Our first class on Character Creation introduced us to general designing a character for a given environment. We were asked to:

• Define and understand the theoretical requirements of Character design
• Explore various approaches to designing characters and creatures
• Explore various ways to visually communicate a narrative through a still character
• create a character that makes functional sense

Anatomy is important in creating a character that works in their given environment, and we were asked to think about adaptation ideas when creating our characters- what makes sense within a certain set of rules? Do they live in the oceans? if so, they will need blowholes and flippers, be more streamlined in terms of their bodies.

I struggled with figuring out a concept for my creature, so a friend of mine recommended an artist for me to look at called Sam Fennah, who specialises in a lot of fantastical creatures with animal designs. However, I noticed many flaws in his character creation, such as giving his characters too many tails, ears and useless appendages that do not serve their biology. Other characters have long winded teeth that stretch past their cheeks, biologically impossible in our Earth system.

(7) Amygdala – Book Trailer – YouTube

While they did serve inspiration to what creature I wanted to make, I had to look elsewhere to get inspiration, such as what the creature would be like in a forest.

if they lived in a forest, they would need camouflage, a prehensile tail, curved claws to climb up trees, dextrous arms and legs.

So in the next class, I looked into what functions would be well equipped to a forest environment.

I found:

• Retractable claws for climbing- Pine Marten
• Folding wings mid flight to squeeze through tree gaps- Goshawk
• Third eyelids to protect against thorns- Goshawk
• Compact size to take advantage of tree crevasses- Red Squirrel + others
• Hard, curved beak to catch insects hiding in crevasses- Tree creeper
• Strong feet and curved claws- tree creeper
• Long tails for balance- red squirrel
• Striped fur for camouflage- Boars
• Highly sensitive ears to detect low frequency sounds- deer
• Strong legs to avoid predators- deer

I used these traits to create an early version of my creature, one that embodies most of the traits required in the environment it lives in.

I also looked at certain stylised pictures of bats to get an idea of the cute but shy creature I wanted to make.