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Create Biologically Viable Alien Concept Art in Photoshop
Designing a plausible alien life form represents a challenge for concept artists. The monstrous creatures used blockbuster movies and video games can be relatively easily created, as they don’t need to be functional within a real world context. To design a creature that not only meets with a clients’ requirements, but is also potentially biologically viable requires a careful balance between plausibility and visual impact, a balance aided by careful research into the way real animals look and behave. In this tutorial, Alex Ries will explain how to illustrate an alien life form that could potentially exist in real life. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The materials required for this tutorial are researched reference images and textures. For this alien life form the following are used:
About This Creature
This creature, nicknamed the Needlejaw by local inhabitants, is a 4 foot tall quadrupedal omnivore inhabiting the dense red-leaved woodlands of a small fertile world. During the forty-hour periods of daylight it divides its time between resting, and tracking down fruits and soft plants with its keen sense of a smell, peircing them with its hardened rostrum and sucking out the fluids.
As darkness descends however, its behavior changes dramatically: Antennae previously held furled against the head are deployed and are able to detect the infrared radiation given off by its warm-blooded prey in the darkening forest. Using its slender legs and light build, the Needlejaw stalks silently until near enough to strike, driving its pointed beak downward with enough force to pierce tough skin and inject potent toxins and enzymes. The wounded prey is then tracked by the Needlejaws’ keen sense of smell, and drained of its body fluids by a strong muscular pharynx.
Powerful, sharp edged claws usually held flat against the chest are used to manipulate prey to facilitate feeding, or to tear open organs and other tough tissues. They are also utilized in carrying prey to a safer feeding location, where it will be protected from other, larger predators.
This ability; to exploit different food resources during both day and night cycles, has allowed the Needlejaws to diversify greatly, and the group is found in large numbers in many habitats across the planet.
Preparation
This alien creature with its complex mouthparts and skin details requires a large canvas. In this case a new file of 5000×3750 pixels provides adequate resolution, without adversely affecting system performance.
Save this new canvas with a descriptive name and number: The numbering allows backup (iterative) saves to be made as the image progresses: Select File > Save As and increase the number value of the file name by one before each major change. These saves enable the recovery of elements from earlier versions of the painting which would otherwise be lost.
Step 1
Conduct your research by collecting images relevant to the design brief, which in this case is the illustration of a plausible alien life form. To this end, gather references of unusual or interesting earth animals that could inspire aspects of the design.
Step 2
With these references gathered, arrange them on a new canvas with a large enough resolution to display them all without losing detail. Create an image of 4000×5069 pixels and organize the references inside it.
Step 3
To easily view these references while working, the canvas will be duplicated and arranged around the main image. Select Window > Arrange > New Window for References and create a copy of the canvas. Next, resize and relocate both the original and the duplicate, one atop the other, on the left hand side of the screen. Repeat this step to create one more duplicate, resizing and relocating it to fit below the Layer Palette on the right side of the screen. Now, using the Zoom Tool it’s possible to view different areas of the reference canvas simultaneously.