Desert Creature

Placid Segmaris

Caelumbestiae placidus

The Placid Segmaris is the sole food source of the Sky Shepherd. They are essentially floating livestock that are nurtured, herded, and protected until such time as the shepherds need to consume them. The tri-part symbiosis between the Sky Shepherds, the Segmaris, and their large floating counterpart (partially visible as the reddish-brown creature on the right side of the image) is rather complicated, and will be the subject of further works. Helpless on their own, the Segmaris relies on its symbionts for neary everything- protection, reproduction, much of their locomotion, and Hydrogen. The only thing it is capable of accomplishing by itself is the acquisition of food- which is does by filtering particles and small microfauna from the dense atmosphere where it lives. Adults are around 50 feet long at maximum, young start out around a foot long.

I saw you're a graphic designer.

Are you commissionable for creature designs or similar projects?

If not that's OK. Like your art

I’m not currently available for commissions, sorry. I definitely will keep making art though. Glad you like it!

World Eater

In the murky ponds on the floor of the Glow Forest lives a surprisingly diverse community adapted to the near total darkness. Decaying organic material releases methane gas which is harnessed by towers of colonial microorganisms. Upon this bedrock of the food chain, a plethora of creatures creep and crawl about their daily lives while trying to avoid the pond’s top predator - a massive leviathan blindly devouring everything in its path.

Sky Shepherds

Caelumopilio pictoratus

This work serves as the official kickoff for my illustration project called "Exobiotica". The creature pictured is a Sky Shepherd. As its name implies, it carries on an aerial existence - maintaining neutral buoyancy via internal hydrogen compartments. The front appendages serve two functions- they are used to physically herd or corral the species of floating creature they subsist on, and also they are equipped with color-changing tissue that is used as communication between members of their group. Like them, most of their predators and prey are essentially floating gas bags which are highly susceptible to rupture. Thus, the Sky Shepherd evolved sharp appendages for use in attack and defense. Propulsion in any direction is achieved by the intake of air at the ventral posterior end, and then subsequent directional exhalation of the air through any of the four siphons. The next work will I produce will feature these creatures and their prey in their aerial environment.

A Giant Forest Walker

Quick personal promo!

When not drawing aliens, I'm a web/graphic designer. Here's my new portfolio site: michaelpbeaudry.com . Check it out if you are interested in other creative stuff I do.

I'm also on Instagram, DeviantArt, and Behance.

Ok, sorry- back to alien stuff now!

Quick sketch I hope to make into a full painting later.

High Above Saturn This portrait looking down on Saturn and its rings was created from images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2013. It was made by amateur image processor and Cassini fan Gordan Ugarkovic. This image has not been geometrically corrected for shifts in the spacecraft perspective and still has some camera artifacts.The mosaic was created from 12 image footprints with red, blue and green filters from Cassini’s imaging science subsystem. Ugarkovic used full color sets for 11 of the footprints and red and blue images for one footprint.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic

Luminous Oppugno

Submarinus luminare

Named for the Latin word for 'attack', the Luminous Oppugno is a crafty aquatic predator. Primarily nocturnal, it uses its bioluminescent-tipped rods to attract prey. Once within range, the main grasping appendage shoots out and arrests the unsuspecting victim with vigorous tenacity. Being fully aquatic (dwelling rather deeply at that) as well as nocturnal, the oppugno rarely comes into contact with sunlight, and thus has lost the capability of its ancestors to harness energy from photons. Thus, the creature must rely exclusively on its skill as a predator to meet its energy requirements. An adult oppugno usually tops out at around 5 feet long.

Cloud Grazers

Nubes comedenti

A family of Cloud Grazers seeks shelter from strong winds on the leeward side of a sheer rock face several hundred feet above the ground. Thanks to a lightweight body structure and internal hydrogen gas sacs, they are completely neutrally buoyant. Propelled by air jets on their sides, they are most at home at high altitude amongst the cliffs and mountain tops where they can hide from harsh weather and fierce predators. Most of their nutriment is obtained by way of their anterior filtration organs, which they extend while flying to sweep the sky of aerial biota - a sort of sky plankton.