After deciding I wanted to really try and explore this style of creature I gathered a lot of reference imagery of marine animals, particularly ones that exhibit translucence and bio-luminescence. While I'm trying to create a more traditional humanoid style creature, I do not want it to just be a generic looking creature. I want to add some more unique elements to the design. So I gathered reference from some of the more unusual marine animals as-well.
One thing that was very clear to me form here was just how bright and vivid some of the colouring's are on these creatures, something I immediately classed as being essential to the design that I come up with. Another key aspect was adding some elements of anatomy that would make the creature a strong swimmer, however given its more humanoid appearance I may reference more amphibians for that aspect of it. I've also been toying with the idea of being able to see the creature's internals as is apparent in some of these images aswell.
This first sketch was me just exploring the kind of "marine" look, sharp long teeth that echo an angler fish along with trying to take the look of the Portugese Man O'Ware into account to create a more "jelly-like" look.
This was another sketch that perhaps incorporates more of the creepy aspects of marine life, particularly deep sea fish. I wanted to try to create something that didnt look so fierce though, but then I remembered the Promethean Knight from Halo 4, a creature that has two faces. An outward armoured face and a more unsettling inner face that it reveals when it is roaring. I toyed with that idea in this sketch, making the outer face look more gentle, while the inner face looks more unsettling and disturbing. I referenced the Star Nosed Mole when thinking about the inner face.
Trying to think about the body of the creature, this however was far too human for the kind of marine aspect I was going for. Also I felt that I wanted the creature to look kind of elegant like the flatworm, which is beautiful in its simplicity.
Further thinking about the flatworm, aswell as echoing a cobras hood. I decided I to try and experiment with different ways to connect the head to the body, I had the idea in my head that the creatures back could be very much like a flatworm, but made of thicker skin. It could assist the creature with its movement along the ground aswell as assisst in camouflage. Something a bit similar to what is present in the Ceph, however with a more humanoid anatomy.
Just a quick one thinking about adding extra limbs to the creature, sort of like a prawn.
Another quickie, back to deep-sea nasties.
By this point I had started nailing down some key aspects I really wanted the design to include. The main ones being that it must be graceful and colourful. However it must also be able to function in land and on the water, as-well as being a strong swimmer. The prawn-like arms aswell as the flatworm style back I felt would work well together in the design. Having the two face I feel is another big thing I want to have in the creature.
The next stage is to begin pulling together a tighter design while keeping in mind the function it is performing. Closely researching how it is accomplished in the real world is important. By the end of that I should have a good idea of the design of the creature. With time to tighten it up and start experimenting with colours before drawing up some concepts.
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