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I'm wondering what clues from the novels have helped shape your own mental picture of the Pequininos?
While it's still a wonderful thing to leave the anatomy up to the mind's eye of the reader, there's something to be said for the visual bridge of illustration. In the spirit of further tickling the interest and imagination of fans while satisfying my own, I'm working on a moderately 'realistic' looking depiction of the piggies. I'll probably do a bunch of concept art then move into some complete illustrations.
This of course would be derivative work, but I've no commercial plans for the artwork (since well, I've no right to), beyond perhaps the glimmer of hope that my depiction might be well received by those with rights to the characters. So, for now, it's just fan art.
I've been doing some preliminary concept art (just the faces at the moment), but I'm no expert when it comes to all of the scattered clues that might help me paint a better 'little one.' However, I'm hoping some of you really might be experts.
_Speaker For the Dead_ and the first half (I'll be done soon enough) of _Xenocide_ are still fresh in my mind, but one of the joys of OSC's creatures is that while they are incredibly rich, information is delivered on a need to know basis. This is as opposed to a clumsy expositional paragraph that isn't essential to the story. I've been trying to make good use of the clues. For example, they must have mouths capable of producing human words eloquently. That suggests agile human-like lips and maybe even a tongue. They have flat porcine upturned noses. They remind people of pigs. They apparently don't look all that scary, but they certainly appear alien. They can handle tools and climb. That sounds fairly primate-like and I wouldn't be surprised to see rather humanoid hands on them.
As I progress with the initial concept art through to some paintings, I'll keep this thread updated.
I'm hoping to have a great time working on this project, and it should be a golden opportunity to get to know everyone here on the forum.
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My picturing of them is somewhat like chubby monkies. Sort of child-sized with slender human-like arms with biggish hands. kinda squat legs. I never picture people/things in book's faces. To me the different characters are just ideas, which is why I'm always so surprised to find out about characters being different nationalities.
Also your art is very good, quite impressive. [Edited for art comment]
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I can't find your Pequinino art on the site, but I'll keep looking. The Piggies in my head, kinda hard to explain what you visualize. Those pads that help them climb trees are on the inner thigh area, piglike nose, slightly crouched posture, bristly, thick, dark orange fur that only covers the back, leaving the face and inner body parts nude, slim, three fingered hands, omnivorous teeth.
Posts: 34 | Registered: May 2005
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Nice paintings their, keep us updated on this peice of work.
I picture the piggies as a cartoonish pig that has legs like a pig, but positioned where they would allow it to walk on two legs. I picture the hands like early human ones, but sharper, more hoof looking.
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I don't think he's put up any piggie=concept art yet... but he obviously wants to, once he gets more feedback...
...personally, I think they look a lot like Alf. Seriously. More laid back than Alf, but very Alf-Like, with blu-gray hair, and very human eyes...
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Everyone - Many thanks to everyone for your input, impressions, and words of encouragement thus far. I've distilled many of the impressions down to a list of sorts. I'll be using this as a roadmap.
Inspired - As Wonder mentioned, there's nothing there related to the pequininos. This thread will follow the process.
CRash - Many thanks for the link to that other thread. I'll take some of the impressions there into account as well. This thread however, will evolve over the weeks, or months, to come as I flesh out the piggies from initial concept art to finished illustrations.
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Anyone know where I might find a reference to the dark orange fur Inspired mentioned? I hadn't recalled that.
Initial full-body concept sketches are in the works. Unfortunately, I'm still a willing slave to other paying projects that will keep my away from the little ones until friday. Mentally however, with your help, things are looking pretty solid. I think I have fairly clear picture of the brothers in mind. I'll probably keep them on the slimmer side with the pudge reserved for a pot belly. They're porcine, but only as a matter of resemblance -- that appears to be true enough to the book.
So, here's some rough initial concept sketches for the head, here http://img69.echo.cx/img69/8582/pequininosheadconcept1tw.jpg These and _everything_ you'll be seeing for quite a while will be subject to change. I'm hoping to get a feel for everyone's reactions as I map my way across their bodies. Comments are much appreciated, and will likely steer the direction of the concept art. After all, I'm looking to explore, but it _is_ an established creature -- I'm just hoping to have some fun while I translate.
Many thanks! Craig
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With the fur, I don't think there is anything in the books related to that, but I have creative liscense in my head at least . I thought of the brothers to me more furry, kinda chimplike, but then they would be called Chimpies, wouldn't they? Oh, and with the little mothers, in my head I veiwed them as a much smaller version of the brothers, with shrunken limbs and a maggot like appearance.
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The head shape looks good. If a little bald. I also thought of the pequininos to have, if not fur, then at least a type of light hair on their bodies. They seem to be mammals, after all. The nose seems dead on to me, but the mouth looks a bit strange...too wide, perhaps? But nice sketches so far.
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Inspired - I agree about the little mothers. They'll need to be cute too though.
Crash - Many thanks. Yep, I'll be adding hair, most likely to the head as well, but I haven't settled on exactly to what degree. I'm still figuring out what purpose the hair will serve. It'd be insulation as I'd imagine since they don't exactly put on a parka when the wind blows. As I understand it, with humans it's more of a means of trapping scent in certain areas and attracting a mate in others.
Also, regarding the mouth. It's definitely looking cartoonish. I need to figure out if I'm doing something stylistic/cartoony or realistic. Nonetheless, I do want to be sure that they have some serious lips to work with when it comes to vocalization.
I've made the mouth a bit more narrow and less 'deep.' I think it's better off for it, and closer to the image in my head. Generally speaking though, I'm still liking the big-mouthed approach.
As I mentioned, I had some other things to work on today, but I did at least spend a good deal of time _thinking_ about the 'little ones'. More to come.
Many thanks, Craig
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Very very cool. The only thing I have as far as ideas on the concept sketch is to maybe make the skin a littly less bulgey (is that a word?) and a bit more taut. But overall very good.
Posts: 163 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Many thanks feedback Chaos. It's much appreciated.
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I started some basic body frame sketches, but I don't have anything worth posting. In the mean time, here's a color study. It's still hairless, but I'm getting a feel for things.
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I think that's a great job on the color--I always pictured the pequininos in shades of light brown, and you pretty much nailed it.
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Oh...and something else. Suddenly I'm getting a very Gollum-esque impression from your sketch. Hopefully the hair and coloring may help, but currently, the big eyes and prominent forehead remind me of him.
Another suggestion on the body type is that I've never pictured the pequininos to be gangly or scrawny or too similar to human form. They're supposed to be short, and I always thought of them as slightly short-limbed. I'll let you know if I come across any description...I'm reading Speaker again.
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One thing about the nose. I remember from the book, that when, (was it planter?) pressed his face closely against the Speakers, even though the faces weren't touching, the noses were colliding. My thought is to bring the mouth in a little closer to the head, or extend the nose in general.
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Crash - Hopefully the rest of the figure will eliminate the resemblance. It's definitely not intended. However, I do imagine those big eyes will always still dredge it up. I'll also probably push the mouth back deeper to allow the nose to be more prominent as you suggested. It's a great suggestion.
They'll be pudgy, but if I can't see making the legs too short. Short limbs, in relation to the rest of the humanoid tend to make something shuffle along, and one thing I've learned from basic comparative anatomy (despite being a complete amateur) is that just about everything is perfectly suited to its task. Despite the peculiar evolutionary history of the pequininos, they'll need to be able to move about with ease and climb trees (not to mention jump out of them) quite naturally. Leg locking will also probably be a part of the standing pose (try standing for ten minutes with your knees bent to see why).
I definitely won't go with scrawny and lanky, but a lot of humanoid designs that incorporate very non-human limb structures never seem like they'd do the job well. I imagine that the limb proportions of a younger human child would probably work well enough.
As far as feet go, despite the fact that they're called piggies, hooves are certainly out. Lots of large land animals have them to blunt the impact from their feet hitting the ground when running (and other reasons), but the piggies do a lot more than graze and flee. I also don't think they'd have to have feet that go flat against trees the way monkey's or squirrels do -- the pequininos have the climbing pads to assist. They're also not exactly marathon walkers like humans which have that rolling springing off the heel technique. However, I'm favoring a basically humanoid design with a highly articulating ankle and larger ball of the foot. Visually, I'd love to break away from a very humanoid foot/leg structure, but it just works so darn well.
When we stand we do a low-energy leg-lock and rest on our heel while the remainder of the foot helps balance. When we walk we roll off the heel and spring along off the ball, preserving/re-using energy. When we run we essentially do the same, but both feet leave the ground at points. It's just a great way to have a full-time bipedal creature run, walk, and stand. If I increase the size of the ball of the foot (behind the toes) while preserving the humanoid heel, I think the piggies will still be well suited to walking in a safe, agile, and efficient manner, but at the same time they can handle themselves on the ball of the foot, which is great for springing around in battle or creeping around in a forest.
While very cool, when I look at a design like Adam's piggy (http://www.ender.com/ender/frames/f-piggy.html) I can't see it walking, running, or balancing comfortably. I'd rather install a heel below the ankle (the thing about 5 inches above the ground), shorten the overall length of the foot, and increase the size of the ball. For fun I'll probably give them some blunt claws on their toes.
I know it's a long post, but I also have a question about the number of fingers/toes. Three has come up, but is this mentioned in the books?
Many thanks, Craig.
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Well, they have to be pretty versatile hands: bow and arrows, churning butter, using sticks, etc. If the piggies are primate-like, it would make sense to have the four fingers and thumb.
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posted
I always envisioned the pequeninos to be based on little goblin type creatures, like something out of a video game. Obviously some adjustments would need to be made in order for them to fit exactly (and its been a long time since I read SFtD or Xeno).
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. I thought of the brothers to me more furry, kinda chimplike, but then they would be called Chimpies, wouldn't they? Oh, and with the little mothers, in my head I veiwed them as a much smaller version of the brothers, with shrunken limbs and a maggot like appearance.
