Character Design Workshop || 'Party on! Kaiju' Monster (Week 1-2)

Week 1
My task was based around several requisites; Kaiju (Friendly and Chibi), modern day Tokyo, and the context was a 'big roar' 'Party On! Kaiju'. To begin this worskhop, I organised folders for images from the internet for reference, and drawings, plus some for foreseeable concepts in the future.

Next, I drew monsters, randomly at first but then more focused as I used my previously mentioned research pool to my advantage. The main focus was a massive, but cute dinosaur, it was decided.

Week 2
The next week, I was more focused on the design of the monster so it fit more with the chibi/cartoon theme, in example big eyes or flat nontextured surfaces. To do this I researched the four guardians of a city named Kyoto, which was the former capital of Japan.

I like the idea of a giant turtle as a Kaiju because the animal could be considered cute in real life when it falls on its back and can't get back up by itself. In Japanese, and chinese mythology there is a beast called the 'black tortoise', or 'black warrior' that is the defender of Kyoto in the north. It is depicted as a turtle entwined with a snake, representing the stomach and intestine of Xuanwu, a deity in Taoism. 

In popular culture, 'Genbu' is a saturated product based off the same legend. For this reason I think it is a recognisable design that could be well utilised in a project like this; in the future I want to create a full, complete design for this creature.