The designs for the prominent characters of the Ulon Dosi (AKA goat-alien) tribe were a bit challenging. There are probably three main characters of the bunch, with Clem (the guy in this sequence) being one of them. I figured the males would have different facial hair braids, and additionally, soldiers would have war-beads. As the leader of the armed force, Clem would have the most war-beads. But I needed him to stand out in a more significant way.
I toyed with the idea of an eye-patch, but sometimes that just feels like a cheat, like that’s the go-to way to make someone’s face different from everyone else’s. So I scrapped that. I decided to actually rely more on color than anything else, which is a concept design aesthetic that’s generally not in my vocabulary since I’m so used to working in B&W. But since I am working in color now, I figure I might as well use it to full advantage, so I made Clem’s tunic red, while everyone else wears hides in more natural tones. In going with color, I made sure to include some of that red in his face as well (in the braid bands), since I wanted him to still be recognizable in close-ups where his tunic wasn’t in frame.
To cover my bases, I also gave Clem some notable differences in costume. Unlike everyone else, he has an additional layer of hide patches, which I figure might also serve as light leather armor. And I just thought the patchwork look was pretty cool.
I really like the design on these “Ulon Dosi”. After going back over the previous page I could easily tell which one was Clem. Keep up the great work, Sean!
“Run, Runners, run! … eer, oops. Go, Runners, go … ?”
[Ooh, nice colors! The tumbled terrain is a nice touch, both visually and as grounding the scene as real layers would likely slant in the same direction. (Some background seems at fault though, but I’ll let that one slip. [Sic?])
Ril is doing his thing, but if it isn’t a setup for the next sets of panels, it is a tad too much comic stereotyping. (Not Ril stereotyping – he is his own stereotype, or he wouldn’t be an individual. If that makes sense.) Just saying, my perspective, FWIW, YMMV, yadda yadda, greech !nosh. (That last in native Ril-ish.)]
I do like the patch hide armor, though i only see it functioning really as old and animal deterrents, stopping not much else.
And so we still dont get to see of this mysterious Ulon Dosi (I’ll call em Dosi Does.) Female, a scout of this particular tribe?
“Dosi Does.” Awesome! I love that. Now I’ll have to work in a square dance scene. Ha ha.
And yep, the leather armor isn’t meant to stop much. It’s more ornamental than anything else.
Glad you like the designs, Matt. I’m really happy with them as well. It’s funny because I keep designing aliens for one-off story appearances, but then I like them so much that I want to work them back in again at some point. So we’ll see…
As for Ril’s comment, it wasn’t really meant as a comedic line, although it does kinda work that way. It just kinda felt like something he’d say in that situation. He’s not one to hold back on the griping when he’s in a mood!
Yes, sorry, I meant comics stereotyping. But you are correct (well, duh!), that’s Ril!
I just appreciate the good work you do here, and the explanations for your decisions (I’m an engineer, I like to know how things work) are icing on the cake.
I really wish there was a Next link to click right now… 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsXEToflqGs