ALIEN Studys Part III

hey. its time for yet another Alien Study. this time. marking the 30th Anniversity of the original ALIEN film, I desided to do a study primarly featuring the original Alien's design.

first off, I like to mention why I am making these studys in the first place.

the reason why I am making them, is because I see alot of online artests draw Aliens and I notice they they use reference, but they can't never seem to get the design right. I should know I had the same problem at one time. but now I know how to get the look right. so I figured I'd make a series of studys to show you how the Alien should look if you want to draw the original Alien with accuratesy. and at the same time I added artest notes to also incurrage thoughs who want to use the original design, but also incorperate they're own tough. I also added some trivia. telling you who designed the Alien, and why it has such designs in its anatomy.

now for the over haul...

to insure you get the infomation you need. I drew ever bit of usefull infomation when it comes to drawing the most fearsom, and most dangerous killer in the known galaxy. I also threw in some fun facts and design infomation for you in this Artist Comment discription. to help you master your art skills of the original Alien, and any other Alien from ALIEN onward...

starting from #1-#7....

1. the Original Alien's Head. note the skull inder the dome. this was added by H.R. Giger to give the Alien a more terrifying look.... he succeeded.

2. a better look of the Alien's Mouth and tendon/cheek configuration. not how I did the tendons. and see how they wrap around the jaws.

3. while drawing the Alien, keep in mind that these beasts are Biomechanical in nature. using pipes, Cables, and wires are always wise to achieve this look. the mucles have these disk like things that line up to look like a large pipe. (ever seen a piece of pipe that has that rippled look?)

4. and 5. the Alien's Tail. this is what always urked me when I looked at fan art where an artist trys to get the tail right (even with references) they get it totaly wrong. the Alien's tail is flat. and mainly looks like a chain from a distance at times. keep in mind the ribbed bones around the 'ipe' on the tail bend and the corners point tward the Alien's body not away from it.

I also drew the stinger part. notice how the tail seems to spand out a little till the stinger starts. and see how the 'ribbs' stop right when you get to the last vertabre spine.

6. how the cranium/Brain looked under the dome. note, that when H.R. Giger was working on the Alien's head, he did NOT sculpt the ribbed texture onto the cranium. he painted it. its a common mistake is that people draw the Giger Alien's head with the 'sculpted' ribbed look. keep in mind that the original's ribbed look was painted. you'd notice it alot in the movie if you look closely enough.

7. the Original Alien's Hand. and yes, it is the hardest to get right. I even had trouble with it. when drawing the Alien, remember that the man who was in the suit Bolaji Badejo was a tall man. (7'2") his hands actualy reached his below his knees when he sat down. so Riddley Scott desided to make the hands big and fingers long. so now when ever Bolaji was in the suit his hands will seem to reach his knees (a few inches above them actualy) wich is quite interesting.

now for some Alien fun facts.

1. Bolaji Badejo was 7'2". his arms and legs being longer then a normal human's. this made the Alien look too inhuman. and made the illusion that it was more realistic.

Bolaji was 7'2". how did the Alien suit make him 8'? well the suit (body and neck only) was put all on him. so the neck would be where his head was. (it also made it hard for him to see see when the Alien's head was facing its feet in some scenes) the head was made it made another 10" and all together it made him 8' tall.

2. the slime that made the Alien's Saliva, was actualy K-Y Jelly and a guy who the crew of the film called "Mother" desided to also put it all over the Alien. (Bolaji probly didn't feel right for a while I'm sure) but it all worked well on screen.

3. the Alien's front teeth never completely close in the film. the fangs and canine teeth when jaws are close stop when they interlock. so the front teeth never meet. wich isn't a bad thing. because the teeth of the Tongue or innerjaw are shown. so it gives a magnificent illusion that the Alien's mouth has more teeth inside its mouth. wich isn't to far from the truth.

4. the Alien's design has many sexual designs. particularly the head wich if looked at the top looks like a human penis. and the inside of the Innerjaw's (where its 'throat' would be) looks a little like a vagina. its life cycle also shows a great amount of sexual reference.

5. durring filming of the shuttle scene at the climax of Alien. when the Alien was supposed to be in the shuttle inside the mechanical workings. the set was built around Bolaji insuit (head off mostlikely) and when it came to the scene when the Alien was fumbling to get out of the small area, the tail got caught on something, and tore off! they tried many more times and after the suit got tor several times they finaly got the shot that changed movie history.

6. that durring the chestburster scene, Veronica Cartwright's responce to the 'birthing scene' was authentic. she even fell over backwards in histaria. wich made the scene even more believable.

7. that the Alien is refered to as Kane's Son, Giger Alien, or The Original Alien.

thats it. enjoy the pic and the new facts.