#3d modeling all of the robos has also been a huge help bc it forces me to really think about them in 3d space

[emberglowfox]

Would you mind explaining your design process on Zarian and the models like him in general? Did you have any particular inspirations for it?

sure!

basically, when i designed robot zarian / the DRACOs in general (which were also the first things i designed for redux), i had never designed an original robot, like, ever. this is the first drawing i ever did, just kind of feeling out what 'robot dragon' conjured in my head:

which was cool, but it wasn't quite what i wanted. the silhouette wasn't robot-y enough. so i started trawling for inspiration.

i took (and still take) a LOT of inspiration from the robot designs of horizon zero dawn, which is one of my favorite fictional worlds of all time. i liked the simultaneous sleekness and clunkiness of them. they felt advanced, but not flawless. i also let real technology inform some of my decisions. since the DRACOs were meant to be robotic single-rider mounts, i looked at motorcycles a lot. this first full-body pass was made by photobashing pictures of motorcycles together, which i then drew on top of. the head is very hzd-inspired, and while it wasn't the right vibe again, the single eye stuck.

once i'd decided i liked the single eye but not the head shape i currently had, i did more exploration on it. these sketches are from when i was sitting sleep-deprived in a cafe:

(the head ended up being a fusion of the top two. the jaw spikes were meant to be included, but eventually just got kind of fused into the jaw-piece.)

here are the first drawings of him with that head, when i was also trying to figure out how he would emote with only a single eye and the ears:

and over time, i just... kept drawing him, keeping some things the same, changing some things to fit my shifting tastes. through just on-going trial and error, both visual and "what elements do i need for plot / story things", he evolved over time, until i got the zarian we know and love today.

(this model is a bit out-dated now, but most of the main bits are there.)

#3d modeling all of the robos has also been a huge help bc it forces me to really think about them in 3d space #and also the mechanics that make up their moving parts #its why they change so much every time i model them bc i realize a bunch of things need to be changed. HA #this is long but i wanted to talk about it. hope it helps #zarian #ask #hypervein #i need to redo zarian a bit i havent been 100% on the wings. i like the outer bits not the innards theyre underdeveloped. been meaning #to model him properly anyway #steelheart redux #steelheart redux behind the scenes