Log inI've been sleeping a lot. I'm not a fan of being sick just before having a long trip, this month will end up being pretty lightweight. Brilliant for one of the first months of a new endeavor.
I did a little bit of Star Wars stuff while I was awake, and I think it's funny how many Star Wars races are "funny hat" races. Like the Twilek and the Togruta are both good example: they're essentially a lady with body paint and a funny hat.
But they're so fucking cute.
I spent some time thinking about Star Wars vs Star Trek and alien design while I was trying to either fall asleep or get up. Most Star Wars races are incredibly boring - reused generic costumes, for the most part. And most Star Trek races are "forehead aliens", which are like hat aliens but even weaker.
But what makes Twilek and Togruta and a few other, similar designs so striking? Is it the impact of framing the face, maybe... basically a really nice haircut with fun stripes and shit...
ANYWAY, I also did some work on Moll. I'll be rolling out your requests later, I hope, if you have more let me know.
I did a little bit of Star Wars stuff while I was awake, and I think it's funny how many Star Wars races are "funny hat" races. Like the Twilek and the Togruta are both good example: they're essentially a lady with body paint and a funny hat.
But they're so fucking cute.
I spent some time thinking about Star Wars vs Star Trek and alien design while I was trying to either fall asleep or get up. Most Star Wars races are incredibly boring - reused generic costumes, for the most part. And most Star Trek races are "forehead aliens", which are like hat aliens but even weaker.
But what makes Twilek and Togruta and a few other, similar designs so striking? Is it the impact of framing the face, maybe... basically a really nice haircut with fun stripes and shit...
ANYWAY, I also did some work on Moll. I'll be rolling out your requests later, I hope, if you have more let me know.
For better or worse, at least the prequels tried to do something more than just funny hats.
One explanation I've seen in a lot of scifi for "basically humans with different color skin" alien races is something like.. If they're from earth-like planets they'll be similar to humans, because it's a very specific set of circumstances that give rise to conditions where complex life can get to this point.
Something like, planet size -> how strong the gravity is on the surface -> size vs mass -> human size-ish, and same sort of logic for everything else. It makes some sense, considering how good nature is at optimizing for different conditions. Entirely unrelated species on earth can end up eerily similar when they fill the same ecological niches.
On the other hand, when the conditions differ even genetically quite closely related species can look very different. I've read novels that imagine intelligent life happening on the surface of a neutron star, in a gas giant's atmosphere, and most recently a mercury-like world with heavy gravity in Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (really enjoyed that one btw ... or, well, all of them actually). In all these worlds the aliens were quite alien indeed.
In the end, it's obviously impossible to really say what aliens would look like, but while the conditions that made us happen are quite specific indeed, I don't see much reason to think they're exactly the only conditions that could give rise to intelligent life and any small difference would have a big impact.
Anyway, I think one reason Twi'lek, Togruta etc are so easy to like is that they are indeed so close to human that they don't fall into the uncanny valley or appear actually alien. Also, since they're artificial they can be actually symmetrical, consistent etc, and we like that sort of stuff.
Give them legs with knees bending the other way and they'll be a whole lot more alien while the face doesn't need to change at all. Maybe that's too tough to mo-cap though :D
To finish up (this essay :P), as far as I'm concerned I don't have much in the way of expectations, even if I've suggested a sketch topic. I see the pledge mostly as a thank you for the years of work I've already enjoyed. Also, life happens. Would rather that you take the time you need and avoid burn out :)
I think the reason there's so many hat-aliens and forehead-aliens is because anything more complex would have a plastic mask face or be a puppet.
Yoda was SO EXPENSIVE.
Ha, yes. That's definitely the right answer. Funnily enough I was just listening to a No Such Thing As A Fish episode where they happened to be talking about E.T. That little alien was definitely a whole big thing and must've cost a fortune.
At least Star Trek ventured an explanation for some of it being due to a precurosr race seeding other planets so they'd grow up similar to them...but that then kinda falls apart when it comes to other sections of the galaxy. As ever, it's the budget XD
I've noticed in Moll and in the above Star Wars pic an uptick in anklet use- I'm a fan! If more sketches are had I wouldn't mind seeing Venne trying one or two on, or a likely member of the Floating Flowers gang experimenting with some barefoot sandals.
Heheh, it's more of a general jewelry uptick, but I'm not against drawing some!