Fundamentals of Creature Design: How to Create Successful Concepts Using Functionality, Anatomy, Color, Shape & Scale

by Alex Ries (Editor), Brynn Metheney, Andrew Baker

Creating engaging and believable creature designs is a difficult and enjoyable task. The monsters, aliens and fantasy animals that grace our TV and cinema screens represent the hard work and dedication of a team of incredibly talented artists and designers. This book aims to unlock their world and introduce the fundamentals skills of creating movie quality designs. Covering key topics like animal anatomy and functionality as well as techniques to create unique and engaging designs, this expansive book will be packed full of advice and guidance from some of the most impressive and renowned artists working in this field in the world today.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2020

Reviews

[Marie H.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars ⭐️ What a fantastic book on drawing! I was completely spellbound the moment I opened it, and thanks to this book, I can't fully take a break from my art studies because it's so engrossing and inspiring.

Just before summer vacation, I had an immense urge to create, which actually became a bit of a problem since I couldn't fully enjoy my summer vacation. This book isn't making it any easier because now I have to sketch out all my ideas before school starts, so they don't slip away.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time.

I particularly like the discussions of functional anatomy and how environments shape anatomical evolution/variation. I would have liked a lot more, but at some point the book would become a tome (or effectively a set of encyclopedias). Unfortunately there was also no bibliography or "suggested reading" list for further discussions of anatomy/functional anatomy.

My interests are on the writing side, so I can't really comment how useful this would be for graphic artists. The book does go through several design examples, though, suggesting how to refine concepts and what does/does not work from a functional design perspective.

Not a "one-book solution", but a really good resource all the same.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on creature design out there

[Daniela Kazarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed, instead of just teaching you about different types of animal anatomy it makes you think about your creature habitat, feeding, predators, mating rituals, social behavior, locomotion... and gives you examples of the features related to each choice.