Creature Project

Research

For the 1st of three existing animals that I will mix up to create an original creature, I have chosen the endangered Clouded Leopard, so shy and hidden away in tropical forests and mountains that not very much is known about it. The skeletal structure was drawn based on skeletons of other types of neofelis (their branch of big cat) skeletons found online, and images of Clouded Leopard skulls.

From pictures gathered by searching online, I did some sketch studies which I then drew with pen once the outline and proportion were deemed correct.

1st Creature - Clouded Leopard

The third choice of creature is the shy Cassowary, which is nevertheless infamous for delivering powerful kicks with its knife-like claws when provoked. Its casque (spongey bone on its head) and thick legs make it reminiscent of a dinosaur, which makes the Cassowary seem prehistoric and unusual.

3rd Creature - Cassowary

The Bactrian camel is quite a common sight in Mongolia and North Eastern China, but there are only a couple of thousand in herds in the wild. They have some interesting features such as a thick fleece, humps and characterful faces, which will contribute to some unusual combinations.

2nd Creature - Bactrian Camel

Animal shuffle

Mixing the structures, furs and feathers of the three creatures. The ideas were first sketched in pencil, then inked over to create the look of a zoological drawing. Something from all three creatures is incorporated into every animal, which stretched the diversity of ideas much more than anticipated.

In creating the creatures, the Synectic Trigger Mechanisms were referred to. This is a glossary of words, such as 'superimpose', 'subtract', 'substitue', 'disguise', designed to create new pathways of thought that might lead to an outcome further stretched from the original idea than otherwise. The triggers encouraged me to think of combining more than just the bodies of the creatures, but also their coverings of fur or feathers, their colourings and their obvious skills (and their statuses as predator or prey). Each mutation that the triggers encourages is another species of animal, which means that the list of possible creatures is almost endless.

Bactrileowary

Cassobacpard

Cameleowary

Bactuwarpard

Cassumelpard

Clouded Bactrowary

Clouded Cassucamel

Leobactowary

Leopamelary

Some more fully realised images were created of the most appealing of the animals:



Final Creature: Clouded Bactowary (processes)

final image

Clouded Bactowary skeletal structure

Clouded Bactowary musculature

Tutorial Task 4

Brief 2: 3^rd November 2014 [3 weeks]

•Presentation 24^th  November 2014

•                    Draw a creature constructed from 3 different creatures – you should use the synectic triggers.  This creature should be anatomically plausible and rendered realistically.

In approaching this brief, it was necessary to look at three very different creatures in order to achieve a unique creature which has not been seen before. To this end, the creatures finally selected were the Cassowary of Australia, the Clouded leopard of Indonesia and the Bactrian camel of the Gobi desert in Mongolia. The environments of these creatures are so different that their physical adaptations are bound to be also. What appealed most about the cassowary was its colourful neck and the prehistoric look of its horn and one, long stabbing talon on each foot. Its large scale compared to other birds was also an advantage when considering how it could be combined with the other two creatures. The Bactrian camel’s features, such as its long neck, its hump and its expressive face were the drawing factors of this creature. In comparison to these two, the clouded leopard is very elegant and brings a sense of balance to the mix, because of its skill as a climber and a hunter. It is considered the closest living relative of the extinct sabre tooth tiger and has the ability to open its jaw wider than any other cat. Unfortunately, as is the case with so many unusual creatures, these animals are all endangered in the wild.

                The first step was to research these creatures, which was easy enough to do with a web search. Several sketches were first made, then inked in pen to ensure that their details had been correctly recorded. In mixing the creatures to create new ones, synectic triggers were referred to, which brought new perspectives to the design process. Not only were the animals’ features utilised (the camel’s humps, the cassowary’s talons, the leopard’s tail), the limbs, heads and torsos were switched, as well as their coverings of fur, wool and feathers and their colourations. The resultant images were intriguing, and more disparate than might be expected. Three were chosen to be taken further into coloured sketches: the regal Bactrileowary, the comical Cassowbacpard and the elegant Clouded Bactowary. The animals were chosen based on these very different characters, and a background of the environment in which they might exist was hinted at. The images were created in photoshop, using soft brushes for fur and feathers.

                Though each creature had its own unique appeal, the Clouded Bactowary was selected for development into further pieces because of such features as its horn, its camel neck with cassowary colouring, its clouded leopard torso and legs, and camel feet. The camel feet pointed at its natural environment being desert, and the leopard body indicated it would be a fast and agile runner, which affected the pose chosen for the final piece. After the image was rendered in Photoshop, the skeletal and muscular structure were created on the creature’s pose, with reference to the bone and muscle structure of the original creatures.