Insectoid Character Design

For this assignment, we had to design an insectoid character. The brief specified that the insect had to be evolved in some way, so couldn't just be an insect with a human body or with clothes. 

I thought really hard about this and came up with a concept. 

I thought of a butterfly living in an evolved insect community. The butterflies have evolved to walk on their back legs, so their wings have no use anymore and they can't fly. The working and middle class butterflies have them removed at birth because they are clumsy and get in the way of labour and other work. The upper class butterflies, however, do not need to work, so they keep their wings. Over time, this has become a status symbol and is used as a way to oppress those who have snipped their wings. 

Here is my progress on this character. 

I started by blocking out the silhouette and adding in some vague details before putting it on a low opacity and painting over it again on a new layer. The resulting silhouette looks more natural.

I tried to keep the limbs as skinny as possible but still keeping some muscle definition to avoid noodle arms and legs.

Some butterflies have fur on their upper bodies so I used this like a rich person wearing an expensive fur coat. I wanted to give the impression of clothes without actually adding any.

I continued adding in details.

Here I used brightness/contrast and levels adjustment layers to brighten up the image.

Then I used some gradient maps to quickly add in some colour.

I added in some final details and this is the result.

I am overall very pleased with this result. I think the pose and facial expression of the butterfly help convey a stereotypical personality that you'd expect from a privileged rich person in power. I really liked the idea I came up with, too. The colours, however, make her look more like a moth than a butterfly. This doesn't really work, as moths are not as flamboyant looking as butterflies. I also think that the shadow is not very convincing.

I was pushed even more out of my comfort zone with this one and was still able to create something I liked and recognise as my own.