Sketchbook Saturday: More Flying Critters

tucan sketches
tucan sketches
Toucan Sketchbook Page

More birds, this time one with extreme proportions!  I focused on getting the beak correct from a variety of angles, as well as how little detail was needed to express the orientation of that tiny black body in space!  I’m trying to develop a good shorthand design language for wings which are so common on fantasy creatures. Alas, I can’t remember what species of toucan I studied here.  Compare its tiny little compact frame with that of the flying fox below!

Malaysian Flying Fox Sketches
Malaysian Flying Fox Sketches

I chose the largest bat so that I could play around with comparing it to the birds that have been my focus recently.  Malaysian bat wings are also great reference for creatures like dragons or winged mounts.  Their skull is different than what you might expect, I have a cast one that sits above my computer monitor to provide me a reference for a uniquely predatory face that is not influenced by the Caniforma evolution path.  I made some mistakes when I picked references, not paying close attention to variations among similar species all called flying foxes, so a couple of these first sketches are the wrong species, oops!

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