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Submitted: August 28, 2007
Image Size: 255 KB
Resolution: 1739×1263

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Slimey Bird Peopleby ~CaptainQuirk

Traditional Art / Drawings / Sci-Fi

...for lack of a better title.

This was done for

's Seventh Sanctum's Alien Contact contest.

The generator-made description is:
The slime-covered race. They have five manipulatory limbs. They are herbivores. Their greatest leaders were once ambassadors. They can change genders under certain conditions. Their major technical achievements are in space travel. They are very unforgiving. They once ruled a great empire, but were utterly defeated in a war. Their planet of origin is a world that has several, broken rings surrounding it and is and only a small part of the world is habitable to the species.

I showed them as an agrarian society occupying several planets because they're herbivores who need more space than their home world. I guess they're hanging onto a few of their former colonies and farming there too.

~Niffiwan Sep 20, 2007

This is probably the best thing I've seen of your work so far (I've just been scrolling down the gallery from the newest stuff). It's imaginative, but most importantly, there's a really nice balance to this image. The use of space, metaphor (representing things through symbols rather than literally attempting to draw them, as in a lot of folk art), and colouring are really nice.

It reminds me a bit of some Estonian animation (here's an example), only more harmonious.

~CaptainQuirk Sep 22, 2007

I saw the animation...that's deeply disturbing!

~Niffiwan Sep 23, 2007

Yes, it is quite strange. It's also apparently quite typical of Estonian animation, though - and that particular film was a big success when it came out over there a few years ago.
...
There are many different ways of interpreting the world, and some of them seem very strange or even frightening to those who've grown up with something completely different.

~CaptainQuirk Sep 24, 2007

I guess so.

~CaptainQuirk Sep 22, 2007

Thanks for the comment. What do you mean, drawing metaphors? Because this is more or less literal. I do symbolic stuff too, but...not here, unless something subconsciously jumped out. Out of curiosity, what do you read into it?

~Niffiwan Sep 23, 2007

Well, it's pretty simple; I just used overly-complicated words. Despite what you say, this drawing is anything but literal. Look at the planet on the upper left, for example. Instead of attempting to go for realism, which would mean colouring it with a motley of different hues and few discernible features, you represent its landscape with very simplified versions of a desert, mountains, river, etc.

It's economical and effective. It's the natural way for a child to draw, actually. But some of us (

) have an unfortunate tendency to make things overly complex and realistic, and need to make a conscious effort to do the same thing. It's just refreshing to see something like this.

On a slightly separate note, I wish the drawings in your comics were as creative!

~CaptainQuirk Sep 24, 2007

Well, the indiscernible features on a planet are usually scribbled on as well. Most people don't actually look at the image of a planet from space and draw in each blurry line as it would be. They also estimate based on what they guess is there.

~DragonScholar Sep 2, 2007

Putting it up tonight.

~CaptainQuirk Sep 2, 2007

Arigato.

~Scattle Aug 28, 2007

I agree with EmmaPoinsettia. -_-

Very creative! Awesome job.

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