Fantasy Bestiary

This is a big bestiary project I have been working on this year.
I wanted to explore different designs and add functional details and descriptions for these creatures.
I have also pushed the render on some of them to explore different workflows.
I wanted to keep consistency throughout the project. So I kept the same presentation to have continuity from beginning to end. 

For this design I first blocked the large volumes to define a flow between each body part.
I wanted to give it a stocky and bedonnant appearance, for this I developed the back and stomach.
The wings too atrofied are also there to reinforce the clumsy side of the creatures in its design.
Despite its appearance I wanted there to be a dynamic in the body, the neck and the belly form a natural S curve.

For this second specimen, I had to make it balance by pressing on its extra limbs.
I’ve been thinking about what kind of long fingers he’s been propelled by are long and stiff like stilts.
I also had to respect the ablomb of the creature to make it appear balanced and credible.

For these three fellas, I started small by making thumbnails. It helps me not to get lost in the details and think about the concept of the creature as a whole.
So I developed three ideas, changing the morphology drastically from one to the other. Each creature must have a unique silhouette that makes it recognizable.
I used Batracian references for the turtle creatures and geodes for its shell. The idea was to make a kind of energy emanating from the rocky parts of his body.
I then used my reference images in photobashing to have a realistic texture on my creature.

My main challenge for the zombie dragon has turned out to leave him enough muscles for him to be functional. But not too many muscles because it should not look massive.
So I had to do with negative spaces in the silhouette, and take references for anatomy.

For the dog of hell I based myself on a figurine of dog anatomy.
It helps me to visualize it from every angle.
In order to make it more monstrous I lengthened his legs and strengthened his neck muscles.
I also changed his face to make it scarier.