First off, the armadillo:
-lives in the America's (my sub-species the nine-banded lives in North America)
-24-32 inches in length
-predators:dogs, wild cats, maned wolves, black caimans, alligators, coyotes, raccoons, and black bears
-only mammal besides humans to suffer from lepromatid leprosy
-20 sub-species (mix and match a little bit?)
-live in forest, rainforest, savannah, and grassland environments
-smell is their main sense to find food
-dig burrows
-only the 3-banded species can curl into a ball
-the nine-banded armour shell is slightly weak and can be bitten through
-armour is attached to the skin on its back and a tiny piece on their head
ARMOUR
I've thought of several approaches I can direct myself with when it comes to the hybrid.
1. I can attach the armour to my back and some on my head just like the armadillo
2. In addition to number 1 I can add armour to my legs and arms
3. Why be so basic? Why not have armour growing out from underneath my skin, tearing it apart. Maybe all over or just spots of interest where the human body is weak, ie: spine, stomach and nose.
Fig.1 Scale Rip
THEME/SETTING1. I just walk out a the telepod and I have several mutations already
2. I'm burrowing as part of my armadillo instinct in a forest
3. I've been hit by a car and I'm mashed up OR I'm the one that messes the car up
4. A deeper idea! My skin is tearing and armour is appearing underneath. Who would want to exploit my new ability?? The army perhaps! I'm semi-bullet proof and my "kevlar" is part of me and light weight. I've been captured and I'm under the microscope at a laboratory.
More development sketches to come soon in support of these ideas.
Fig. 1 Scale Rip At: http://www.allentattoo.com/2008/02/
Hey Gabe (is it Gabe for short, I keep wanting to type it, or say it, and it maybe that you're never, ever Gabe?)
ReplyDeleteAnyway - yes, I like these speculative questions; indeed, maybe you were spliced with an armadillo as part of a military experiment to create 'bullet proof' soldiers? As I said previously, I've warned off a few students over the 'Marvel Comics' approach, because they were defaulting to that idea, as opposed to arriving at it in any meaningful or conceptualised way - but maybe you DO get to go that route - maybe this is like an origin story (the spider biting Peter Parker, the gamma explosion originating the Hulk) - in this way, you could knowingly and creatively play with audience expectation and cliche in a conscious, clever way... You could look at the language of comic books, at that very specific style of drawing, and fold some of that design language into your portrait - indeed, maybe your portrait is a pastiche of an old-school comic book cover?
Good questions to ask Gabe, Phil has a nice idea above (couldnt help but notice). Some crazy science experiment to make the ultimate soldier... I like, Master Chief eat your heart out.
ReplyDeleteTo look at it from another way you could have a laboured character, carrying this massive shell muscular but very sluggish a little podge maybe. You want to give the impression of strength, body builder competitions for example not all of em have six packs but they look rock hard.
Just an idea, but yeah I cant wait to see what you came up with when I return from my Holiday :)