Creature Design: Designing the Venement
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- How can personality be reflected in a silhouette? How can color be used to unnerve our audience? And how can we come up with Iconic Elements that will elevate our creature from the merely impactful to the extremely memorable?
We'll explore these ideas and many more as we invent a nightmarish new creation, the Venement. I hope you learn something in this video, which is itself a short excerpt from my tutorial "Chimaera: A Creature Design Masterclass."
Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, ring the bell, and leave a COMMENT - I want to hear from you! Tell me how you find me, what inspires you, and what you'd like to see from me next.
Instagram: iamjonahlobe
Twitter: Jonahlobe
Patreon: www.patreon.com/JonahLobe
Chimaera: www.jonahlobe.com/mythmasters
I'm studying/working as a creature designer (of course I'm still a noob) and lessons like this are absolutely helpful sir, and now I'm long for new designing documentaries from you...
With big respect!!
Thank you Duy! I'm releasing more videos very soon, stay tuned. And thanks for making a comment on this, one it's good to hear from you!
I don't think I've ever seen someone explain the thought process behind his artwork so clearly! Hearing each decision, behind every shape and texture, really helps to understand the mindset of a professional. I was particularly blown away by your choice to take a step back and redesign its face; i found it perfect, as creepy and uncanny as a big spooky insect should be. But your new design, motivated by the fact that it was too distant from the natural world, felt... more correct? It really opened my eyes on the importance of staying consistent with a given direction, rather than making choices just by your own taste and bias. Thank you for these videos, I'll be sure to check out all of your stuff!
Thanks Trabs, I appreciate it! Yeah I think our own whims can sometimes get derivative and predictable, but if we stay on-mission throughout a project, it can keep us honest and sometimes force us to dig even deeper for something more interesting. And thanks for the comment and the follow - I've got some great new content coming imminently that I think you'll enjoy.
@@JonahLobeDraws I was about to do a long ass comment, but trabs basically collected it in one place. Amazing job, very professional, concise and methodical in a way that is hard to find outside of university lectures. I found it incredibly useful in multiple ways. I am not great as at drawing and painting, i do mostly storytelling and creative writing but hearing you go over the choices. The ideas that both make it strange and the ones that it make grounded. The underlying principles. Just incredible. It moved my vision of how i would handle a creature like this ahead by leaps and bounds.
@@csecskristof So glad you enjoyed this Chris. One thing this channel is going to be about will be world building and the creation of original fantasy. I hope for it to be a resource to writers just as much as artists! I am also working on a written fantasy, and I love thinking very deeply about the process of creation. Glad to have like-minded individuals on the path with me! Looking forward to showing you what I’ve got next…
Wow this is so cool. I thought the first iteration could be used as some kind of super natural being or demon, it had intelligence, while still having that quality about insects that scares me the most, the fact that they utterly do not care about you, not cruelty, but complete remote indifference .
As a lover of horror, weird insects and all things spooky i think this is my absolute favorite video so far.. but honestly i love them all so much it changes day to day! I think my favorite aspects of the venement are it's humanish hands and the wiry mane of hair, along with the pallid colours. Imagining a couple of these swarming up from underground is shudder inducing for sure! Wont be able to squish these bugs with a shoe!
I was very fond of the human face stage, though i agree with the consensus that it goes right into "Lovecraft's fever induced nightmare" rather than "creature that evolved like this" So i can understand the need for a change! The red mandibles on the final head make me think of a creature with a bloody maw and the eyes seem so calculating, like it's sizing me up, which is very praying mantis like!
I've started taking the practice of silhouetting into my designs and i've already noticed i'm starting to push my forms and shapes more! So a whole hearted thank you for such a great piece of advice. I think I learnt a bit about colour and pallets in this video along with the design advice which i'm excited to put to use on my next creation!
I'm glad you feel that way - I do too! I was definitely thinking of, like, Japanese horror movies when I made this character. He's hideous but he needs our love :)
love your linguistic approach to creature design, truely draws on all the different skills an artist has at their disposal
I'll try to double down on that approach going forward too, I think it's a helpful tool for design.
And glad to see you're tearing through my videos so fast Kimbureh!
@@JonahLobeDraws i'm amazed to have a hardworking artist like yourself take the time and reply to youtube comments, it inspires me to work harder on my art as well. I don't know how it is for you if you sometimes upload videos that perhaps don't get that many views, but please be assured your offered mentorship isn't wasted! thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion!
@@kimbureh7338 My pleasure! I find it's not hard to take a few minutes out of the day to feed a hungry mind, it's always worth it IMO.
Absolutely loved the way you narratively took us through your design process! Both the designs were absolutely wonderful but I too am one of those who loved the first design. It was, of course, deeply disturbing- but it was the kind that sticks with you long after you’re done with the story.
That being said... You’re a brilliant artist through and through- thank you for making this!
Thank you so much Kaurk! Really appreciate your comment, and looking forward to delivering even more content like this to you!
Thats because i feel like both designs would work for different situations, depending on what you want to create. Do you want to create something creepy, horrifying and nightmarish? Or do you want to create something parasitic, vicious and dangerous?
how i never met this channel before !? It is SO great!
If you liked this Epic, you're going to LOVE what I've got coming soon!
Fantastic video! Really enjoying your content so far.
I think the first iteration is my favorite. There's so much.. uniqueness to it. I can so easily see it as a boss in a "Witcher" game, that has an ending where you lift a curse from a person that was turned into one. Like saving the village "grandfather" from a Venement curse.
I sort of agree! I’ve just decided to save the nightmare material for a nightmare-creature-specific course. So I agree, something was lost a little bit. But thank you for the comment anyway, Ranger - I look forward to you seeing what I’ve got coming out next!
I think of it from an evolutionary point of view, simply pick an animal and select some locational conditions.
For this, slightly larger crickets growing in normal conditions realized the ability to grab living prey. Those with sharper feet began to multiply
The feet would allow them to run as well as jump, the talons allowing for stabbing of things like small mice. Lets say a few million years go by, its now 5 feet tall before humans settle, only those larger than 5'7 survived and continued to attack humans.
Adventurures being sent out only allowed it to get a harder shell
Kaiser I love this narrative. It's exactly this kind of thinking that can result in something cool and original!
Amazing video, it's like 3am and I was just taking a glance but ended up watching the whole thing!
Yayy that's awesome! Thanks for supporting me here - I look forward to releasing ever-more-content.
This was absolutely fascinating. Pure joy seeing your readiness to change and explore new ideas.
Being prepared to embrace new ideas is central to creativity!! We can't regard our own creations as being too "precious".
I personally preferred the more humanoid Venement design, but the final product does look really good.
I hear you Zeta. I also loved that, but I think I'll head more in that direction when I release my course "Nightmare Creature Design."
I just rewatched this video for the fifth time since discovering your channel. this time it inspired me to create a few three word drawing prompts. feel free to use them if they strike your fancy. I'll probably use these to inspire creatures for my books. I write horror, romance, and fantasy as well as scifi.
1. Gaunt, Duplicitous, Bifurcated
2. Sanguine, Spry, Pensive
3. Recalcitrant, Venomous, Slippery
4. Insidious, Emergent, Amalgamated
5. Existential, Ambiguous, Tentative
Asimov, I'm so glad you enjoyed this video - I've got more like it in the works. And yay to you using this process in the future! It really can be so fun, I totally agree.
Could you please make a video on color harmony and how to balance colors.
Thank you for this video.
That's a great idea Abir. I will be certain to tackle something like that, I think it would be very useful to people.
Honestly, the “nightmare” version was fantastic but yes, absolutely not something that looked like a feasible living creature
Thanks Magical. Yeah I wanted it to feel like a "real" creature.
Nightmare... is ... good? :) I feel it is quite an accomplishment when people find creatures nightmarish. I guess you could say the same about the fly. Especially when his face fell apart like an inanimate human body cocoon that gets stripped off because of gina davis pushing his face away, and the face of the fly gets revealed. I guess that was one of the biggest moments of "too much" in horror movie history, but it rounded up the violent trip about mortality pretty well and I would have found it odd if Cronenberg would have kept that scene out just because people telling him it might be too much.
Horror tastes are widely degreed and wide spread, of course not everyone is into nightmare stuff. The same way not every one is into death metal :P. What I want to get at is: Your first painting was awesome. I did not find it went too far at all. The hair and hair line placement was really great and I liked the predator influence a lot. - I ask myself: Is there really something like "too far"?
Good questions all around! You know, I'm planning to make a course called "Nightmare Creature Design" and so I figured the truly awful stuff should wait until that course, as this is simply a creature (aka animal) course, you know?
@@JonahLobeDraws Count me in! - Yeah, it also crosses my mind that it is "just" an insect with a human head, so jeah, I get what you mean.
Thank you sir, you really inspires me to do a creature design, you make the process sounds interesting!
That's so great! Hit me up with it on social media if you do.
@@JonahLobeDraws sure! Also i want to know exactly how to start a career in character/creature design, because i was graduated last year, but have no information how to start this job. My first job a year before is an animator (2d). I hope you make a video about it next time .
@@m.raihanradhiya934 Thank you, that's great feedback. I get these questions a lot, I will put this on the list of things to make a video about!
I think i finally found the channel i was so desperately looking for 😍 i love your art!
Sorry I missed this Franz, but thank you!
I think you'll like the video I'm going to release very soon too Franz.
What I've been doing this month, and two months ago, is drawing people's pets but with their desired alterations to make them into fantasy/sci-fi creatures. From that, I've learned a couple of tricks to turn a cute fluffy animal, into a horrid little creature; and yeah, "hands" is definitely one of them. Super effective, the only downside is that you have to draw hands.
Great exercise. And yeah, even after all these years, hands are my nemesis…
Wow, man you helped so much in just 15 minutes! Your art process is amazing and effective, I hope to see more of these ! You have a new sub! Also, Any tips on creating a full fauna for a planet?
Roda, it's my pleasure! I really appreciate the follow, I think you'll like what I've got planned for these next several months. And yeah, I would think really hard about the planet itself, the gravity, the atmosphere, etc, when designing a creature for that world. Even the colors of the earth itself will effect the colors used on your creation!
Fantastic video! It's really cool seeing more insight into your process and the way you develop things. It gave me a bit of an idea for playing around with my brush pen to get some good silhouettes of things, perhaps find my own process for creatures when I have a whim to study some. Keep up the great work!
Thank you Jank! As we discussed in your last Patreon feedback, it's all about linework. I'm really enjoying the way you're experimenting with that world.
@@JonahLobeDraws Thank you! Yeah good point. I really gotta get some better focus going hahaha. My desire to try and do everything could use some taming.
@@jankhambrams I think you're doing just great man.
I kinda liked the horrific looking one. It seemed more harbinger to me than the final product which seemed like a species of harbingers. It kinda reminds me of the mass effect harbingers that I don't remember the name of but more interesting because it isn't just the hammerhead insect head on top of a human body
I LOVED the designs from Mass Effect. They looked like squids or locusts, just brilliant.
NGL I actually would've liked the Venement in its humanoid creepy form.
But the end result is still amazing!
Lots of people said that actually! I'm planning another course called "Nightmare Creature Design" and I intend to go full horror in that one ;) Thanks for the comment and the follow Tigan!
@@JonahLobeDraws No problem!
I'm a huge fan of monsters and creature design (as well as palaeontology and other things) so this was both fun, and informative.
Superb!
Thanks Shane!
Imma keep it simple.
With enthusiasm... Sick! : D
Thank you much Jordan!
i am one of the subscribers of yours
would you please make a video about
HOW TO USE or APPLY ANATOMY IN CHARACTER or CREATURE DESIGN
Absolutely I can! Anatomy is one of my favorite topics, and I'll be working with it a lot this coming year. What specific questions would you like to see answered in a video of this nature, Subarna?
Great video, interesting topic and details. Looking forward to seeing more :)
Is there 3d sculpting process content also planned?
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Farrukh - yes I do plan on posting 3D sculpting process. Some of that will be incidental, as you watch me create various assets; but I will definitely pursue strictly 3D tutorial-based stuff that will describe my workflow. Thanks for the question!
GOD.
THIS IS *GOOD!*
Ha thank you Shade!!
@Jonah Lobe is great at making characters mostly monsters.
Thanks Asher!
How ironic that the less human you make a creature the less creepy it is?
I know ! I had a version of the Venement with a far more human face and my wife was NOT okay with it.
@@JonahLobeDraws Uncanny valley
Hey Jonah I just found your channel and am loving it so far. I have one question about the final design. Why are it’s two outer eyes larger than it’s inner eyes? As a predator I would assume it would be more beneficial to have better eyesight looking forward than to the sides.
Hey Brayden, welcome! Great question. Honestly, I didn't think about the specifics of the eyes in this. It's important to keep in mind the viability of a particular species, with regards to anatomy, but sometimes, to achieve an original look, you just have to break a few ground rules (and you can always justify it later with something made up, ha). Although in this case, you'll notice that all 4 eyes face mostly forward!
I probably would be the minority when I say I found the older version of the creature more cool-looking than nightmarish even if I wouldn’t want to meet it in a dark alley. The new version looks just as cool though!
Thank you Luna! I also really enjoyed the first version, but I got shut down haha. That's okay though! Every time we're challenged to create something new, it's a good thing because it keeps us digging for more.
great I found you! just subbed
Yessss Chriss thank you! I've got more content dropping very soon, stay tuned!!
@@JonahLobeDraws awesome, I will!
Nothing has made me sadder creatively than you going the other direction. The uber creepy hairy human version was so legit. Think of that bad boy in elden ring. I actually would have liked that better than your king and counsel monster.
Ha! Keith I hear you. I missed that head, too, but my wife made a good point... this was a "creature," not a "monster." So even though this new version appears monstrous as well, it's very clearly still an animal. With the humanoid head, we start crossing over into "true monster" and I'm intending to make other videos dedicated to that especially!
@@JonahLobeDraws very good point. Tho other direction was 100% a monster lol. I have only recently started to take art seriously, but your videos have been very helpful. I always look forward to new content from you
@@keithhart6392 Thank you so much Keith! I look forward to sharing what's coming up, got some exciting stuff up ahead...
I liked the nightmare one more ;w ;
A lot of people do, but I am coming out with a course called Nightmare Creature Design so I’m saving the real nasties for that one.
Hey Jonah,
Any tips on how to transition to digital ?
It seems very daunting.
Hi Wes! Thanks for the question, that gives me something to think about for upcoming videos. To answer your question here, though, I'd perhaps first suggest scanning/photographing your artwork and then trying to "color" it in Photoshop or some other program. If you an pursue a very limited number of techniques - like, just learn how to use the basic brush, eraser, undo, redo, and layer modes - then you can quickly find a path within the digital workflow that feels comfortable and familiar to you... and then you can begin to explore the other digital options as you progress! Make sense?
Yeah, thanks a ton, I’ll try some of these things out.
@@dangerwes9028 Good luck!
Cool video man though I can't help but think it would say something like "General kenobi"
Oooh I love Grievous' design, even if I didn't like those "new" movies...
really long ago, and no one will see this, but I preferred the earlier designs. The hair was a good choice as it felt more human, the final product also felt too alien to be unsettling in a human sense. TBF I prefer more abstract characters like silent hill monsters and stuff. Still looks dope and cool tho, but not scary
I totally know what you mean, but I made the decision because I have another course I'll be working on, called "Nightmare Creature Design," and that I thought was the perfect venue for talking about unsettling aspects of a design. Seeing as how this is a creature design course, however, I thought it would be best if I stayed away from an outright monstrosity and kept it looking more like an animal. But thanks for your comment, and for your follow! Got some good stuff coming up, I think you'll like.
As a lover of horror and creature movies, I love your work, I hope one day you will have a collaboration with Stephen King or Steven Spielberg and make a monster / creature movie that we all can enjoy and love. Look forward to seeing more of your work.
Felipe that would be an absolute dream. Del Toro would also be incredible!!
@@JonahLobeDraws i agree he's a very good choice.
jonah is trying to deal with his PTSD here
It’s a hard world out there mate
I want you to show me the repulsive look that made it a nightmare. Anyone have any links to how it looked before people said it was too scary?
Great question Purple. Here's a side-by-side comparison for you. And thanks for the comment and the follow! twitter.com/Jonahlobe/status/1461012761614372866?s=20
@@JonahLobeDraws thanks alot! I am a massive fan of gross terrifying monsters and just watched this video today and discovered your channel. My god your more entertaining than a teacher by leaps and bounds. Subbed.
@@purplejustpurple8484 Dope, thanks Purple! I've got a huge Skyrim video coming out in a week or so, and then starting in January I will have a HUGE series which I think you'll enjoy. Thanks for the comment and the sub, and I will see you up ahead!
@@JonahLobeDraws me too. Will make sure to see that video. Amazed that you made some creatures in skyrim and fallout. Keep up the good work and videos. I love art and creating characters in my head so these videos are awsome.
I preferred the nightmare... I feel that most often "scary monsters" aren't scary, especially in games. I'm currently playing Elden Ring and Fromsoft is known for their "grotesque" monsters but I find nothing in the game is unsettling. I never really liked Dark Souls or Demon Souls... but the one game I did really enjoy from them was Bloodborne. Sure nothing was over the top but they certainly played on the fence with how disturbing their aesthetic was an I really appreciated that.
Not that every game or movie has to push horrific, as long as the aesthetic is fervent and full of verisimilitude I will probably love it... but if you're trying to make me uncomfortable, push it! I'm tired of laughing through scary movies at how stupidly the characters behave or when directors think "gore gore gore" is somehow suppose to be scary.
The Nightmare Design: Feels more like a singular boss monster, like it could be scheming and putting more thought into what it does.
The Final Design: Feels more like an easily replicated minion, like they would be a smaller swarm working for the Nightmare design.
Hey Daniel - I actually agree with you in many respects, but I will say that your assessment of the Final vs Nightmare designs was spot on, and for a reason. This is a creature design course, so I wanted to make this look more like an animal rather than a "scary monster." I actually plan to make a full hour-long course on Nightmare Creature Design later this year, and that's when I'll dive into specifically the realm of demons, ghosts, and monstrosities.
AND in the next couple months, you can expect an Elden Ring video from me! I'll be designing an Elden Ring boss and explain how their aesthetics work in that game. Hope you subscribed, and thanks for the comment.
Consider me excited to learn more from your content! I have been learning concept art and digital art for awhile now, though I'm still pretty new. I did subscribe to your channel and I followed you on Instagram, left quite a few likes haha.
Thanks for the reply!
(Holy crap I had to resend this like 5 times cause my comment kept getting deleted... finally figured out it was cause I was calling myself the gamer term for an inexperienced or new player)
Oister monster?
What program is this?
Photoshop!
@@JonahLobeDraws is there a way to get photoshop for free? Like is there a noob version that is missing features but is free? If so, would you recommend it?
If asked to return and work on Starfield, would you take a job back at Bethesda?
Good question - no! I left because I wanted to pursue my own dreams and I don't really want to go back to my desk job. Also, I don't love sci-fi as much as I love fantasy!
:)
Since when are tarantulas insects?
Good catch, you're totally right, they're not.
@@JonahLobeDraws Thank you, I'm planning to get a pet tarantula and so I know spiders differ from insects in the number of legs as well as their head and thorax being joined into a cephalothorax. So it was not only a good catch but an easy one at that too.
@@kenichiotaku3693 Awesome, what kind of tarantula?
@@JonahLobeDraws Avicularia Purpurea, docile tendencies, mild venom, eats one or twice every two weeks, I like the colour purple.
@@kenichiotaku3693 Wow what a beautiful insect, er, creature!
Can you give me homework...
Yeah man! Why don't you try designing a friendly moth character that is blended in some way with a platypus and a cheetah. Use a very limited color palette, focus on the shapes, and then hit me up with the final sketch on social media, I'll be happy to review it there Jay. Otherwise, don't forget to subscribe here, I got a new couple videos on their way now...!
Am I the only one who finds the Venement cute, or...?
No I feel the same same! Sort of 😂
fuck that's disgusting, good work
Aim to please!
Disregarding the talk and the bland biblical themes, the locust theming had so much potential and you slowly lost all of that theming. The final design is a cave dweller, a crawler, it looks like an arachnid or weird crustacean more than an insect. This is a creature that hides and dwells, not migratory - not a harbinger.
I hear you, but the Harbinger idea was just a starting point. I'd already drawn the Harbinger, which I showed at the beginning of the video. The idea was to riff on that. I'm sorry you're disappointed in the final design.