I was doodling around in Illustrator last weekend and this little character popped up from the anchor points. She is a deep-sea cephalopod called the Dumbo Octopus (Grimpoteuthis sp.). Some species are found 300-400 meters down (or more). They get there common name from their two flapping fins, which some people believe resemble the volitant auricles of aerial pachyderms. The Grimpoteuthis are in a group called the cirrate octopus and are consider to be an ancestral form of octopus. The Research Channel has a short video of a Grimpoteuthis ballet set to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14.
Major breakthroughs for me with this piece were learning about Offset Path and wrangling with Extrude and Bevel to get the arms in perspective.
Zazzling
In addition to enjoying the image here, you can also purchase a copy to wear on your body. I’ve opened up a Zazzle shop to sell Cephalopodcast custom T-shirts and gear. I don’t expect to make much lucre out of this establishment but will continue to add designs to the store for fun.
Wrack Lines is a recurring series on this blog, featuring some of the artwork and designs I’ve created in Illustrator and Photoshop. In real life, a wrack line is the strand of seaweed and other debris washed up along the beach and usually indicates the high tide mark. But here it also refers to the vector-based lines of programs that I seem to be racking my brains against. I am a recreational graphic designer and amateur photographer. If you have constructive criticism, questions about techniques or additional resources you’d like to share, please contact me or leave a comment below.
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Awwww!!!! I didn’t think a dumbo octopus could get cuter but you did it.
More on Grimpoteuthis here.