#aritha

[aeridanus]

Wanted to quickly sketch out an idea for the troglodyte Kanerodoptrix and ended up with a little speedpaint of an evolutionary relative which returned to the surface and lives in the nearby Arithan desert. The female in the front has a mane while the male shows off some nice stripes.

[aeridanus]

Took the last image and worked on the proportions - I think they’re much better now and fit their way of living. The colors are inspired by Lost World’s velociraptor (obviously) and a color combo from a miscolored Lion King artwork back in the 90s. Do you also know the “magical” feeling of some color combinations, especially from your childhood? The schemes from the two protagonists of the second Care Bears movie have a similar effect on me.

[aeridanus]

It’s a far cry from yesterday’s dynamic strokes, but it’s Friday night after a draining week. I also feel that I didn’t capture the shape I had in mind, but it was a relaxing painting time nonetheless. The next one’s going to fit better.

[aeridanus]

Derived the Coriophan’s rough anatomy from the corioalarian base and it’s working well. Maybe it’s a little bit too bulky, I don’t know yet. And Joseph shows off his dancing skills for the sake of scale.

[aeridanus]

This workweek was something else in terms of pressure and it’s a relief to let strokes be what I want them to be. Kanerophan vs. Coriophan! The latter really does work as a species... at least I think that it looks fucking cool. x)

[aeridanus]

Loafed around after two intense weeks at work and felt like giving Photoshop a little spin. It’s Neshtèra, the same corioalar as on the last image. She sustains this injury in a fight with a pair of mountain corios who can be sometimes arsed to obey Senta’s foster-father, but they’re too opportunistic to turn down a fight against another corioalar.

From then on, Neshtèra’s flight is unstable and forbids her to return to the eastern lowlands for feeding. It’s either walking or dying up there, but Senta can’t live with the thought of losing a creature like her to her foster-father’s corio gang and tries to gain Neshtèra’s trust.

[aeridanus]

Had a bit of fun with a movie-ish sequence of the bonding moment between Senta and Neshtèra. Once in color and once in grayscale - both work well in their own ways.

Nesh is only inches away from piercing Senta and ending the story, but she hesitates when Senta just sighs and tells her, “Wait - I’ll show you”. Nesh is surprised to see mountain corio bite marks on her neck, and Senta says, “See, I know how it is. I don’t want to hurt you - but maybe I can help you hurt a little bit less.”

[aeridanus]

Doodling away at the redesign of the mountain corio. They’re not a pretty species by aesthetic standards, but they’re among the sturdiest corioalars around. Their arms are little more than climbing hooks while their feet retained way more flexibility, mostly for grabbing prey and general foothold. The bumps on their necks are fat deposits, and besides their obvious energy storage role, they are used for bragging. A corioalar with a bumpy neck is well fed and has the power to still fly around as an un-aerodynamic, nose-heavy disaster.

They’re less aggressive than the hot-headed flatland corioalars, but they’re also dumber. On the other hand, they’re at least partially tameable, and there are reports of someone in the mountains of Aritha who keeps two mountain corios as eccentric pets. One of those pets is the individual who bites Neshtéra out of the sky, and the second pet is pictured above.