Spectrum Roughs: War/Peace

Art Assignment 1: War/Peace

Description: Pick a wildlife species that is native/local to your home state/country/region. Combine its anatomy with human anatomy using your own tastes and aesthetic. Then, either show this creation rushing into battle toward an unseen enemy, or show it making peace with a human or humans after a battle. Think about how you can use the composition of your piece to tell a story and make it instantly readable, even when reproduced at a smaller scale. Gathering reference will be important, so also plan how you will find images to work from when constructing this fantasy scene.

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This is mostly just the early stages of exploration for an idea I had regarding an order of knights attempting to colonize a distant land full of megafauna - the apex of these creatures being druidic guardians of the unspoiled region. With this I want to illustrate humans (or elves) coming into contact with an uncertain and overwhelmingly powerful enemy, the creature being the focal point of the piece. I'll apologize in advance seeing I took a few liberties with the environment and how the creature is placed in the piece, and I'll understand if you would prefer I stick more faithfully to the prompt.

The environment would probably be heavily wooded and untamed. As I move forward with the composition of the piece, I want to further characterize the creature and the knights fighting it, as well as the environment they're in.

 I'm hoping to at least have a tonal comp prepared by the time of the workshop.

Six rough thumbnails, I'm leaning more heavily towards 1-2. The background on 1 would probably be some rock structure, similar to the steps on a pyramid, whereas 2 illustrates something more faithful to the prompt; with a giant snapping turtle charging towards an uncertain enemy. 4 and 6 each demonstrate a similar idea from different angles, and 5 illustrates something more horror oriented.

Giant Snapping Turtle rough concept, stands at about the height of three men. (size varies based on thumbnail).

Giant Snapping Turtle costume. But I think I may just leave him naked. The idea is that most of the material is trophies he's taken from previous battles. I'll probably try other costume designs based on what critique I receive here.