“Habitat of a Cryptozoologist” (3D environment) 2023
By Dylan McCarthy

Over the course of the past year I have been researching the topic of designing iconic monsters in film, literature, and history, in order to properly glean what makes an effective creature design. Monsters in media can influence the mind in a wide array of ways, ranging from awe and excitement, to horror and despair. The specific topics I looked at for my research were the psychology behind depicting powerful and interesting creatures that resonate with audiences, and how I could integrate some of those design philosophies into my own designs.

“Habitat of a Cryptozoologist” is a love letter to the culture of cryptozoology in North America while also serving as a summary of the skills and knowledge that I have gained during my time at Ringling. I decided that I wanted to focus on set-dressing, prop creation and texturing and came up with the concept for my thesis. My thesis is a blending of 3D modeling, lighting, and texturing to create a set-piece for a cryptid hunter character. I wanted to try my best to create an interesting and compelling character, based on the space they would live in, and the objects they chose to keep in that space.

The goal of my thesis was to create an interesting interior space that could represent a unique character, as well as tie into my research about beasts and the culture that surrounds them. In addition to studying the principles that help bring fantasy creatures to life, I put a lot of time into observing the practices, and creations of distinguished creature artists, in order to understand how they go about creating such realistic and believable monsters. Despite the bulk of my research being put into designing creatures themselves, without everything that I learned about folklore and depictions of monsters throughout the history of media, I wouldn’t have been able to properly depict the dwelling-place of somebody whose life goal is to track down elusive cryptids.