Blood Mage

This was part of a set of badass women who are involved somehow with a dead body (or 2).  She came out particularly well which is why I'm sharing her here.  This one in particular is a blood mage, she can manipulate blood and is only limited in what she can do by her imagination.  As part of the process to obtain such magic she has inscribed herself with the white tattoo markings on her dark skin.  Her eyes also lost their irises, matching the tattoos, but they did not loose their sight.  Golden wavy hair perpetually floats due to the output of magical energy from her body.

I decided to draw all of them with mechanical pencil, though the blood was largely shaded with a woodless 4b to keep myself from going insane.  Shadows were all done with cross-hatching, and I did my best to pay attention to representing different textures from the thick fabric to the sheer fabric, from her skin to her hair to the leather straps.  It was an interesting challenge that took forever to complete but I'm glad I did it.

Reio 3D Model

This is an original character from a story I've been working on, Reio Hearnth.  You may recognize this design from a previous post found here:  http://ginryuuart.blogspot.com/2011/03/low-fantasy-uniforms.html

I did branch and box modeling in Maya to make this 3D model.  It's low-poly...about 7,000 triangles.  There are two 1024 color maps...one for the hair and one for the rest of the model.  There is also a transparency map on the hair and a normal map on the body.  The normal map was laid out in Zbrush and fixed up in Photoshop.  All of the coloring for the textures was done in Photoshop CS5.  Renders were done in Maya using Mental Ray.

Yin-Yang

The concept of good and evil personified.  Their expressions show how dependent they are on each other, their wings at the top reflecting this.  Good is defined by her shadows, and Evil is defined by his highlights to show that even individually they are not completely independent of the other.  Original drawing pencil on paper.  Completely re-done digitally.

Tree-dwelling Humanoid

A tree-dwelling humanoid.  Based off the idea of humans evolving in order to comfortably live in a very nature-rich environment.  Pencil drawing with shades applied digitally.

They have evolved opposable toes and prehensile tails.  Due to spending so much time below the canopy (and layer of poluted smog above the protective bubble enclosing them) they tend to have pale skin and dark hair...though hair color can vary.

Spider of Fate

Same setting as above.  The deity Fate.  A spider/humanoid who manages the threads of fate for the best possible long-term outcome.  Pencil drawings with digital shading.

Low-fantasy Uniforms

 These are uniform designs for a combat-based militaristic organization in a low-fantasy setting.  The purpose was to make a uniform which was customizable to suit different fighting styles and not hamper combat strength.  Pencil drawing with colors applied digitally.

Suburb Street

This is part of a world design.  Golems and circuits were strong themes I tried to keep in mind.  This is a street in the suburbs, the main city visible over the roofs of the short houses.  Line-work was done by hand with shades applied digitally.

Another location in the same world:  http://ginryuuart.blogspot.com/2011/03/back-alley.html

Back Alley

This is part of a world design.  Golems and circuits were strong themes I tried to keep in mind.  This is a back alley located near a research facility.  Line-work was done by hand with shades applied digitally.

Another location in the same world:  http://ginryuuart.blogspot.com/2011/03/suburb-street.html

Catmen Natives

These are Catmen tribe designs.  They are tree-dwellers with opposable toes and prehensile tails.  From left to right they are a Dancer/Shaman, a Tribe Leader, and a Hunter.  Drawn from scratch with references nearby.

Dancers:  The Dancers are entertainers, storytellers, and spiritual leaders within the tribe.  It takes a great amount of both skill and knowledge to become a Dancer.  This profession is open to both males and females, and it is not uncommon to see them working in pairs.

Leaders:  The tribes are matriarchal, and so the position of tribe leader is only available to females.  When a female becomes a leader, her dread-locked hair is cut off and allowed to grow in naturally.  A leader can always be identified by her hair, even if she were to try and disguise herself.  This also means that you can tell how long a leader has been in control of her tribe by the length of her hair, and in meetings between leaders the length of ones hair can equal the prestige they carry.  The position of leader is one for life, and when the previous leader dies, their successor is chosen among the women Dancers with consent from the tribe.

Hunters:  The Hunter's main role in the tribe is to go out and hunt.  Most of their prey consist of Squirds, with the occasional speedy Earm Monkey.  Large game hunting is rare, since it is difficult to get them up to the nests that they live in.  If there is a conflict between tribes that cannot be settled with talk, it is the Hunters that will fight for their tribe.  This role is open to males and females, though it is a mostly male-dominated profession.

For creatures in this world, see this post:  http://ginryuuart.blogspot.com/2011/03/creature-designs.html

Creature Designs

These are original creature designs all meant for the same world.  The two on the left are photo manipulations with a paint-over.  The two on the right were drawn from scratch with reference nearby.

*Top Left:  The Squird
The squird is an herbivore.  It can fly for short distances and has a large population, thus making it ideal for hunting.  The native humanoids like to use their feathers to decorate their outfits and weapons.

*Bottom Left:  The Hommaker Bird
This bird is rare.  It's main diet consists of foliage in the top canopy and it will build nests out of sticks and mud-clay high up in the trees, away from the vicious predators on the ground.  The natives will build tribes in these abandoned nests.  The leader of a tribe is the only one allowed to wear the feathers of the Hommaker bird whose nest they are living in, though other members of the tribe will often dye the fabric of their clothes to match the colors of their Hommaker bird.  Thus it is possible to identify which tribe a native is from depending on the color of their clothes.

*Top Right:  The Fish-Egg Eater
This amphibian is small, and could easily fit in the palm of your hand.  It's main diet consists of fish eggs, hence the name. The fish in this world are highly poisonous when mature, although their eggs only contain minute levels.  The fish-egg eater can absorb the toxins in the eggs it eats and then secrete it through it's skin as a contact poison, making touching them highly dangerous.  The natives revere them as sacred creatures.

*Bottom Right:  The Earm Monkey
Earm monkeys dwell in the treetops and live in large family groups.  They mostly feed on berries and small insects.  They will normally move hand over hand through the canopy.  However, if being chased or in a need to move fast, they will also use their tails.  This appears as if they are somersaulting through the canopy and is illustrated above.

For more information on the natives of this world, see this post:  http://ginryuuart.blogspot.com/2011/03/catmen-natives.html