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Vote on Patreon to decide which animals get combined into creature design combos!

I often get asked how to create compelling creature designs based on real world animals.

So here are some 🔥hot🔥 tips-

1.) Take care when choosing your references, and always draw inspiration from multiple organisms. I use a minimum of three and a max of five (to keep the design complex, but not too busy). You should also choose animals across different biological classes. In this case parrot 🐦 elephant 🐘 and tick 🕷 = bird, mammal, and arachnid respectively. This keeps any one feature from being too prominent in your final design. A wolf and a tiger might seem like a good combo, but because they are so similar in anatomy and appearance the result will not challenge you artistically or generate a unique design.

2.) Try to focus on indistinct aspects of your inspiration, like posture, or the shape of their spine/head/limbs. If you can, don't replicate any large part of the original animals' bodies completely. I break this rule in two distinct ways here, with the elephant's feet and the beak of the parrot.

3.) Don't feel the need to combine all aspects of your creatures equally. In this case, my creature is probably 60% elephant and 20% parrot and 20% tick. The parrot was the inspiration of the beak, eyes, and coloration. The tick was the inspiration for the multiple limbs, some spinal texture, and the blood reservoir. This is totally okay! If one particular creature captivates you then you can have it form a majority of your design.

4.) Have fun! The rules of biology are your playground, and you can disregard the limits of reality as you please. Creature design is an excuse to explore and experiment. Don't hold back.

That's all I got for now! Leave three animals in the comments that you think would make a good combo, and I'll create a creature based on them. This Eleph-arrot-tick was based on a suggestion left on my previous upload! The contributor has asked to remain nameless, but they know who they are!

Follow me on Instagram @TopherStoll for more weird art and general life stuff.
Follow me on Tumblr for more weird art, con appearances, and book excerpts
Follow me on Twitter @TopherStoll if you want to watch me argue with neo-nazis

Also feel free to Visit my Etsy Store where you can buy weird art and books and stuff!

Description

Vote on Patreon to decide which animals get combined into creature design combos!

I often get asked how to create compelling creature designs based on real world animals.

So here are some 🔥hot🔥 tips-

1.) Take care when choosing your references, and always draw inspiration from multiple organisms. I use a minimum of three and a max of five (to keep the design complex, but not too busy). You should also choose animals across different biological classes. In this case parrot 🐦 elephant 🐘 and tick 🕷 = bird, mammal, and arachnid respectively. This keeps any one feature from being too prominent in your final design. A wolf and a tiger might seem like a good combo, but because they are so similar in anatomy and appearance the result will not challenge you artistically or generate a unique design.

2.) Try to focus on indistinct aspects of your inspiration, like posture, or the shape of their spine/head/limbs. If you can, don't replicate any large part of the original animals' bodies completely. I break this rule in two distinct ways here, with the elephant's feet and the beak of the parrot.

3.) Don't feel the need to combine all aspects of your creatures equally. In this case, my creature is probably 60% elephant and 20% parrot and 20% tick. The parrot was the inspiration of the beak, eyes, and coloration. The tick was the inspiration for the multiple limbs, some spinal texture, and the blood reservoir. This is totally okay! If one particular creature captivates you then you can have it form a majority of your design.

4.) Have fun! The rules of biology are your playground, and you can disregard the limits of reality as you please. Creature design is an excuse to explore and experiment. Don't hold back.

That's all I got for now! Leave three animals in the comments that you think would make a good combo, and I'll create a creature based on them. This Eleph-arrot-tick was based on a suggestion left on my previous upload! The contributor has asked to remain nameless, but they know who they are!

Follow me on Instagram @TopherStoll for more weird art and general life stuff.
Follow me on Tumblr for more weird art, con appearances, and book excerpts
Follow me on Twitter @TopherStoll if you want to watch me argue with neo-nazis

Also feel free to Visit my Etsy Store where you can buy weird art and books and stuff!