This was technically the third of my new pieces from this last semester.
After pretty much being told that there was a huge difference between my new and old work in my portfolio, I figuratively trashed the old stuff and started work on some new things. Of course, I had to draw at least some (non-avian) creature.
The initial thumbnail for this piece looked nothing like what the final became. I had started off with a Broker & Son story point (if you follow my blog, you’ll eventually hear about that project, once I get around to it) involving a basement and a critter in a giant tank there. However, in this case I wanted to shy away from the wider shots I seem to have gravitated towards, as well as showing off the creature — after all, I do prefer designing creatures over tweaking the perspective of a staircase. I still might use this thumbnail for an actual B&S image, but for now, it’s just going to sit there as my initial thought for the image.
From that thumbnail, I thought of my trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific last semester for Dynamic Sketching, and worked from there. I initially wanted the creature to be more crocodilian but decided that a smoother creature would be more likely to be in an ocean, so went for a fat, newtlike shape instead. Except with pointy teeth and gills.