The final painting of a Cathedral, roaming along with others of its species in a loose herd. They have grown tall to reach the nutritious nodes of local flora.
Original concept drawing, in black and white. This shows what Catherals look like without plant overgrowth, and what they would look like without their porous shell.
The initial sketch for the painting.
The initial base colors.
More details added to the base colors.
Initial stages of building lighting.
Time span: 1 week. Full PDF can be found here: t.ly/bbowb
Artwork of my original species design, Cathedrals, on their home planet Chronanulus. Cathedrals are colossal exoskeletal herbivores. They are able to support their large size without an endoskeleton by making use of a porous, calcified outer layer, which supports them from the inside out like the flying buttress of a cathedral.
This porous layer originally began as a random mutation, and then proved to be adaptive in providing structural support. It hosts a myriad of floral, fungal, and faunal symbionts, both parasitic, mutualistic, and everything inbetween. It is like a massive, terrestrial coral reef.
