cmkosemen

The elusive Snaiad Trilateralans revealed!

Added 2022-09-21 07:32:50 +0000 UTC

For years I have been thinking about these strange, radially-symmetrical animals on Snaiad - my long-running project about the natural history of another planet.

Drawing radially-symmetrical animals is a big challenge! One has to repeat the same details over and over - and it is very easy to get the whole thing off. My brain has difficulty grasping non-bilaterally-symmetrical creatures!

So I designed a method to draw radial forms easily.

I created the radial angle paper you can see attached. It has horizontal and vertical planes for 12, 90, 72 and 60 degree slices. This means you can easily draw 3, 4, 5 and 6 - sided animals (or any shape) quite easily.

Please feel free to download and use these guide papers as you wish! (FILE ATTACHED)

Print these papers on any home or school inkjet printer, and just draw on them regularly. After scanning, you can use the "threshold" tool on Photoshop or other image editing software - and the guides automatically disappear.

Alternatively, you can use them just as guideline layers in digital illustration. :)

***

The trilateral seen here is Bataklaheliozoon - a saucer-shaped thing that rustles about on forest floors near Snaiad's Oroland region. Counter-intuitive patterns camouflage them from predators. They are also adept swimmers when flash-floods hit. They eat small animals, but also concentrate on decaying vegetation to form communal feasts. If you pick them up - they can detach their legs or give you a nasty bite from the six-toothed mouth beneath them.

One down - hundreds of more species to go!

Thank you all for your your generous support through this big, long journey!