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All projects completed solely by Christian Truss.
Animated Cauldron - 11.24 (Current project, wip)
Artist Notes: ​
​​A witch’s cauldron gone rogue, brought to life by the boiled souls of men and beasts. Its trapped victims shamble helplessly, bound to the whims of a dim amphibian at the helm.
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Animted Cauldron - initial sketches
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Animted Cauldron - Rig test animation 01
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Pan Hag Project - 10.24
Hag - Initial concepts
Hag - Developing ideas
Artist Notes: ​
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For the spooky season I took part in a monster design workshop in which I decided to revisit the Hag from old folklore.
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The earliest known use of the word "hag" is in the 14th century Northumbrian poem Cursor Mundi. A shortening of the word hægtesse which means witch.
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The hag has developed throughout the years in popular media to be a forest dwelling horrific creature, preying on the on the primal fears of whoever dares enter their domain.​​​
01. Pan faun hag
02. Binder of wills
Crops
3D Turn table
Amphibian Leafhopper Project - 08.24
Leafhopper: Initial concepts 1-8
Plant Imitation
Initial Sculpts: Draft 1 markup
Artist Notes: ​
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After some notepad planning/sketching, I decided this project should focus on blending the insectoid nature of leafhoppers with the form of something more amphibian.
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The waxy tree frog or giant monkey frog played a big part in the inspiration for the above concepts. I moved into 3D to progress the three preferred options, then jumped back into photoshop to markup/paint over for a more successful third draft.
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I'm really enjoying the process of bringing things to life with simple rigs and animation. Going to be applying the things I've learned here on a more long term project.
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08.24
Three Leafhoppers: Draft 1
Thorn Leafhopper: Draft 2 sculpt/texture
Thorn Leafhopper: Draft 2 sculpt in walk animation
Thorn Leafhopper: Final sculpt
Seed Leafhopper: Final sculpt
Three Leafhoppers: Draft 2
Three Leafhoppers: Final
Leaf Leafhopper: Final sculpt
Abhorrent Priest of the Sunfire - 07.24
Final concept image
Initial development/iteration
Sun mask sculpt variations
Draft 1: Sculpt
Draft 1: Turn table
Draft 1: Cursed mouth
Draft 2: Robes/jewellery ideation
Artist Notes:
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Here I'm adding more symbolic tattered dress to indicate the priests former life.
Need to revisit reference imagery to improve cursed mouth element.
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Draft 2: 3D robes/ornaments
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Draft 3: Final sculpt
Final concept: Abhorrent Priest of the Sunfire
Turtle Kaiju Project - Bramblerot - 06.24
Bramblerot attacking: Final concept
Turtle Kaiju: Bayou common snapper/island mass turtle
Turtle Kaiju: Gesture/iteration
Bramblerot: Walking turntable
Bramblerot: Boss encounter
Bramblerot: Boss encounter 2D plan
Artist Notes: ​
Inspired by Darren Bartley's undergrowth project,
Illustrating the character in a soulsbourne boss encounter.
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A 2D plan was made using a 3D base for the composition.
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I populated the scene using a combination of premade and personal assets. To finish, a final layer of paint and post effects were used.
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Bramblerot: Headshot/face mechanics
Bramblerot
Tigerlilly Project - 05.24
Tigerlilly: Final concept
Tigerlilly: Leaping 3D turntable
Tigerlilly: Headshots. Frill extended + frill retracted
Tigerlilly - Process
Tigerlilly: Initial concept
Tigerlilly: Iteration/development
Tigerlilly: Creature concept sheet
Artist Notes:
Feedback received online and from friends. "The wings need more thought. Perhaps they're unnecessary? Revisit glider anatomy for arboreal locomotion instead. Simplify."
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Tigerlilly: Pose angles
Tigerlilly: Final
Tigerlilly: Turntable stills
Redwood Grazer Project - 05.24
Redwood Grazer: Final headshot
Redwood Grazer: Final image
Redwood Grazer: Initial concept/development
Artist Notes:
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The change in direction from the initial concept on the left, was to allow for more expressive movement and to emphasise a sense of power that was previously lacking.
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Illustrated in the turntable below as a young bull, possibly entering the territory of a more seasoned competitor.
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Redwood Grazer: Iteration
Redwood Grazer: 3D layer breakdown
Redwood Grazer: Turntable
30 min comp using final build
Arctic Pteraguin Project - 04.24
Pteraguin: Headshot final
Artist Notes:
An extract from a developing project titled: Twenty-First Century Pterosaurs - A speculative look at the potential niches pterosaurs would inhabit today.​​​​
Pteraguin Splash: Territorial Pteraguin
Pteraguin: Image plan
Pteraguin: Initial concept/iteration
Artist Notes:
Incorporated into my wider creature project - Echoes of earth.
I revisited the middle initial concept and developed a more considered finish.
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Pteraguin: Second draft
Bounty Bot - 03.24
Bounty Bot: Final image
Bounty Bot: Composition design/image plan
Bounty Bot: Initial concept/development
Bounty Bot: Turntable