During the Voidstar comics, Ravu (they/it) is just a baby. Talbek have unfathomably long lifespans, so we will likely never see them as an adult in canon, but I wanted to explore a potential adult design for them anyway.
Below is the timelapse for the drawing, as well as a transcript!
Descriptive Transcript:
[As relaxing instrumental music plays, a zoomed-in illustration of an adult Ravu appears onscreen, zooming out and panning to show the character’s entire body. Ravu is a dark purple, dragon-like creature with the body of a snake, a long, dog-like snout and two black antlers. It has 6 legs, 6 long, rabbit-like ears, two glowing feelers on its snout and 4 purple, glowing eyes. Down their back is a mane of purple flames and its tail anchors a massive plume of white and purple fire. Its body is covered in small, reflective blue, purple and red spots that resemble stars. Finally, between their antlers is a blue super-giant star, showing Ravu's massive size. After a moment, the illustration burns from the bottom left corner, showing a time-lapse video underneath.]
Voice-over: I haven't talked about Voidstar in a while since I've been working on the actual pages
[A purple dragon claw holding a black tablet pen sketches Ravu’s head in red in the digital art program Clip Studio Paint. At the bottom right-hand corner of the video is a small purple plaque that reads: “Kat_Cyborg they/them”. The claw starts drawing Ravu’s head from the side]
Voice-over: so I figured I'd share this concept drawing I did of Ravu as a young adult! Ravu uses any pronouns but prefers they or it.
[The claw moves the profile drawing to the side and eventually deletes it as it begins sketching Ravu’s head in a ¾ view, which is what is in the final picture. After finishing the face, the claw draws Ravu’s neck and chest, experimenting with a few different positions before settling on one where Ravu is looking down and over their shoulder]
Voice-over: At the time of the Voidstar comics, Ravu is a newborn Talbek who is found and raised by a Kepek by the name of Xari
Talbek age exceptionally slowly, so no one knows exactly how long they live for, but to get to the size depicted here will take Ravu several thousands of years well after the time of the Voidstar comic.
[The claw continues the sketch, now focusing on the position of the 6 legs. It sketches them in a number of different positions, deleting and re-doing them all several times before settling on having the front two legs curled up close to Ravu’s body, the back two extended and pulled back, and the middle two somewhere in between. After the legs and claws are drawn, the drawing claw continues on down the body, drawing various looping poses for the tail. The final pose depicts Ravu’s tail twisting in an offset-symbol-like shape.]
Voice-over: Ravu will have some slight changes in appearance as they age throughout the story though
so I still wanted to plan what they will grow into at full maturity, even if it's never shown in the comic itself. Talbek are exceptionally powerful beings whose very existence is considered magical and even divine to some in the Pelexat Galaxy, where Voidstar is set
Some abilities and powers are common among all Talbek, like the ability to ignore and warp gravity around themselves and those near them. But every Talbek also has a unique power or set of abilities.
[The drawing claw then zooms back in on Ravu’s head and begins designing their antlers. It tries a number of jagged shapes, all loosely resembling lightning, until it finally settles on a design that, while still jagged, curls inwards. The antlers create a “U” shape in their centre, and the claw sketches in where a star will sit, suspended between the horns. After that, 3 long ears are drawn onto Ravu’s head, along their jaw, then mirrored for the, mostly obscured ears on the other side.]
Voice-over: In Ravu's case, this is power over raw energy and I wanted to reflect this in their adult design.
Once they've gained full control over their powers, I imagine them donning a mane of plasma.
[The claw sketches in the remaining details, including the rough shape of the previously-mentioned mane, large, plated underbelly scales and a number of dust rings that circle various parts of Ravu’s neck and body, though these are deleted later.]
Voice over: I also gave it a blue super-giant star between its horns, both because it gives some perspective for their size, but I also imagine, since Ravu grew up in space stations and other well-lit places, they would not be a fan of the darkness of deep space where they now dwell, but As they get bigger, it would be harder and harder to avoid that. So they decide to create their own light and carry it with them.
[The red sketch layer opacity is lowered and the drawing claw begins to do the line-work on the piece, drawing black lines of varying thickness. The lines are thinnest in places where light will likely be touching, and thickest in places soon to be covered by shadow. The claw starts with the linework on the head and moves down the body, first focusing on the neck and chest and the plated scales visible on the undersides of those body parts, then moving onto the legs, the rest of the torso then the tail. Vector lines are used on the tail to get smoother, sweeping lines. The feelers on Ravu’s face are also added, drawn using a single, thick purple line, and using Clip Studio’s Auto-outliner to draw the black line-art around it.]
Voice-over: Another ability of the Talbek is the power to alter their own appearances. There are very few recorded interactions between Talbek and other species, at least, prior to Xari and Ravu, but the few that do exist tell of Talbek changing their appearance to seem less, or sometimes more, intimidating to others. In remembrance of their friends and the Kepek who risked their lives to keep it safe as a child, I decided that Ravu might take on some Kepek traits, such as their multiple ears and eyes. This design isn't strictly canon, it's more so something to help keep their child and adolescent designs that we do see in the comic, consistent with one another
[This is the end of the voice-over. The remainder of the video just shows the time-lapse while instrumental music plays. Once the line-art is done, The flat colours are filled in. A solid black layer is placed underneath everything, the body is coloured a dull, dark purple, the antlers and claws are dark grey, the underbelly is light purple and Ravu’s eyes are purple with white, glowing pupils. Faint purple stripes are added to Ravu’s back, and their body is covered in glittering white, blue, red and yellow spots resembling stars. A grey layer is placed over the top, and the drawing claw begins to paint in the plasma mane. The claw paints violet plasma “flames” starting with dark purple as a base, fading to lighter purples the closer to the body. The mane stars between their eyes, runs down their back and all the way down their tail. The claw then draws a similar plume of violet plasma over the tip of the tail using the same method as was used for the mane. A glow effect is added to the mane and tail plume to make it pop, and then a similar, pink glow is added to the feelers. Finally, The claw draws in the cartoony cell-shading and the blue star between their antlers is drawn quickly, copied and blurred to create the glow. A blue, starry background is painted and Once this is finished, the grey layer is hidden. Tweaks are made to the colour of the shading layer to help it match the environment better, and the time-lapse ends, fading to another zoomed-in shot of the finished drawing, which then zooms out to show the entire piece. The end screen, a tower room filled with various clutter, fades in as credits roll.]
Credits:
Music Credit: Purple Planet Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Breaking Light
Searching the Cosmos
See the final image at: https://katcyborg.wixsite.com/art-of-kat-cyborg Intagram @ Kat_Cyborg
Twitter @ Crystal_Kiesse
Tumblr @ KatCyborg
Deviantart @ KatTheCyborg
[Once the credits finish, the end cards appear, and then the screen fades to black.]
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