Hi there folks, my name is John Tyson. I'm currently finishing up my Masters at Staffordshire University, doing 3D Games Modelling.

I made quite a long, sprawling story for this thing so if you want to skip it, dodge the outlined area

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So my creature is named Salem!
Salem belongs to a race of quadraped lizards called the Nasellus, so called because of their method of eating. They gain all of their necessary nutrients by sniffing food and inhaling small particles of it. Because of this, food is never scarce since a single piece of meat can feed an entire colony of Naselli. However, because of this method of feeding, the nutrition gained is quite low, meaning that over time the Naselli have become a small, weak race with a short lifespan. Even their attack horns are quite brittle and would not last long in an actual fight.

The Nasellus have many muscles in their face with which to form facial expressions, expressing rudimentary emotions, but do not have mouths. Their primary method of communication is through an organic orb situated in the chest, which conveys emotional states through changing colour.

With their many appendages, they have grown accustomed to living in caves where they can move around quite quickly and are relatively safe from predators.
The Nasellus don't see the need for a varying diet, and will generally feed on moss and fungi that grow in their caves.
Salem however, yearns to experience other tastes and smells, and leaves the caves. He brings a bag with him and collects things he comes across to sample and bring back to his colony; insects, meat, vegetation. His eagerness to try new things can put him in harm's way.
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Right then, sorry about that
I did gabble on a bit there, important stuff though:
Name: Salem
Race: Nasellus
Habitat: Caves

Got some concept art below, it's not totally final, i'd want some scales on there, maybe make the arms bigger. Just putting it up now to offer it up for critique really

I'm not sure if there's any restrictions on the 'stand' for the sculpt but the scene in the bottom of my concept image was my initial idea. It has Salem balancing on multiple rocks trying to reach something to bring back with him.

Been seeing good stuff in this competition, good luck to everyone!

Nice story John.
Now we are waiting for a fresh update !

Ok been working on the base mesh in Max, still loads of work to do.
It's certainly looking like the arms might need to be bigger

Areas to work on immediately next:
Legs (particularly the Hind Legs)
Face/Head

I like the story too.
Maybe the base mesh needs more organic shapes.(I'm not sure, It's seems cubic)
It's seems cubic.

Hey John

I'd say you need to pull out the verts on the side of his torso, to give him a little more cuvature round his body rather than flat sides. Also on his fingers and toes just bring a few verts out to add a little roundness to them also, gives a little more character.

Otherwise awesome start and you were fast x.x or I am being slow on mine

yes maybe too cubic.
Don't say you won't manage to sculpt it but it is easier when the shapes are "smoother"...

Cool story and really great start on Salem. Good luck in the contest!

Ok then, I've updated my base mesh a little.

Worked on smoothing out some areas (thanks for your comments by the way!)

Made a few changes also, i've reduced the height of the torso, it was looking more monsterish than critterish. I've also messed around with the legs, moved both sets of legs back to give him a pot belly like in my first drawing.

Little hard to see in the screenshot but i've worked on the fingers and toes too to give them better curvature.

Took it into zbrush as a test, it's looking like it's going to be around 6 or 7 million =/

Throw comments and critique at will! =)

PS. Ah yes, as of tomorrow i've got a lovely box of assignments to mark, so my updates are going to be deathly slow over the next fortnight or so

Very nice base mesh you've got so far. Your character reminds me of the creature people make in Spore. I'm interested to see what pose you put it in.

Good sir, your insinuation that my model looks like a penis hurts me

The pose i sketched to begin with is probably what i'll end up doing unless I have a better idea.

Don´t worry about your next update -- seems like you´re very fast.
Really good progress!
And as a Zbrush user I can´t wait to see the Zbrush verson of Salem.

Well Johnny boy, how are you going to anatomically sort out the hips? Where are you thinking for bone and muscle of this bit and the abdomen ?
Oh yeah looks a bit like that egg thing out of mario, the pink dinosaur. But more awesome.