Monster Workshop - full sketch due tonight (Monday)!

[Andail]

Update May 13th
In order to stay in the workshop, you have to have at least a sketch ready before midnight. This sketch is the one that your finished piece will be based on, and the one you'll received feedback on.

Tomorrow we'll put away our own creations for a while and spend a day or two to discuss our members' pieces and suggest improvements.
Over and out!

Monster

This workshop isn't exactly game-oriented, since I'm asking you to make a full-sized, hi-res illustration. This time your artwork should feature any kind of monster of your own design. It can be a portrait, or a whole scene. It can be cartoony or horrifically realistic, any genre, style or execution.

Monsters like these.

Week one
We present our ideas. We show references and/or describe the scene in words. After the first week, we should have some kind of concept sketch ready.

Week Two
During the next week, we exchange feedback and start fleshing out our illustrations; we set up the lighting and start colouring.

Week Three
After the second week, we give each other a final round of C&C and start refining our pieces, adding details, textures and highlights where needed.

Vote
After three weeks, we present our final versions, and vote for a winner. Only participants who've been active during the entire activity are eligible for the final vote, although people may enter the activity at any point. We give votes for
* Best development - Vote for the one who's been the most active from the get-go, posting updates and explaining methods, laying out plans and elaborating thoughts.
* Most helpful - Vote for the one who's given the best feedback to other participants.
* Best finished version - Vote for the best illustration.

Rules
* The theme is "monster", and people should be able to look at your piece and think "yeah, monster, I get it", so don't interpret it too loosely or symbolically just to be special...
* We're talking illustration here, so it's not a sprite, and it's not a background. While it may be a portrait, it's a portrait with some sort of backdrop (not just a floating face). Preferably, there's something going on, or at least something being expressed.
* The finished piece should be at least 600x600 pixels. You may present sketches and concepts at any size, but do use thumbnails if your pictures are more than 1000 pixels, so we don't have to scroll the board sideways.
* Let's do this 2D. While 3D may be used for the initial mock-up, we'll use 2D software for most of the production. The reason for this is that 3D modelling is so fundamentally different, and your process won't be very helpful or inspirational to other participants.
* We give plenty of feedback, but we don't provide paint-overs. This is after all an individual challenge, and furthermore posting various versions of others' works will probably make the thread confusing.

If you want to participate but have no material or even plans yet, just claim a spot by posting here and you can add stuff later. If you haven't joined the activity within the first week, you may participate outside of the competition.

Posting
We can distinguish between WiP posts and other chatting by adding a title to the WiP posts. Like, everytime I publish updates to my own picture, I write something like
"Balrog, WiP, step 5" in bold at the top. That will make it easier to keep track of someone's progress, in the midst of chit-chat and c&c. Preferably you link back to the previous step, if you want to be super-helpful to your audience.

While cheering and commenting is free for anyone, don't spam the thread with one-liners or just unnecessary blathering, since the thread risks becoming rather unwieldy anyway.

Go!
Alright, so let's sign up and start planning/sketching!

Here's a nice inspirational video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBsLCPYGmUQ

Another AGS workshop:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=34542.0

[Cerno]

I'd like to take part if that is allowed. As I mentioned in the seed thread over in the C&C forum, I have little to none experience and would like to use this workshop as a good opportunity to learn. I'll try and research some tutorials before starting so I will have at least some theoretical knowledge.

So, yeah, I'm in if that's okay with you, although I completely understand if not.
Also if spots are limited (due to all the confusion that will ensue), I'll gladly take a back seat to the better artists around here.

Enough with this insecurity crap, let's do this!

[ThreeOhFour]

Marking my place in the thread. Hello! This is my post now.

Week 1, step 1, what do I wanna dooo?


Week 1, step 2, let's look at spines then!


Week 1, step 3, with a design in mind, I try an initial concept sketch.


Week1, step 4, trying the same design from a different angle (with slight tweaks).


Week1, step 5, moving on to the entire body this time.


Week1, step 6, I take my established body design and experiment with different configurations of spines.

[cat]

Water dragon, week 1, step 1
I blatantly stole Ben's layout:


Water dragon, week 1, step 2 - Environment
Let's take a look at the environment:


Water dragon, week 1, step 3 - First sketches (10.5.2013)
 

Water dragon, week 1, step 4 - Thinking about composition (11.5.2013)
I want a setting where the dragon is in its territory and the viewer is an intruder. I tried several poses, not sure yet which one I'm going to use.


Water dragon, week 1, step 5 - Basic sketch
I decided to do a combination of sketch 1 and 3: the monster attacking through kelp, but with a slightly lowered viewpoint.


Click here to continue

[selmiak]

Step 1:
sketch and some references

Spoiler

rough Sketch:
[imgzoom]http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/sketch.jpg[/imgzoom]
so I want to draw ... a mutated muscle frog... thingy?

rough references:


surroundings references:

probably something like this, gotta screencap this from my DVD for better quality than the random image found on the net

[close]

first sketch from paper to the computer

Spoiler

seems a bit undynamic but also somehow fitting for this surprised looking blob...

[close]

week 2 continues here

[waheela]

This sounds fun. I'm in.

-----

Ok, so my monster pic is based off a story I heard on The Drabblecast a couple years ago that really stuck with me. It's called "The Second Conquest of Earth" by L.J. Daly.
Excerpt:

    He sits across from me, a stone slab between us like a tabletop, in what used to be a mausoleum before thieves, human or Kus, shattered the crypts. The Kus's crocodile teeth are bloodied, flecked with gobbets of
    white and gray. The smell of his fresh meal ferments in the summer heat. That blood, that gristle were someone's child. The Kus eat their meat live. Before the image can ignite memory or panic, I force myself to
    examine the details of him. 'Observe, Kasandra.' The old picnic bench creaks under his weight. Even for a Kus, he is huge. The bumpy, loose skin at his throat is the pale green of spring leaves. It hasn't yet darkened
    to full green-brown or begun to swell and dangle, so he is younger than the bulls who rule hereâ€"but old enough to wear the purple chest blazon and whip of a drover. Brawn, not brains. A young tough. He's traveled
    far from the nest. Why? To visit me, of courseâ€"the only attraction in this human cemetery. A sham fortune-teller.

If you're interested in listening to it too, you can...
LISTEN TO THE AWESOME STORY HERE.
Skip to the 1/5 mark, that's where the story begins. It's really well done, you won't regret it.

------

Notes I took from the story for my pic:

Setting
-Story takes place in cemetery
-Cards placed on stone slab (tabletop) that used to be a mausoleum.
-Fortune teller

Lord Jagged (Kus)
-blood on teeth flecked with gobbets of white and grey
-pale green gullet, loose skin.
-young
-purple chest blazon and whip


Week 1, Step 1: References/Inspiration (May 7, 2013)










Week 1, Step 2: Thumbnails (May 9, 2013)
After looking through a bunch of reference images, I made 5 thumbnails in order to explore
the composition of my piece. I always force myself to do 3-5 thumbnails before starting a pic,
even if I already have a strong idea on what I'm going to do. It's a challenge to go against my
preconceived notions for a piece, but sometimes, I'm able to come up with a more dynamic composition.



My first idea for the piece was the bottom, left image, but I ended up going with the top, right image instead.




Week 1, Step 3: Rough Sketch (May 9, 2013)
Here's the beginnings of a rough sketch. During the sketching, I often flip the canvas horizontally or
vertically. Your eyes get used to seeing the image in its regular form, so rotating or flipping it allows
your eyes to better spot glaring errors with the piece.

         




Here's the end result. I think this will be enough to build on, but I may revise it in the coming days.

I often have trouble with perspective, so I suspect I will have problems making the cards/table/hands look right. If anyone has any pointers, I'd be much obliged.

[Stupot]

Spoiler

I'll join in.  It would be a nice way to learn from others who can actually draw.  Unfortunately I doubt I'll have anything constructive to add, so I'll probably be more of a ghostly background participant, copying everyone else's techniques

I'm going to take my inspiration from Japanese monster movies such as Godzilla (of Stu's avatar fame) and the Cloverfield monster (which was itself inspired by her Japanese counterparts).  Expect some kind of giant abonination trampling over the cityscape.

[close]

I'm out.  You guys are too good.  I'll study this thread, but I can't add to it.

[miguel]

Participants get food, right?

I'm in.

**********************************************************************************************************
Okay, some references here:


No, there will be no human-reptile making out! The picture was just too good not to show.

I will be creating a reptile monster, something scaly and wet.
My background, at least for now, is a dungeon where this reptile is chained.

***********************************************************************************************************
1st sketch - basic shape


Here I defined the basic shape for my beautiful monster. Next, I'll correct posture, symmetry and limb sizes.
And yes, all genitals will be covered by fur.

2nd sketch - jumping straight into the action


Low quality scan here, didn't want to wait.
Instead of doing what I said, I jumped into defining some important things first. How the body would be covered with both scales and bone was a big issue to me. I want to make it that some parts are like hardened scales/near bone.
Somehow a hole in the skull looked interesting to me.
I also started defining the right arm better.

3rd sketch - legs makeover


I wasn't happy with the position the monster was crouching and changed it. Still not completely sure.
I'm focusing again on limb sizes.

4th sketch - defining random stuff


Again, I didn't do any of I said I would.
I worked a bit on the right knee, legs and feet. Added fur.
Going to get some final lines straight. Just a few.
***************************************************************************************************************
drawing part 5 - When Harry Eats Sally


This is just a quick update, made him slimmer, added scales and defined some final lines.
Again, against all proper rules of drawing, I went on to add detail although some parts aren't really ready.
I also decided on a name for this guy: Nitro.

******************************************************************************************************************
drawing part 6 - The Largo Embargo


Just kept drawing scales on Nitro. Made some small adjustments on some other parts as well.
I will now leave you with the word: Barabarossa

******************************************************************************************************************
drawing 7 - Vicar in a Tutu


Okay, Nitro is looking more and more defined into his final state of ugliness.
Next I'll sharpen my pencil and do stuff on Nitro.
Word of the Day: Testicle

********************************************************************************************************************
10th May 2013
step 8 - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others


Right, Nitro got some colours thrown at him. Basic tones assigned and light source as well.
The real work starts now as I want him to be wet and glossy without using any PS effects.
Tail changed position as suggested by the incredible Misj'.
Stay tuned for more on 'How Not To Draw Your Lizard'
Word of the Day: Bananarama

*****************************************************************************************************
14May 2013

Last update for week 1. I hope I'm not kicked out of this because I failed to deliver a background in time.
This is just a crappy background that goes to show that Nitro will be in a dungeon.

[Misj']

I can work with this. I've been a bit too busy to do some actual drawing lately. But I'll try to make some contributions.

But let me get this straight: any kind of monster - from mam shaped to Nessy - is allowed right?

EDIT:

No idea yet where I'll be going with this. But I started by searching the internet for things I had to think about for this subject. My final references will be more and more diverse. And yes, these are just inspirational (style, atmosphere, looks). They can be as useful (or useless) to me as to anyone else.



EDIT:
Some references for clothing and colours taken from random places on the internet.

[Ghost]

This is me marking my spot!

Count me in. I just re-watched The Fly and think it's a really, really iconic and visually interesting creature. I'd like to put it into a full-fledged "action shot"; I am not really good at composing and drawing scenery and this may be the place to learn some more!

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/6UDpt7v.jpg[/imgzoom]
Yeah. Classic!

[Mordalles]

also marking my spot, hoping to take part, since last time I remember not being able to finish!

Week 1 Step 1 (10/05/2013): I just want to do something easy as i've never really drawn a monster before. i wanted to monsterise a bunny but decided just to monsterise a turtle. he will drag something. (disclaimer, that bunny is just a quick sketch of a google photo. )
I'll just leave it in a relatively basic pose, as I don't want to jump in over my head.



now, the idea is to really monster up these basic shapes in the weeks to come.

Week 1 Step 2: (11/05/2013) continuing playing around with monster details and thinking about surroundings....


Week 1 Step 3: (12/05/2013) further detailing and playing around with background...

[SookieSock]

I'm in
Updated
Week 1

[Kasander]

A good occasion to shake off the cobwebs from my fingers...and from inside my mind, too Count me in.

----------------------------------------UPDATE---------------------------------------------

Monster workshop, week 1, step 1. Brainstorming.

This tutorial thread seems to be good occasion to give something to AGS community for all the help and kindness I've received in the past.

Obviously, the process of creation starts in the head... so, for whoever is interested, here's my thought process.

My main goal: to paint a monster that I could put in my concept art/illustration portfolio.
It has to be a monster that could be used in a video game. I'm thinking about a big, high-leveled, 'boss' type creature that player's character could encounter at the end of some maze, at the bottom of the cave or...well, at the end of the level

I decided to start from rough pencil sketch on paper instead of searching for references. This is probably because I had been covered in gigabytes of reference material until recently with another project and I want to see if my brain is still able to function on its own. I'll use references later, when I need them. They will most likely be some pics of nature, like in Cat's or Threeohfour's posts. If anybody's wondering why - that's because basing the creation on something real will make it appear more real. So realism and credibility are some of the traits I'm looking for when designing this monster.

My painting has to have a commercial appeal. I've decided to associate some key words with my project, so if I'll get lost, looking at them should put me back on the right track. 

Key words: majestic/towering/powerful presence, armed & dangerous, scary but - if possible - with a hint of lost (or forgotten) 'human factor'. And let's not forget about the 'wow factor' which seems to be a favourite term of some software developers!

----------------------------------------UPDATE---------------------------------------------

Monster workshop, week 1, step 2. Sketching the monster.

I started with sketching monster heads (numbers 1, 2, 3).



Initially an the idea of  no.2 appealed to me - with its irregular skull, blank eyes at each side of it and many long, thin tentacles or tongues hanging from its mouth. In number 3 I've tried to go further with this idea, attaching the worm-like corpse to the head, but it didn't fit. Instead of searching further this way

I drew another monster, a humanoid creature (number 4). When I did the first sketch the thing that I liked in an instant was its expression. It looked a little bit like an enraged child... besides the obvious fact that it was mutated and seriously overgrown.

I wanted to make the monster look more aggressive and dangerous, so I drew the tentacles that spring from its arms. During the drawing I had this idea of a parasitic-carnivorous plant that roots itself into the body of its victim. Coincidentally, this idea reminds me of something...

----------------------  A SHORT AD BREAK-------------------------

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Participate in Color Ball! The current theme is COEXISTENCE. Win sun and moon as a prize!

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I started to imagine the plant as a parasite/carnivore that blends with the other samples of flora in some dark place which is rather hard to get to. A place like some corner of jungle, cavern or some distant hill. Now, I think, is the time I could use some reference. I visited the wonderful botanical garden in WrocŠ‚aw (Poland) lately but unfortunately it was too early to see any carnivores (they plant them late in May there). So google will have to do.



Reading about some of the specimens above, I've come up with an idea for my carnivorous & parasitic plant (let's call him 'carniparas kasandris', whatever).
It coud exist in two cycles - first, when it's attached to its floral host for a time and grows big, then a second, carnivorous cycle, when the humanoid or some other animal is nearby, the plant strikes the victim with its tentacles, paralyzing it for a while, then grabs onto it and roots into it. In the course of time (days or weeks), it slows down its host's vital energy and grows even more, turning itself (and its host!) into carnivore.
     
From then on it was relatively easy to come up with the idea of host. A humanoid species, that lives on hills and the rock plateaus near/in the jungle, eating roots, shrooms and other plants. They are quite intelligent, able to use some crude tools, and spend their days in the shade of their primitive stone and mud huts or bathing in the pools of mud/water... In general, they are friendly to other humanoids and can even exchange some carved rocks or mushroom stew with player...

Yeah, they're peaceful vegetarians, until they meet the 'carniparas'.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/bRKTPY7.jpg[/imgzoom]

----------------------------------------------------------------------


I had some computer related problems lately, so I wasn't particularly regular. All right, let's hope this time BSOD will wait until I finish writing this... (BTW, if anyone has a good advice on how to diagnose and get rid of BSOD, please PM me! )
---------------
Week 1, Step 3. Thumbnail sketches. Picking the right pose.

With the key words in mind, I did few thumbnail sketches of the monster.

I was trying to envision his towering presence. I've added a silhouette of human to make monster look bigger. Still everything was open at the thumbnail stage, so I could experiment with few poses, searching for the most dynamic one. I've also experimented with what was to become the most tricky and difficult thing to draw: THAT DAMN CARNIPARASES... Which are, as you may (or may not) know , the parasitic and carnivorous plants that my monster has on its arms. The flexible nature of carniparas has caused me some composition problems.

Let's have a look at these thumbnails.



Number 1.
The biggest problem with this composition is the attacking carniparas. Its part on the left takes too much space in comparison with the lower right part of the picture. This, along with the very static pose of the monster, makes it my least favourite of the four. I've painted it over to give it more expression - back-lighting the monster and trying to experiment a little with the environment. The monster's shadow could be helpful later in determining the atmosphere. The towering monster CASTING EVEN MORE TOWERING SHADOW... Sounds cool, eh? Well, it certainly sounds much better than it looks at this point

Number 2.
I've tried to capture the monster in three-quarter pose. It looks very static and not at all interested in killing the petty human. It doesn't even look towards the victim... It's like it was featuring in a 'spring fashion' catalogue, not in the monster workshop. It looks like a cowboy with his lasso overhead. The contrasting, defensive pose of human make it even less convincing.

Number 3.
Here, we're getting somewhere, at last. The carniparases seems to be more balanced. Also, both monster's and human's poses are dynamic. The attacking carniparas seems like its out of control - which is good.  This would make a decent illustration. A proper monster look, full of rage. Reminds me of my own feelings when I was having those BSODs lately.

No. 4.
I've tried to make it even more dynamic, so I made the monster run towards the human. Although I don't dig the twisted carniparas, and I'm still not sure whether the human should be on monster's right side or left, I like the pose. So let's build further on this one.

With and without opponent.





-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week 1, Step 4. The final sketch: value painting. Lighting & environment.

After deciding on monster's pose, I imagined it in a jungle or a cave... I started to paint jungle environment in the background, but the silhouette of a monster was appearing more and more diminished (and less and less towering). Seemingly the trees weren't his thing. Oh yeah, and I forgot to save it before experiencing BSOD... Anyway, after deciding to abandon the jungle, I went classical, easier route and painted my monster in the habitat of a cosy cavern. I've imagined it walking into his home in a cave... Then suddenly it sees a human, shrieks a surprised greeting and starts running. Shaking hands couldn't be more painful to this monster's guest

This time, my main focus was lighting and environment. At this stage I'm concentrated on setting the painting's atmosphere. The shadow is exaggerated to make monster look bigger (TOWERING!) and the painting more expressive. I've also tried to do the 'Frazetta triangle' thing, but it didn't work. Perhaps it was too late in the process. I should have thought about triangles, circles and frazettas earlier, when I was doing thumbnails :/ Maybe I'll try that Frazetta approach later if I have time (and courage).

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/DUkQiKv.jpg[/imgzoom]

>Hmm, I'm still wondering if these hands with flesh-eating carniparas aren't too long. The shorter hands weren't that expressive though.

>> The lighting seems wrong on the attacking carniparas part. There are some bright spots that should be darkened, that monster has just run into a dark cave after all. I'll fix that later, probably at the proper painting stage.

>>> In general, the hands should be upgraded and better looking.

>>>> Lot's of environment details should be added. I still don't know what kind of cave is it and how should it differ (IF it shoud) from any other random cave.  Maybe the carniparas plants in their vegetative phase should grow in there.

>>>>> The monster's opponent/victim. I'll have to decide if I want him in the painting... He (or she?) would surely be a good excuse for the monster's pose. Otherwise the creature would just run, well, *somewhere*... towards the viewer... or towards the edge of screen... like in a FPP game or like in Joe Dever's or Choose Your Own Adventure book.

Yeah... and that concludes Week 1 for me.

-----------------------------------------

Week 2, step 1, 'Better late than never' or 'Coloring the damn thing'  

I thought I'll be more active in this week but life got in the way  Only today I could find some more time to paint. I'll give you guys some feedback later

While painting, I've experimented with different color variants (using Color Balance in Photoshop), looking for the one I'd like most.



I wanted colors to be vibrant, but not too vibrant. Oversaturation, as seen on the middle thumbnail in the lower row, was out of question.

After few attempts, I've found the color palette I like. 



Here's the same picture, only with Curves adjusted in PS:



I'll probably do something in between.

I'm afraid I won't have time to experiment with changing the scenery or making the cave less generic, but it's not that important. Next, I'll work on details with small brush. There's also that monster's opponent to paint. I'll probably have to make canvas bigger to make room for the human. Still quite a lot to do with that painting.     

Feedback is most welcome

[EchosofNezhyt]

cool cool
I don't think I've ever organized a drawing before I did it... I a bit lost hmm I'll look around for something cool.

[Atelier]

Love it! (It's a yes for now)!

[Cuiki]

I'll probably regret it later, but... count me in for now!

--------------------------
Week 1, Step 1 - A few reference pics and a lot of rambling (7 May)



Week 1, Step 2 - First sketch (9 May)

[imgzoom]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/missy_L/sketch-1.png[/imgzoom]

Not particularly happy with the way he turned out. I wanted to make him look like he's in great pain (that thing in his hand is supposed to be his own chopped-off arm), whereas now he just looks like he's doing some sort of a gay dance move. Any suggestions appreciated of course, though I hope the whole thing would look at least a bit better once I add colours and textures.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Oh no, not another plan!

[imgzoom]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/plan_zps4e52a709.png[/imgzoom]


Alright, I had some time to sit down and condense my ideas into a semi-coherent 'thumbnail' sketch that I am going to use as a reference for the final:

[imgzoom]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/planref_zps19e63570.png[/imgzoom]


Basically, the things I wanted to show were:

1.  The Elder God (obviously).  He takes center stage in the piece.
2.  The cult summoning him back from the depths using the Necronomicon (and a sacrifice, of course).  I place them in the background on the left.
3.  The hero making one last desperate try to shoot the cult leader before the ritual is complete and the Elder God consumes the Necronomicon (and the world!).

So what I want to portray here is a very dreary setting.  I'm hoping the final will have lots of blues, blue-grays and red-grays.  The ritual being conducted is sending a dark whirlwind from the Necronomicon into the sky, choking out the sunlight so it will need to look very dark and stormy.  The Elder God I'm presenting here is going to look like he's been underwater for quite some time, with a slimy, barnacle-covered appearance as he looms out of the water grasping for the book.
The hero will be in a rather shabby suit with a 1920's-1940's period sniper rifle in his hand, staring down the sights at the head of the cult leader who is wearing long robes that are blowing in the wind.  The cultists are bowed down in front of a pyre which will be the brightest light source in the piece and will be illuminating most of the cliff as well as add some interesting reddish highlights to the otherwise putrid blue-green-gray Elder God.  Behind the cultists will be what looks like the remnants of a greek/atlantean type structure with a sacrificial altar upon which a dead woman will be laying (presumably the romantic interest for the hero).

Hopefully I can take the final image in the direction I want it to go, but I think the plan is a good one visually and provides some good balancing items for the viewer to examine.  I might add something more to the right side but I kind of like the effect of the hero by himself on a neighboring cliff vs. the evil.  It should evoke the same kind of helplessness most Lovecraftian tales illustrate.


Now that I have a plan, I've gone back and made a larger sketch of the Elder God, refining the initial design and bringing it closer to how I want it to look.

[imgzoom]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/godsandmen_zpsa1af735e.png[/imgzoom]

Some things I've changed:

1.  Gave it a more defined (less bulky) body.
2.  Reworked the mouth, adding a beak (which I think looks pretty cool).
3.  Made the wings a bit larger, probably will need to make them a bit wider as well.
4.  Adjusted pose to make it look more like it was moving forward and also reaching DOWN.  In the original sketch I have the God reaching up towards the Necronomicon but what I really want is to show his size so in the final version the cliff will be lower and he will be reaching down for the book.

Now that I'm relatively happy with the basic design for my monster I can start on the actual final piece which will include the changes I've made here as well as some more as I improve his anatomy and musculature for the final sketch.


Okay, so I had some time on Sunday (5/13) and the ear of a certain Ben so I hammered out my final sketch with most of the guidelines and such still included.  Next I'll do a light/dark value paint to start some color rolling.



You can see the full sized version here :
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/deadlydepthsdone_zps4f9c3ae3.png~original

[Mati256]

ProgZmax, I love everything about your idea! 

[Baron]

I'm going to be honest about the fact that I've already taken many stabs at this in an abandoned suspended project of mine:


I'll be starting from scratch for this workshop of course, but I'm still angling towards creating something that might work here.  I need a dragon with a broken claw and wings, and otherwise just an immensely fearsome and impressive beast.  What I found didn't work last time around: my figure looks flat, anatomically unrealistic, stiffly posed and disjointed.  This time I'm going to attempt an anatomical study of related beasts (dinosaurs, lizards, birds...) and a real-life model (my imperiously lazy cat) to see if I can create something more "natural" looking.

[Misj']

By the way...I'm thinking about creating two outputs. The first is as described in the original post, the second is a re-interpretation of the SAME monster (so using exactly the same character-designs) but that could be used in-game. So with a lower resolution and fewer colours, and keeping in mind the need to animate it.

I don't want to propose this as a general 'rule', but I do think it could be interesting and educational.