Luna Dieum: Concept Art Lock-In! From Concept Art, now to Production Art!

So! As of late, I've been busy trying to work out how the big scary space dragon is meant to look, feel, and function, and it was recently, that the design/idea of the creature has finally been locked in. What this means is we've officially moved from concept art on the creature design, to production art, which means getting the design looking as good as possible!

So there is a huge checklist of things I need to flush out designwise, but a lot of the questions about the creature have now been answered!

Original Luna Dieum Painting

This is probably the closest I've been able to get the Luna Dieum looking as it should via a drawn/painted form as possible. The Luna Dieum (Scary Moon Dragon), is a creature that is somehow able to exist on the moon without suffering any real damage, or restrictions to its quality of life, the lunar surface as its natural habitat.

Luna Dieum, Rough Lung Layout Paper Sketch 1

The way it is able to exist on the moon is via ingesting particles/minerals on the moon, which it can throw up into the air through a process I'm calling "Sonic Vacuum Auditory Decompression". Simply put, this monster is able to generate massive shock waves in the vacuum of space, somewhat similar to how a pistol shrimp creates an explosion in its claw, except the process now takes place in the lungs/mouth of the creature.

Think of it as a very loud, explosive whistle.

Luna Dieum Head Workings Paper Sketch 1

Essentially, Luna is able to create compressed air at an insanely high pressure, it then becomes explosive and incredibly violent/destructive. Its rear lungs are able to produce the oxygen, push it up through all of its lungs, until it gets to its final main lung cannon for lack of a better term.

Early Luna Dieum Head Paper Study 1

Early Luna Dieum Head Paper Study 2

The filter at the back of the throat of the Luna Dieum, acts as some sort of muscle valve/filter, not letting air escape its body, but also able to swallow rock, in order to intake particles for consumption. It's also able to suck in everything around it towards its mouth, in order to draw particles towards its mouth. The filters on the creature’s head, allow it to intake particles faster, and they also let out oxygen if there is too much already in the creature’s body.

Luna Dieum Head Workings Paper Sketch 2

Now its skin is probably one of the main parts of the monster, the whole body having skin somewhat similar to cuticles on a fingernail. (The skin that grows over it.) Its skin is able to grow so fast it essentially has no nerves on the outer layers of its skin, but rather the inside has nerves. The only other nerves it has are the long whiskers on its face, this also explains the creatures skinny/silky and hard look, almost like thick rubber/elastic.

Early Luna Dieum Head Paper Study 3

Now this creature was going to have a sail from the beginning, however, upon doing lots more research, having an actual sail wouldn't make much sense for the creature and could be more of a burden rather than a biological advantage. So there were a few ideas drafted, like skin that ripped off on a regular basis, skin that can regenerate quickly, a back alive with parasites, which feed off the dead mass of the Luna Dieum.

The final idea put in place is it back has lots of long hairs/whiskers, which on rare occasions can develop into bio-luminescent feelers. This sail can double as a sort of a dust trap which the monster can use to not only gather up particles, but also can be tensed like a muscle, able to form into a sail for when it leaps.

Luna Dieum, Tail/Sail Paper Study 1

Recent Luna Dieum Head Paper Study 3

There is one little feature I've added (Which will probably be a pain to make in Maya.) but the whiskers, can act as a visual indicator for the creature’s awareness or emotional state.

Luna Dieum, Whisker Paper Study 1

It's whiskers will move in the general direction of whatever the creature is interested in before the head is able to turn to see.

Luna Dieum, Hand Paper Study 1

Luna Dieum Claw Paper Study 1

Its hands are also meant to seem somewhat humanoid, which can bring up a number of questions as to why its hands are like humans, but overall, its a biological adaptation thats meant to show the creatures intelligence.

(Plus, it being able to pick up stuff could be fun on an animation-front.)

The claws are also meant to double as mini hooks, able to be slotted into the ground, and essentially give the monster a much higher grip, and the flat front part of the claw if meant to help with deceleration whenever landing on the ground. An animation I want to see if I can specifically include is a tail whip, whilst the creature digs its hand into the ground, seeing as its muscular strength is massive due to the low gravity.

Luna Dieum Rough Head Muscle Layout 1

How Luna Dieum, is actually able to consume parts of the moon high in minerals, is due to its “Tongue”, which acts as more of a crusher/compressor, generating high amounts of force, not only to keep vacuum out of its mouth, but to break down larger chunks of debris into a fine powder, ready for the creature to consume.

Now its all well and good me doing a load of research, and explaining how this creature works, but how does this actually help with design?

Well! It allows me to draw real-world influences in order to add even more characteristics to the creature without doing any real work. So when I go to paint this thing a few more times as official concept art, not only do I have an image library to pull from (The Monster Hunter Logs Link), but I'll also be able to find new influences to make the design the best it can be.

I'll finish off with a few details that could wind up being included in the final design.


Research Details:

• Its eyes mainly serve the purpose of being able to judge distance and see in low light environments, it actually has 5 pupils, but the other four can only be seen when light is being produced by the creature, or it’s looking directly at a light source, but its eyes are very similar to birds.

• Its blood is a very dark color, almost black, in order to heat up its body very quickly, as it is cold-blooded, but it does possess a means of heating itself up.

• It's lungs run along its back like a pipe, as well as having seven lungs.

• The creature doesn't have a lot of muscle, but it does have small pockets where the muscle is in high concentration.

• It’s skin is in certain areas incredibly wrinkly, due to the fact some areas of the body are high usage, e.g. its hands, limbs, limb joints, neck, eye, flaps.

• It’s bones while still strong, are viable to short term damage. Whilst it can move on all fours with relative ease, sometimes (depending on the terrain) it can slither about like a snake, using its limbs and tail to guide it along the surface.

• The moon is a low gravity environment, and because of this, Luna Dieum has been able to grow to a massive size. (This has yet to be determined, but this creature is well over 300 feet in length.)

• Light is produced via an endothermic reaction, which produces heat, air, carbon dioxide, as well as kinetic energy.

• The hardest parts of the body are the creatures chest, skull and spine, having to keep a level of compression in order to survive in the vacuum, and the lungs especially due to how the creature moves, as well as having an explosive lung that if injured, would mean a swift end for the monster.

• Due to the endothermic reaction that can take place within the creature, certain areas of the monster glow/irradiate light, especially the horns and whiskers.

• It's dead skin breaks down into the same materials as the moon, essentially turning into moon dust, henceforth, why the moon isn't littered with skin.

• The top half of the creature is mainly comprised of harder skin, which develops into either tendrils, or long whiskers for the sail, whilst the bottom half is softer, being mainly like a big padded cushion for the monster to rest on, just in case its landing goes Askew.

• Due to the skin on the bottom of the creature, sometimes if it moves in a certain way, its ribcage can be seen.

• Its eyes actually have multiple layers, but the eye itself is actually hard, a bit like glass.

• The reaction that takes place within the creature can also make other parts of the body light up.

• Over time, Luna Dieum can accumulate rocky masses in its sail, which glitter due to the materials on the moon.

• It's horns function as a way to dissipate heat, as well as act like huge earplugs, so the sound of its roar whilst producing oxygen doesn't ruin its body or senses.

• Due to the endothermic reaction that takes place within the body, in theory, if the creature were either upset enough or angered enough, the monster could begin to smoke, burning away the dead skin away, at least in theory.

• There is a lot of dead skin on Luna Dieum, which doubles as a sort of insulating layer to protect it from the vacuum.

• Due to the fact, the monster produces air, and its lungs are so massive, this monster has the power not only to create the craters on the moon with a single roaring shockwave (Whistle), its roar can be heard in the vacuum of space, which shouldn't be possible.