The Character Portrait: Sculpting the Alien Mystic - ZBrush Creature Design: Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games - page 96

With the Standard brush, I sketch in some negative spaces in the temple area and deepen the large ear
wings. These large auditory organs are photosensitive and translate color into sound. This alien being can
actually hear the harmonies of color around us. This kind of organ is a complex construct, and I suggest
these kinds of complexities with narrow pits along the side of his head ( Figure 2-42 ) . Using the Standard and
Inflate brushes, I further refine these forms and add radiating lines from the pits out along the wing shapes
on the sides of the head.
This structure is inspired by the abstract form of a clamshell, but the organic function of these lines rep-
resents rows of photosensitive cells that gather color information from the creature's surroundings. You will
notice I also add a more natural-looking ear shape where the human ear might be found. This is shaped us-
ing the Standard and Inflate brushes. I add this more traditional ear structure to keep the head from looking
unpleasantly odd (a humanoid head lacking any kind of ear shape might be unusually truncated on the sides
of the head) and to suggest that the character is capable of hearing sounds as well.
Figure 2-42: Etching in narrow trenches on the sides of the head for the auditory organ of the head. Figure
b shows the ear itself further refined with the Inflate brush to create the shape of the lobes.