Aardvark

So this is the first work I made in the series. Lot of time went into this one. This is called the Aardvark if you can't already guess its based off one. The original design is a quarter view which I intend to make some time soon. The land scape is meant to be a garbage dump of machines like its self. Its main design is for long distance transport through mountains or rough terrain on land. The size of the water color is 12x15 on HP arches watercolor paper. The ultimate desire for this piece was to be blown up so I consider the larger 26x34 the finished work. This goes for alot of my work. The goal is to have them enlarged with out deterioration.

26x34 on fine art paper.

Lithodes

Finally I get some color on this site. This is one of my most recent creations. The Lithodes was based off a Stone Crab mixed with a lobster hence the tail. The name stands for lithodes couesi the Scarlet King Crab. This is the first three view painting I have done even though a lot of my sketches and diagrams consist of the same set up. I want the viewer to build a 3D image of what is in front of them. A quarter view doesn't aways give this effect. The geometric charts on the sides are not just there to look pretty. They show the extent of movement in the joints. The middle one gives the range of how far the tail can move up and down showing each segment. The bottom right a side view of the front left arm. The bottom left is the limitations of the legs.

35x55 on fine art paper

Working drawings/ sketches

These are some of the original drawings I started with when I began this project. All of these were done at the Field Museum in Chicago. The Blueprints that are posted below come directly from these sketches. This is where the hard information comes from. I see these as more of a separate piece of work more related to my love for medical illustration. Regardless of what there original purpose was for, they now serve as a template for most of my work.This study shows the arm of a Whaleses along with a few side views of some pelvis. The dash marks listed on the bones that will appear in most of my studies are not just for aesthetic reasons. They list the joints of the ligaments. This is on 90 lb watercolor paper 12x18.

Rib cage study from a collective of early mammals. With overlay of tracing paper outlining schematic for Ostrich ship based off the Andalgalornis bird skeleton. 90 lb watercolor paper 12x18Front leg studies mixed with sea otter skeleton and sturgeon. This is the beginning of the mechanics behind much of the flexibility and rotation to the appendages of my creations. 90 lb watercolor paper 12x18

This study is more informational than the others. This is where alot of the ideas came from for the legs and arms of much of the robots I have made so far comes from. The aardvark mech gained alot from these. Crucial information on this would be the distance between the legs in the bottom right. This played a large part in how I saw my creatures move and really gave them a more life like feel versus something just made up.

That's another thing I want to make clear through my work. Is that all of the mechanical creatures I make are ment to function as real machines. They are modeled from real animals and mimic there movements through mechanized means. Cybernetic creatures mirroring nature. I enjoy the idea of having it all presented as one piece, but I have trouble with the idea of what works depend on others such as these versus my finished paintings.

Diagrams / Blueprints

Over layering of three velum sheets, on transparency 8x11in.
Swordfish port diagram, cross section of compartment doors and body segments. Velum 11x14in.
Stone Crab scematic. Designed for underwater salvage and retrieval. Velum, 11x14in.

Swan/Bird of Prey submersible for commercial transport as well as Public.Velum, 11x14in.

Aardvark carrier scematic quarter view. Velum, 11x14in.

These are part of a series in a on going project of mine. I start out with sketches of skeletons and work over them on velum slowly building up a design that suites my intentions for what i feel the animal would best be utilized for. As of right now all of the ones above are used for transport and salvage. Most of these have been realized in finished paintings depicting them in scenes of how they move and interact with there environment. I will post more images of them as soon as i can scan them at the moment that is the only thing keeping them off this blog.