Double Week Sketchbook Work - Insectoids

Regardless of delays, following the previous Halloween theme, the current theme for the duration of 2 weeks is insectoids, in which we have to research various types of bugs and produce creature of our own design based on that research, this needing to be more than just a bug with a human head or visa versa, since the duration for this is longer it also needs to include the final piece with a front view side view sheet, as well as a 3/4 view to match how the industry handles the design of characters.

To start us of as always a moodboard needs to be made first to start the idea process;

My moodboard ended up being very simplistic as when i started pulling image i got very strong ideas for my insectoids from the outset. but the images ive grabbed here cover some beetles, mantis, centipede, moths and bees, wasps and hornet types. this came from a mixture of personal interest towards the insect as well as ones that i enjoyed elements of.

 The first sketches i did were of some of the insects i had an interest in developing designs from the most, the first being the death head moth or acherontia atropos and a couple of the types of stag beetle that i was interested in, this was to give me some experience and analysis of some of the insect aspects.

This first design is probably the one i am most happy with, i went with a humanoid theme for it and it is solely based from the influence of the death head moth i mentioned previously, i found out through a little research that it steals honey from bee hives by infiltrating it, so i wanted a more sleek, form fitting spy-like style of design for this insect. 

also to make sure it wasn't just a vapid swap of bug or human elements, i tried to combine loads of elements together to make a closer fusion; aspects like additional limbs, antennae, a secondary tail like abdomen, fuzz on the body and goggles that match the eyes of the insect itself.

The second design was more spontaneous, and actually began before looking at any of my influences, in the end after crafting the head and upper torso i realised it contained elements of centipedes, flies , worms and the like, so i tried to make these more prevalent over the design through the use of segmented and flexible body design along with the mandibles in its mouth. this also gave rise to incorporating more aggressive elements which as i wanted arms i opted to bring in a preying mantis' arms.

The last of the designs was derived from stag beetles, and i particularly enjoyed the various horn shapes and thick looking plating their bodies had over them, this heavily made me encouraged to design another humanoid, this time a more knight like figure, which takes advantage of their armour like bodies and the horns made for great decoration, which i made use of in both the helmet and shoulder plating.. their back like like plating also made for great design in a half skirt like armour to place on the belt of the knight.

For my final piece to produce a side view, front view and 3/4 view of i chose the first design i did of the moth;

I chose the moth design because i had the most enthusiasm when creating it and felt happier in the result than the other two, the side and front designs were difficult because i rarely draw characters is static poses, and it required alot of fine tuning to make them not look awkward in proportion and expression, i still am not happy with them and think i should have adjusted their proportions further.

The 3/4 pose was more in my element as it allowed for more posing of the character, though it was hard to properly angle the figure at a diagonal stretch. I also made some slight adjustments to the design of the character, this included boot design the change from a more leotard style of wear to a bodysuit style of clothing to coincide with the spy theme, as well as cloth draped over the arms to resemble the wings being adapted in the design.

In reflection i feel most happy with the quality of my designs, i felt i managed to mix the elements of humanoid and insect to a higher standard than i thought i would be able to produce, however i feel in this assignment where we had to produce more material for a single character exposes a problem i have in that when re drawing a character i find it difficult to replicate their look as i originally drew them, which makes it very inconsistent to look at.