Art RPGs can create some weird critters. The below creature is called an ‘Esk,’ created by artist Witherlings over at DeviantArt. Their relatively new ARPG “Those Who Went Missing” has skyrocketed in popularity, garnering over 1,000 new members in a mere nine months. Esk are furry creatures with four legs, long flowing tails, and a distinct nature-related feature. My Esk’s nature feature is a fiery bundle of kindling branches.
Players earn their own Esk through gameplay and are free to design them based on a small set of parameters and design rules (must use x color palette, must have x nature feature, etc.) Players can also accrue points to unlock new features to add to their Esk like additional nature features, markings, enchantments, and more.
As a practice exercise, I wanted to recreate this Esk in a different body type (or “Morph” using in-game terminology.) I was required to keep all of its currently listed attributes (socks, shaggy, mid-tone eye, cropped tail, dark mask, fire elemental) and apply them with the given requirements of the alternate Morph: whiskers, a sail-like tail, webbed feet on its back legs, and an all-new aquatic plant nature feature. For this component, I chose to add a Water Soldier, which is a partially submerged European perennial with a single white flower – I thought it would look really cool amidst the campfire on its back.
My redesign process was fairly straightforward. I began to explore the updated design with a 5 minute colored sketch (upper left of the video). I re-sketched the anatomy (upper center) and then refined that sketch (upper right) which I did one final pass on before fleshing out the character fully, bringing it to color and life based on the original character design.
Check out the full process below:
In the mood for more Speed Sketches? Check them out here!
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Speed Sketch! Styles for All Ages
Speed Sketch! Sennett Middle School
Speed Sketch! Filadogs