alexries

Dipper Progress

Getting the values finished for the dipper critter. Color next!

Piper - Development Art

Working out the details of this small, flying quadrilaterian. Essentially the front pair of limbs have evolved into elongated raptorial appendages that are able to winkle prey out of sediment and vegetation mats. The sensitive lower antennae are held to the ground and can detect the faint vibrations of burrowing creatures below the surface...

Farm Life - Sketches

Doodling the small fliers that the birrin encourage to live on the farm: they use their elongated forelimbs like the probing bill of earth seabirds, plucking out pets that damage the crop.

Complete - Dawn Mist

A giant arrives through the dawn mist on harvest day, dwarfing the curious young birrin named Sil below.  The giants, equaling Earth hadrosaurs in bulk, are one of several sapient species on the birrin homeworld of Chriirah.

Dawn Mist - WIP

More work, mostly fleshing out the tone and texture on the big fella, and adding in details to the youngster.

Morning Mist - WIP

Figuring out a lighting scheme and pose for the giant emerging from the dawn mist, greeting the curious youngster.

Baby meets Giants

Laying out the next piece: a youngster meeting the giants as they arrive for harvest day through the morning fog.

Bluestick Mill - HD FINAL

Its done!

Bluestick Mill - Men at Work

Home stretch now, with workers doing their thing. What was a press on the left hand side is now going to be a little generator room, so that the windmill can be used to produce electricity for the farm's batteries and the village grid.

Bluestick Mill - Update

Getting moving now: the grindstones are in place, as is most of the 'oil press' device. Working out the clutches for the gearing mechanism.

Bluestick Mill - WIP

Nearing the end of the layout phase: you can now see some of the key gearing and the rotor style of the 'mill. Basic 3D models have been popped in to get the scale and perspective right, and will be painted over.

Bluestick Mill - Update

Still in the early layout phase. I am having to learn how windmills, millstones, oil presses and tobacco processing work all at the same time! 

Pillar in the middle is probably going to be a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).

For windless days, provisions for Giants to power the machinery might be included.

Bluestick Mill - Wireframe

The second stage, after research, of making the cutaway view of the mill where Bluestick is processed: a simple 3D model so that I dont muck up the perspective.

Final - Bluestick Farm Infographic HD

The fancy high resolution version of the Bluestick Farm image. The outer wall of the farm protects from wave action and large marine animals messing everything up, and can be completely closed to manually or electrically pump the fields dry to remove dead raftweed and the masses or organic mush that accumulates. When harvesting, birrin can walk on the rafts and be supported, or swim and wade alongside. Giants, of course, have to take pathways between the fields. 

Bluestick Farm - Infographic WIP

Work on the farm cutaway infographic. 

Final - Farm Dawn HD

Finished, at least for now... with two lighting options. Dawn on harvest day, with giants working the fields handling the heavy work. They are not domestic animals, but intelligent free agents.

Farm Dawn - WIP

The Bluestick Fields are coming together! They like to have their roots flooded from time to time, and are renewably harvested for the potent narcotics in the outer skin.

Farm Dawn: Happy Accident

Working away on the farm scene, love the lighting offered by the Auto Levels function! Might have a play with it going forward.

Need to design the Giant's crop baskets, clothes etc

Dawn Fields WIP

Which direction grabs you, Patrons? The flat expanse or the foothills?

Farm Dawn

JUST starting layout tests for the farm chapter as the sun rises. Placing some Giants, among which birrin workers will be heading into the fields.

Book Layout Test

Working on the page layouts for what is currently Chapter 4: a family fishing trip. The text is certainly not final but I hope this offers insight into my direction.

I want to balance the 'eyewitness guide' style with the books narrative.

Floatplane Cruise - HD Final

High resolution image of the last major image of the test chapter, which is chapter 4 of the book. The family puddle/jumper is heading up Two Sky Bay to find a good fishing spot

The Cruise WIP

Work continues, not far now. I need to tighten up areas of the sky, the detail on the sister riding the outrigger, and define the body of the plane in shadow which is just a blob at the moment.

Boating Boat

The last major image of this book chapter!

The puddle-jumping punting its way up the inlet. Will work out the sky, plant life and such over the next day or two.

Map Sketch

Sketching out a birrin map of Two Sky Bay, one of the settings in the book. This would have been hand painted and notated by the Matriarch over time.

Will need to produce a cypher alphabet at some stage.

HD Final - Master and Student

The HQ image of the matriarch ready to demonstrate proper preparation of a freshly speared Sea Dart. The leather based beak-knife is an old tool she has had for decades, made from high grade pre-Fall steel.

Update: Teacher and Student

Starting to render out the characters and their clothing: I might take the almost finished file into Procreate for its excellent natural brushes and give it some flair.

Teacher and Student

Laying out the little vignette of the youngster-birrin learning how to prepare the spearfished Sea Darts with the help of the Matriarch.

Killing Your (metaphorical) Babies

The anatomy image wasnt working for me: too sterile, and it overshadowed the work I liked with the full color sea dart: so for now its gone!

However, I will include such art in a sketch/addendum section of the book.

WIP - Sea Dart Anatomy

Further work on the Sea Dart's insides.