Goth from K.Oppel's Silverwing Trilogy

________

<< Goth

The Following quote is from Kennith's Oppel's Silverwing Website:

" "Goth is based on a variety of spear-nosed bat called Vampyrum Spectrum. He’s a tropical bat that lives in Central and South America and south-east Asia. He has up to a three foot wingspan, so is much bigger than Shade or Marina. He is not an insectivore. He’s a carnivore. He eats mice, shrews, birds and if he can get them, bats -- so his diet also has a cannibalistic component. Vampyrum Spectrum is NOT the same thing as a Vampire bat. Vampire bats just drink the blood of living animals; the Vampyrum Spectrum devours the entire animal, and is a bigger species." - K.O.

Vampyrum Spectrum
(photo© Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, Inc)
Vampyrum Spectrum, also known as false vampire bats, are native to South & Central America and are the largest bat found in the Neotropics. Their dense woolly fur ranges from dark or chestnut brown to rust in colour and their ears and nose are very long. The Vampyrum Spectrum can have a wingspan of up to 1 meter.
False Vampire bats are generally the top of their order in the food chain, that is, without predators, and feed on birds, smaller varieties of bat, and rodents. They are called false vampires because it was once thought that they fed on blood rather than meat.
Vampyrum Spectrum are usually found in lowland, evergreen forest, occasionally in cloud or deciduous forests, fruit groves, pastures or swampy areas. They nest in groups of up to five individuals in hollow trees often near water. "

As you can see he is a coloured version of one of the sketches seen in the previous post and it gave me a chance to experiment with Duel Brushes on Photoshop.
This was a quick design for Goth from Silverwing trilogy by Kennith Oppel...because I felt like it. I do one day want to do designs for the entire Silverwing cast ( haha *nervous look* that'll be a epic task) where they actually look like their species of bats ( Hint Hint TV adaptation -to the right is a picture of Goth- where no matter if you're Vampyrum or Silver-Haired bat you look the same. The same squarish head with only your hair-do and size to mark you out differently.) haha! I must admit I did stick to the idea of "hair" but, Vampyrum do have crest of fur so it can work.

Selective Sketches from August

Hmmm...
The only one out of those I like is the design for Goth (the inked bat on the right) from Kennith Oppel's Silverwing trilogy. But these sketches weren't suppose to have hours spent on them, just idea jotting or doodling things that pop into the head. There are more, but these are the best (nit-picked).
I'm curious where the inspiration for the ferret and the butchers knife came from though...

Terror Bird of Paradise (Dropped)

This thing has been hanging around for the better part of a month now and I frankly just want it over and done with. I spent far too long on the research, that was the problem. So when I made the mistake of putting a pencil sketch directly onto a texture I didn't have the heart to do another again. Problem was the sketch wasn't dark enough on the scan. I fiddled around and the only thing I could think of was to you "Colour Dodge" filter to bring out the dark lines; then flatten and then do a "Colour" layer above that. Didn't work. So, I'm dropping it.
Maybe one day I'll come back to it...who knows.

Terror Bird of Paradise: Part 2 (Thumbnails for Final Outcome)

Thumbnails just to start thinking what the Final outcome would look like. I am very drawn to the second-top with a panoramic landscape behind. However, I wanted to show a predatory side to this bird as was described in my made-up brief.

"Requirements of the Brief:
* The Bird must keep a carnivorous profile, ie eyes of a hunting bird and beak to match. I might help to consider what it may hunt

(as you can see I was thinking of island creatures like Galapagos tortoise and even Dodos.)

* There must be some sort of spectacular plumage of a warm colouration (reds/yellows ect)

* Though the creature itself is fictional, it is still prehistoric. Keep this in mind. Don't put a modern species in the background. "
( Tortoises have certainly been around for a long time, the Dodo I'm not sure of. If I ever go with that idea I can always make it into a fictional relation of the Dodo, like an ancestor.)

To have the Panoramic version might make the Terror Bird seem less predatory. BUT, the features (beak, ect) should speak for itself.

At the moment, the Panoramic and the "Tortoise Meal" are at level pegging. I still need to gather research into what a Terror Bird would look like feeding, either by watching Nature Programs like BBC's Walking with Beasts or looking at modern carnivore birds like Eagles and those African Secretary Bird who eat snakes.

Terror Bird of Paradise: Part 1 ( Thumbnail Sketches)

Just some thumbnail sketches for my new project, Terror Bird of Paradise. The first one was to see if there was a good basic shape I can work with. The second was to take a detailed look at the head. I particularly like the one on the top right with the rough saber-beak. The chicken-like one on the middle-bottom is also strangely appealing.

Iscribble Doodles #1

Just chilling on Iscribble, thought I'd try to visualise some of my characters from my novel. These are Quez, leathery Pterasaurid-like creatures. Top Left, is Namad, as an example of the male of the species with his red crest. Below him is Sunstripe (the protagonist) with Samillio the mouse. On below her is her mother, Sunspot, who dies in the prologue.

Rejected Joker Cards

Here are the cards that didn't make it onto the final picture (shown in July's post, "Burning the Deck") These were only rough concepts, just to see how they would look in card format and to consider if they'll look good in a smaller scale.