Dragon Turtle

When I started this project I knew I wanted to sculpt a realistic stylized character. Turning to mythology for inspiration, I chose to make a dragon turtle because I think they are cool and unique. The only real depictions I could find were from statues. This meant that I had the opportunity to challenge myself to fill in the gaps with other reference. I had a lot of fun utilizing this interpretative freedom. Dragon scales in Asian cultures tend to be fish scales. When coloring the scales, I thought it would be cool to color them blue with the patterns from a red koi fish. Eastern Dragons are closely tied to water so I thought blue would be a good fit. Instead of using an Asian turtle for the shell, I decided to use an alligator snapping turtle's because I think would help communicate the power that dragons have. Through this project I learned how to use Blender's physics system for the coins, to use the hair particle system, and to create procedural eyes with shaders. It was defiantly worth the time as I think they add so much more life to the piece.