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***Goht*** · 06-26-2013, 06:02 AM

I was going through my old stuff and thought about some things to post up, but I decided I want to start from scratch and post no old sketchbook art, from here on out it's all going to be new stuff so I can be motivated to keep producing new material and keep myself challenged. It's nice to see these things grow online. I joined several months ago but now I'm back, and really craving keeping the sketching and arting going.

Lately I've been designing an alien species called the 'Xiin.' Doing rough sketches on the Strathmore grey tone I picked up. I do these with a Pentel Brush Pen, work with a Faber Castell white felt, then do touch ups with a Signo gel pen (probably the only white gel pen I've found that doesn't clog up or have watery ink). Then I sometimes add grey scale over top those for a cool grey tone.

This is the preliminary sketch for the look of a character from the Xiin called 'Zhag'

I always see terrifying aliens and monsters around, and while the Xiin do have a variety of shapes and sizes which would make somebody shit the bed (like the colossal ones that have lamprey mouths and dig tunnels), this particular character I've been developing, I've been meaning to add more 'character' to it, similar to how Blomcamp got the audience to sympathize with the District 9 aliens. I've been developing a language for the Xiin as well but it still needs some work. Zhag wears goggles because they normally spend their entire lives underground, and travel at night and are very light sensitive. The inspiration for this design came from referencing stick insects, dragons, as well as geckos for the eyes.

The story I wanted to go for is one of this alien critter being the smartest of the Xiin bunch, and leaving the underground to discover more about the world outside of it, being like a scholar among its species it is the only one that can sort of speak other languages. So the challenge ahead of it to bridge the gap between them and some potentially xenophobic societies that fear the Xiin, or don't understand them, might send the world spinning.