how did you get so good at making species?? everytime i try they dont look right or i dont quite like certain features, what do you do to brainstorm?
My trick has been to not second-guess my lines. While symmetry and regularity are common in nature and make organic things recognizable as alive, it’s only a guide. In reality, everything is crooked, soft, wrinkled, squished. Your shaky hand is your friend, and what better way to convey a living, imperfect thing than with imperfect lines? Mistakes you would’ve undone you might realize you want as a key detail to your creature.
Everything alive has a simple shape or all sorts of simple shapes attached to it. When in doubt, just add some (shaky) curves and suggestions of seams at which those curves meet the body (like how the bicep is noticeable against the arm through its curve).
It’s easy to get wrapped up in justifying your lines, or trying to make them perfectly smooth. The good news is, with a confident shape and details that simply only need to ‘feel right’ to your heart and yours alone, any creature can be believable.
Also, if the idea doesn’t sound fun to you, you don’t need to pull up references. Referencing is optional when it comes to drawing for fun. If it isn’t fun, you don’t owe anyone putting more work into your art than what you need to have fun. The best creatures are made from someone who enjoys the process of drawing, not from being dead-set on making a ‘good’ creature.
And, if your drawing doesn’t turn out how you wanted, you can always redesign, retcon, store the idea for later when you want to try again. There’s never a rush.
