May goodie bags - Creature of the Bloom (Patreon)

Hi guys! This month's goodie bag is here and whoa! - was it a long process to figure out how to tackle it!

I had a vague concept on where I wanted to take this project to but only after I was back from my hiatus I was able to sit down and start conceptualizing on the paper.

First I threw some quick sketches to have a rough idea of what I did and did not want from this design.

I played around with simple ideas that could express a feeling of growth and blooming Spring, but at the same time keeping it monstrous.

By those few first doodles I knew I wanted the creature to be more humanoid, preferably covered in blooming flowers and without a face. There's something about featureless humanoids that makes me think "that's the exact mix between 'do I want to fuck it of run from it?'"

So I grabbed the idea and ran with it.

 Two upper concepts tickled my fancy so much! But the thorny vines and flytrap felt more like Poison Ivy rather than Blossoming Creature. But it took me two more pages to play around with it before I vaguely knew which direction I'll take in the end.

 All of these ideas felt too human due to the head having more of the human features than needed. So on the second page wanted to play around with the idea of an unopened flower bud for a head. In here I also explored the idea of the pitcher plant serving as a cock of the creature - which stayed with me till the very end.

I was hoping for this design to be the final one. I loved the proportions, shoulders and neck full of flowers, but most of all - a chrysanthemum-like head, made of curled in petals that barely started to open.

With this design I went a step further and decided to fully render it into fruition. The first attempt left me a but disheartened. Something about the initial sketch and the way this drawing was coming along didn't feel right...

  ...so I took a breather and did a few loosening figure drawings. Little thumbnails are my attempt to tackle the composition in a different way, since at the time I thought that was the main problem of the failed attempt.

 For the second attempt I went with one of the original small doodles from a few pages back.

Seeing the full design in it's rendered glory I felt... somehow disappointed. The legibility of the design was not great compared to the initial sketch. Even though I still fell like this guy is one hell of a snack, I felt like his flower mane was too busy. I needed a simpler design, something that would be easier to read.

But first of all I needed a breather. Usually a day of a break gives me a new perspective.

In the meantime I started to think about the idea for the sticker, doodles and drew D&D character sketch portrait for my partner (heavily inspired by the design of a character from Smite)

 After a day of a break I came back reinvigorated and with a new idea that turned to be the final one. Everyone, welcome the final Creature of the Bloom~

Even though at the beginning I had a different idea for the sticker, the idea of seeing this little guy in colored slightly chibified form was too tempting! Here's a mockup of the sticker~

 When it comes to the thank you note... What can I say, Demon Fili wouldn't let you be harmed by this dangerous monster. Wouldn't he~

 And to seal the deal here's the sticker that will secure the pale yellow envelopes!

I'm so excited to pack these goodie bags! Everyone in the Plugs tier who are subscribed during May can expect the boys to be sent out by the beginning of June~ 🌺

Thank you!