I wanted to create a few different creatures to have a few to pick from for my finalised creature; however, I found the actual process of creating these creatures difficult.
For both my creatures, I considered what environments they would live in and what features they would have to increase their chances of survival.
The first creature I wanted to do was a minotaur, which inhabits a desert environment with hostile architecture set in the far future to warn new generations of buried nuclear waste, which would lend into my characters ”script.” The hostile architecture of the maze my minotaur resides in would be a first warning, and then my minotaur would be another warning to prevent anyone from poking around.
I was bouncing about a few ideas in my head, such as giving sharp canine-like teeth to make him more unsettling; some people have done this through taxidermy on deer heads, which is where I got this idea but later dropped it as I felt it wouldn’t fit anatomically.
(Reference on the left, my sketch on the right.)
However, this is the first full concept I came up with for my post-apocalyptic minotaur, combining some of my references.
I also conceptualised another creature that was more friendly; for this creature, I was really inspired by birds, cats, baby hippos, and bears.
I took parts from each of these creatures that I liked and meshed them together to create something unique while still having them retain functionality.
I wanted it to look like an omnivorous jungle creature, and I feel like I captured that quite well, I wanted to give it a beak so it could rip plants out of the ground and also scavenge off of carcasses, I also wanted to have a cute appearance and I feel like my sketches showcase that.
I’m aiming to get my feedback from week 2, then choose a final creature, then really hone in the design to something that will be challenging but rewarding to model.