Creature Design
I get to play Frankenstein. Not the monster, mind you, rather the Doctor. I
make monsters. Using leftover pieces (different team opinions) and a few tricks
from up my sleeve, I have designed several of the creatures you’ll be
encountering in inXile entertainment’s first release, The Bard’s Tale.
The Pet
Description: Unknown.
The Pet was the first monster I started sketching after joining inXile a few
days into 2003. Within my first weeks of employ, there wasn’t yet a clear vision
of what it was going to be, only what purpose it would serve. Maxx Kaufman (inXile’s
Art Director) set me off on a ‘monstrous yet regal’ approach, so I went and
sketched a variety of creature heads, some 40+ thumbnails.
I have been designing critters professionally for over a dozen years now and
always try to present new ideas and approaches to show the audience creatures
they haven’t seen before, but feel as though they could exist. When I am
designing a character or monster I like to start with the head, ultimately
growing the design out once the initial attitude and personality has been set.
We found a few heads that were interesting, but before we could continue, we
shelved work on the character. Well, shelved isn’t the correct term, rather “put
it on the back burner” while other matters took precedence.
Nearly a year later, the project well underway, the scheduled time for Pet
design and construction came up. Should be simple, we’ll just go back and pick
the best of the old heads, right?
At this point various key team members had a clearer picture of what the Pet
was supposed to look like and what it was supposed to do. I broke out my old
sketches, which sparked a few ideas, but ultimately a meeting was called.
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