Useful links for COWies

[Pochifux]

http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...s#tab-Overview

Crocodile dissection!

[Jabberwock xeno]

You guys still need links?

I've been into Cryptozoology for years now, I have ton of reference sites for it, if you do.

[Rob Powell]

I'm thinking this would be quite useful for creature design. This was made by Rodrigo Vega (IRIRIV), who makes some incredible creature designs.
http://rpowell77.deviantart.com/favo...et=48#/d1tu1y1
I'd recommend having a gander through his gallery as well.

[Rob Powell]

Just a couple other stuff that I feel would be useful...

for naming...
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub...ameroots.shtml

a bunch of bird skulls...
http://azdrybones.com/birds

[spacemanchris]

Something that might help people...

It is a random animal mixer generator. The results are at the very least amusing.

http://sacredhillfilms.com/animal_mixer.html

I basically used some free generator code from Seventh Sanctum/, modified it and dumped a ton of animal names in it. It is a modified version of my general Idea Machine Generator. I find these things helpful so maybe you guys do too.

It's good on ideas but bad on grammar (thanks to my shoddy coding skills).

Enjoy!
-Chris

[Rob Powell]

Found this on youtube, it is a ficticious documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel about life on other planets. Some of the creatures here are quite interesting, designed by none other than Wayne Barlowe. If you have an hour and a half to spare I recommend that you watch it!
Alien Planet

[Grumbleputty]

A nice gallery of X-ray images of weird deep sea fish- ain't the internet great?
environmental graffiti

[DPFX]

http://www.realmonstrosities.com/

[warburton]

A couple of useful inks for reference

http://www.arkive.org/

and...

http://photo.net/photos/siwanowicz

1 more...

http://nafoku.de/kaefer/familien.htm

[Dayle]

A few pictures from National Geographic on pollinating animals, some interesting forms and colours.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...mpaign=Content

[Tamowicz]

Dinosaurs:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/l...a/gallery.html (fast browsing)
http://dinosaurs.findthedata.org/ (fast browsing, more details like weight, height etc.)
http://www.anthrosaurs.com/ (slower browsing but a lot of details)
http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/# (anatomy)
Insects:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 (brilliant site, tons of pictures, very detailed information)
All
http://animal.discovery.com/wild-animals (slower browsing but a lot of information)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/ (general information)
http://a-z-animals.com/animals/pictures/ (quite fast browsing, detailed information)
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/index.asp (normal browsing speed, nice information)

[danieleskywalker]

A life time of topics, pick your favorite:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...antasy_fiction

[Rob Powell]

Just a reminder to people about the existence of this thread! If you ever have difficulty coming up with a unique design remember the internet is full of references, and this thread allows people to share some of their favourite sites! Anyone is allowed to post in this thread, and you can basically post anything, anatomy, photos, news stories, concept art, anything; if you think a creature designer could benefit from it you can go ahead and post it here! Remember one of the most important aspects of design is having a good visual library, build off of what you know, observe and study and you can create limitless amounts of AWESOME!!

And to practice what I preach, here are a few reference sites that I think may be of some interest:
http://dtc.pima.edu/blc/183/14_183/s..._step4_p2.html
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/tsunami-d...creatures.html
http://www.lionfishlair.com/gregandr...rgallery.shtml
http://sta.sh/01p1vcb6sp78
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/l...a/gallery.html

Of course looking at other human creations helps as well:
http://www.creaturespot.com/
http://waynebarlowe.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/jeffreysims...ure-reference/

I always seem to recommend these three Youtube channels for tutorials for those who are new to digital painting and creature design:
a former COW artist gives some insight behind his own creature design techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MikeCorriero
general concept art videos going over various things based on the industry as a whole, but it does include creature stuff as well:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL
another former COW artist, not much in terms of creatures but useful for those who are just starting to grasp digital painting:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ctrlpainter


This can be fun and useful as well:
http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-1241.html

[Brandonius Caesar]

Here's a site with info on over two hundred creatures from Japanese folklore.
(Let's be honest: Japan is your one-stop shop for all sorts of... peculiar stuff.)

http://yokai.com/

[Vermis]

Various introductions to insect anatomy:

https://www.earthlife.net/insects/anatomy.html
www.insectsexplained.com/03external.htm
www.robinsonlibrary.com/science/zoology/insects/coleoptera/anatomy.htm
University of Sydney external morphology
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/mitch...re/modules.pdf
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Insect_anatomy

[stonec]

http://www.arkive.org/species/