I don't think I have shown this here, but I've been working on a drawing of one of my favourite creatures (?) from Dungeon Meshi, the Dryads. Also kind of making my own version of it by adding details specifically on their internal workings, and making them feel more like a fake puppet of a human grown from a flower.
The original dryad design vs Full Piece of mine (WIP)
I used several plants that have hinges and moving parts as a reference, mainly the hammer orchids (Drakaea sp.) for the internal joints and snapdragons (Antirrhinum sp.) for the external joints of the petal limbs. For the muscles used for more fast movement rather than structure, I used the curling tendrils that many climbing plants, especially in the cucurbit and grape families used for climbing, and can contract and extend pretty easily like springs. They don't use the same mechanism as normal tendrils though, as these move not by growing, but by hydraulics like other movable parts in plants like Mimosa, Drosera or the venus fly trap. For the general texture of the petal skin and sepal hair, I used mainly Hibiscus flowers for no particular reason other than I just love Hibiscus color diversity and petal texture.
Closeup of nearly finished Female flower
I Really enjoyed designing the face of the dryads, making them much more articulated and doll-like than the original designs. This facial petal had two moving parts: the mouth, which can open to allow pollination, which is partially inspired by orchids and snapdragons, with similar contraptions to access the pollen or stigmas; and the eyes, which are inspired by the retractable leaves of Mimosa plants, which can contract and relax via internal hydraulics to open the dryad's eyes.
Closeup of the facial petal of the female flower
I might add some text detailing some additional information once I finish the rest of the piece, but it depends on how good or cluttered it makes the piece feel, but I would like to add it. By the way for anyone wondering, the scientific name is a modification of the Greek name for dryads and other nymphs, which are usually named by adding -aie and similar suffixes to the plant they're associated with (greek dryads were named after oak trees). As these are more more flowers than trees, the genus name uses the prefix "Antho-" which is derived from the word for flower. The species name is much more simple as it means false (-oides) human (anthrop-).
Closeup of the male flower with additional information.
I hope you enjoyed this different kind of post where I go a bit in depth into my creative process, see you in the next one :>
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