"Cyborgs, draw your interpretation of them," with full creative freedom! After discarding all the obvious bot types from popular culture, Robocop, Giant Mechas, and countless anime characters, I figured there's not many animal or plant cyborgs out there, and soon enough I was doodling robotic mermaid tails on cats (mmm, whales) and automated watering cans on cacti.
It wasn't until I drew a bull with hammers for horns that I realized antlers would be so much more interesting, think of all the tools that could be attached, a deer or an elk with antlers like a Swiss knife! The most tools added in the comp stage were about 8 (including: a hammer, a clock, a magnifying glass, a wrench, a magnet), but I narrowed it down to what you see above, because 1) I wanted them to interact with each other (create a story) or serve a function other than being there for quantity, 2) I wanted elegance versus the sharp intensity of metal from a traditional cyborg (apparently even cyborgs can be traditional).
Unfortunately, my deer of the many tools wasn't handy enough for the mood/continuity/style the editor was looking for in the pictures, so the illustration was killed.
Regardless, this was a very satisfying project. Full creative freedom plus two of my favorite subject matters: animals, and combined objects; and I finally figured out some tricks I've been trying to get the hang of in Photoshop.
Always learning something new with each illustration.
