Creating your Chimera Assignment

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Assignments 35Lesson NotesDownloads 16

Creating your Chimera Assignment

Lesson by

David Colman

in Drawing Dynamic Creatures

33K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 35Lesson NotesDownloads 16

Do some very simple shape breakdowns from two different species. Then take what you’ve learned and try combining them into one dynamic and believable creature.

This assignment is not about making a beautiful drawing, keep it loose and sketchy. I want to see “thinking” in your sketches, not a finished render.

You can use the images and videos that we provided or choose your own. Just make sure to upload your reference images when you submit your assignments.

Irime Ionut

•

4mo

klaibee

•

10mo

not yet finished the assignment, it‘s so great to study those animals. Now I need to combine:) huff, but first I must study anatomy and proportions…they are not quite right so far

Sebastián Flores

•

5mo

Those are beautiful drawings!

klaibee

•

10mo

more studies, still trying to find my own creature

@korsola

•

1yr

These are my breakdown and chimera drawing!

K. J. Reittinger

•

1yr

I tried combining a daisy like flower with a chimpanzee.

David Colman

•

1yr

What a great idea but what about really embracing the "bloom" of the flower into the ecology of the creature. I feel now its just set dressing. Additionally the drawings are getting a little soft- they are charming but lacking structure- get some blocky forms in there.

Michael Gutierrez

•

1yr

Here are some drawings that I have done.

David Colman

•

1yr

Very fun. I do feel you need to get into the volumes more extensively.- the drawings are a little superficial. Try breaking it down into objective forms. And build from the inside out. Not literally just from a foundational thought process. You got the details but there is no form design or structure to latch on to

Kassjan Smyczek

•

1yr

I made a mix of a mandrill and a lion. I made some shape breakdowns before.

David Colman

•

1yr

Nice one bUT the mandrill and Lion both have very similiar hsape proportions- both have a severely protruding muzzle and long nasal bone. the real ingenuity of this combination would be in the full body- like a more mandrill dominant face on an more feline dominant body. Its neither here nor there right now Too safe- find the uniqueness

Kassjan Smyczek

•

1yr

These are the shape breakdowns

Ian Gregory

•

2yr

Sticking to the combination of apes and bats. There is the thought of always wanting to follow the exact anatomy of the two animals, but for these I tried to make a variety of shapes and proportions. A big learning curve for this one as well.

David Colman

•

1yr

I think these are great- keeping the shapes big and clear . Now try to be more structurally sound- they have volume but try to find the objective forms allowing you to exploit those in various ways while maintaining the integrity of the source

Linus Lehmann

•

2yr

My first attempts. For the breakdown i used the fotos from the videos. I will definitly try some with other references, and other species than bats aswell. Feedback is very welcome.

David Colman

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1yr

Nice and loose and exploratory- I do like the last page alot- the upper right is an appealing combination. But I think you need to go a little further in general. Find the objective forms- work them out- dont bail so early. Take it all a step further- Be as didactic and analytical as possible.

Bernard

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2yr

Should have sticked to the assignment, mostly drawn by fantasising, so no useful reference pictures. Nevertheless a fun excercise.

David Colman

•

1yr

I WANT YOU TO HAVE FUN!! Whats the point otherwise. I do this as a profession because I love it. Even the hard assignments and ambiguous films are a welcomed challenged Generally speaking in any design, whether realistic or stylized, there needs to be a dominant shape- What is the one for this character? See how even he is throughout. Is it the upper body of the centaur- the horns? etc

Jeff Arsenault

•

2yr

Great concept! Would be cool to see it fleshed out a bit more with some refrence!

Jeff Arsenault

•

2yr

a Markhor and Chimpanzee mix. Pencil sketches. Trying to play with different head shapes!

David Colman

•

1yr

OH my goodness.. these are great. Solid breakdown of the Markhor.... Just masterful. And your combo species is unique.. feels authentic. Love the expression on the right too. Now lets see the full body!!! You have the chops- Jeff...show off a bit- explore it and charter undiscovered territory. (I know I behind on feedback but glad I saw this one)

Ash

•

2yr

very cool!!!

Bernard

•

2yr

Great linework, real characters, with wisdom and emotions. The horns could have been connected somewhat more solid on the skull, convincing the viewer they won’t break.

Samuel Lemons

•

2yr

I did my work on a 8.5 x 11 inch printer paper with a blue ballpoint pen.

David Colman

•

1yr

good objective form breakdown but need to take it further because you can see in your combo pieces your potentials are limited evident in the very basic breakdowns. Solid drawings just the iterations feel way too similair.

Bernard

•

2yr

Nice stuff, especially the two images on the left hand side, they look animation ready.

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David Colman

Illustrator working in film as a designer and storyboard artist- known as the "animal guy" for my passion for doodling animals. insta @davidsdoodles