It's easy to get hung up over perfection. I wanted to try drawing without aiming for realism, instead just using freeform to be playful and have fun. This Aoteraoa scene just took shape from a handful of child-like seagulls and some squiffy looking clouds.
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This series is inspired by the collector's wildlife cards of the 70s and 80s often featuring Africa safari animals. Here we explore the planet of Hartogia. It is a world abundant with life and yet noxious to humans, with acidic waters, toxic winds and inhospitable terrains. It's thick atmosphere blankets the planet leading to temperatures averaging in excess of 60 degrees celsius. Though a small planet, its slow rotation means days are approximate to 38 Earth hours. Life here is brutal and cruel and the species that inhabit it are totally unique. Splench inhabit the same shallow rocky shores as Pilligrim, hunting the same nimble Kalliflies. Their bulbous creeping bodies are normally camouflaged against the lichen patches of the rocks however the dimorphic male and females glow warm orange and reds throughout breeding season. A watching Gobgnarl poses a threat as the female lays sac like eggs in the sheltered crannies of semi-submerged rocks. Seen close to the base of pitcher-shroovines may be spotted the parasitic Bluskakul. Boring holes into the shroovine's outer membrane, they feed on the thick sap to fill their bulbous sacs. Occasionally some gorge themselves so much their sacs burst. Others fall easy prey once their sacs are ballooned to maximum capacity, however their bitter taste leaves them undesirable to most predators. Among the swampy fringes of Sangrilonia, where lake Bladach meets the mainland a rich ecosystem thrives. Parasitic Vinelachs, anchored with their sapping tails embedded deep into the budding Pitcher-shroovines, stab plump Molkarps on their deformed spiked arms. Meanwhile flying Skuttlebugs fall prey to the pheromone cloud emitted by the pitcher-shroovines as a dense fog rolls in over the oblivious Barnlichens scattered across the shore. Above valleys smothered in stifling thick mists the multi-limbed and enormous Mystiflex use thermal currents to glide noiselessly, ever observant with their lower primary eye always scanning the hill. As The smaller Daskillax break through the cloud they plunge to attack, gripping with their hooked tails. Armless Frotipoda inhabit the shallow rocky outcrops amongst the great lake. Here they can leap into the waters and swim with twists of their flexible powerful bodies. They hunt Skallatacs with their probiscus tendrils flipping them over to reach their soft bellies. They are quite wary of the electric Zelak which inhabit the same waters though. If incapacitated with a shock underwater, frotipoda will drown. Among the tall Cormium fruit vines of the plains an insidious predator awaits. The lure of the subterranean Vastingvuurm, camouflaged to appear like the bulbous fruits of the plants around which is resides, entices curious Roostichus. With a strike and a sting, the Vastingvuurm will incapacitate and swallow the prey whole into it's swollen stomach sac deep beneath the desolate ground. Seniklish use thier sensitive sense of smell to detect the pheromones emitted from their favoured prey - rootilopes. With cartilage-based mouth piece they can flex and grab around the entrance of rootilope burrows. Rootilopes live in tunnels in small colonies and use their sucking mouth parts to scrape moss and lichen off of rocks. Both species emerge at twilight away form the harshness of the twin suns of Hartogia. Pilligrims favour the shallows of the great lakes of Hartogia. Tough hides allow them to withstand the high thermal waters and acidic vapours in this hostile aquatic environment. They can flatten their soft bodies low beneath the surface and whip out their grasping tentacles to catch passing kalliflies. Able to use the protruding eye stalks to assess for prey without raising offers a distinct adva... See more Trollacs are a sentient, brutal and innovative species able to fashion tools from most things around them. With a heavy set tail and strong muscular legs they are very strong. Nomadic they roam the plains hunting and gathering and are omivorous. Greskills are vicious and short tempered lizards that live amongst shroovine clumps where they often succumb to the sedating drug-like sap of the shroovines making them easy prey to trollacs. NB. The first of the Hartogia series this started in November 2016 and shows the progress in my illustrative style over the time. |
Nick & Katy
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November 2020
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