Anatomical Study of the Flying Herds of Olumai

I posted an image of these guys a couple weeks ago, but I’m not happy with that illustration. I need a better, more dynamic composition to express the ideas in it, and to do that I need to take a closer look at the flying creatures’ anatomy.

The soaring herds of Olumai traverse the currents of air that only they understand. Their wings measure hundreds of meters across and the vortices formed with their passing constitute an ecosystem of its own.
That’s a lot of eyes, yes. They rely on being able to look all around and above for predators. I don’t know what eats them, but it’s gotta be either really big or come in swarms.

I’m looking forward to getting back to Gribus, Ghiarren, and Tiauuai the Talking Spaceship soon! I got distracted at this illustration, though, because I didn’t like how it came out last time. I’m moving the camera around to take another swing at the illo, but I realized I had too poor an understanding of the shape of their bodies, so I had to do this sketch. I’m really pleased with the texture on the back! It’s following the principle that animals tend to be lighter on the bottom and darker on the top to keep potentially interested predators away and prey from realizing that they approach.

Modular systems are a function of industrial society. But do people of The Fifth World still know how to agree to standards? With their acute interest in efficiency, I think they might have carried that lesson forward!

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