World of Insects
This page consists of multiple projects that all work towards building up one world. It involves character designs, creature designs, and props. Keep reading to learn more about each part of the story so far!
Humanoid Insect Character Design
The goal of this project was to design three characters for a story I was developing in class; a protagonist, antagonist, and a side kick. I knew from the start that I didn’t want my characters to be your typical everyday human, but I was unsure exactly what I wanted to make. As I was thinking about all of the different fantasy creatures I could pick from, I remembered my mermaid project (Research Journal). If I had already made some mermaid designs based off of real fish, I figured that the next logical step would be to design fairies based off of insects. I spent some time playing around with several designs inspired by various types of bugs, and eventually ended up with three designs I loved. Miri is a dragonfly courier and the main character, Roselyn is the antagonist and reigning monarch butterfly, and Luca is a praying mantis tailor who helps Miri on her journey.
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Procreate
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January 2025
Hybrid Creature Design
This creature was designed to fit into the same world as my humanoid insect character design project. To start off, I thought about the different predators of insects. Birds, lizards, frogs, and small mammals came to mind immediately, but I didn't believe a normal animal would really fit into the world I was creating. After spending some time brainstorming, I decided I would combine these animals into a new hybrid. The animals I ended up choosing were a sparrow, mouse, and basilisk lizard. I made the head look like a bird, and the body quadrupedal like a mouse. The basilisk lizard was slightly harder to incorporate, but I didn't give up on including it. In order to make my bird-mouse slightly more lizardy, I added some spots and some leaf parts inspired by the frills of the basilisk.
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Procreate
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February 2025
Vehicle and Props
The next step in creating this world comes with the prop design. Since all of my characters are bug inspired (and sized), it made the most sense to me for the props to reflect this. The royal carriage is made out of various leaves, moss, and grasses. The door/window leaves are touch activated, inspired by real greenery such as the telegraph plant. The wheels and chair are made out of wood.
For the prop design, I took an in-depth look at Miri's bag. Since she is a courier who works for the crown, her bag would need to reflect this. Therefore, her bag is small and square, perfect for carrying several letters over long distances. A small patch representing the queen is sewn onto the bag as well. Finally, as an extra little detail, dirt stains cover the bag. It has been used for years, after all.
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Procreate
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February 2025
