trek has a variety of aliens but all united in wearing the same uniform. For my character I chose the Brawn trope, and originally I wanted to go with a quite stocky and stereotypically strong looking creature. I also strayed from this a little and took on the meaning of brawn to be agile and fast but with intimidating looking weapons. The final design I went with was this sleek very angular looking alien with several blades at its disposal. In terms of shape language I tried to make this creature very sharp, quick and intimidating looking, what it lacks in physical strength it makes up for in armoured sections and plenty of options for self defense. It's head is conical and devoid of many facial features not only giving it a mysterious and clearly non human appearance but also gives an extra layer of protection to the alien's most vital areas. Both the chest and head are very protected from attacks but the rest of the body is somewhat exposed meaning that it will be able to manoeuvre around with relative ease. As the creature has no mouth it's method of communication is much different to how other creatures might communicate, using its ventilation slits and the hard chitinous material of its shell it can create a clicking type sound that can be heard from quite far distances. This is very helpful in communicating with others of it's kind but as far as the other members of the team, they have no real way of understanding what this creature is saying. To solve this issue i fitted the creature with a waist mounted translator, this will allow all members of the team to communicate and understand one another fully. Also clipped to this belt are a few extra energy cells that can be used either in the translator or the life support should the creature require them. The life support system is a piece of technology most likely created by the brains of the team that provides each alien with the vital elements they need. Much like a diving suit it provides air to the creature, however this breathing system is applied directly to the lungs through internally implanted tubes and wires making the life support vest a permanent fixture to their body. Batteries are placed into the system through the circular indent on the waist belt, and have a very long life span. When the alien is in the correct atmosphere to sustain it, life support is temporarily disabled and acts solely as a chest piece to protect their organs.
This drawing was initially a sketch done on paper, my tutor gave me some advice that because my line art was already quite neat i should be able to take it into my digital art program and just draw directly on top of it. I had never tried this before but I wanted to give it a go with just shading it in monotone colours first then going in on a colour blending layer to add in my colours[ i also adjusted some of my hues using a light blue on a soft light layer to add vibrancy to my highlights and I also used a gradient map to add in some slightly different colours within the shadows to give a bit more depth and interest to the piece]. I am very glad I tried out this technique and I'm also very happy with the outcome of it, this will definitely be something that I try again in the future.
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