This week I've revisited a couple of alien species in Novus Imperium that haven't been getting enough attention. This first sketch is just me trying to get a feel for the Reos. They've been around since the early days of NI, but they've received by far the least attention in terms of development art.
The Reos have always been somewhat crustacean in appearance, and I've tried to make that more apparent in this sketch than I had previously. I'm not quite sold on the arms and legs, but I'm very happy with how the head and torso turned out. I've drawn inspiration from crabs, lobsters and the wonderful giant isopod. Previous versions of the Reos have had small sub-limbs folded against their torso. I seem to have forgotten that in doing this sketch.
This second one has been mentioned on the blog before. The Corrupted have received more attention than the Reos, but I've still not quite got their look figured out. As the overall shaping goes, I'm actually fairly pleased with this design. I am, however, really iffy regarding the color scheme. In sci-fi, it seems like the color purple has sort of become shorthand for "alien." I've been playing around with other color schemes, but as yet I've not found a satisfactory alternative.
And lastly, still more sketching with Reina. Here I'm testing out a somewhat simpler / cleaner style than how I usually sketch. I've also been working to clean up the design of her prosthetic arms, particularly the backs of the arms, and how they connect at the biceps and triceps. I've also been researching anatomy texts to better understand the human musculoskeletal system, and by extension how prosthetics might integrate with it.
This week's been far more productive art-wise than the last couple. It's nice to be getting back into the swing of things.
Cheers,
Geoff
