Pallasite Veins

This is Lias, formally known as Yim before I changed their name because ‘Hima’ and ‘Yim’ sounded too similar. Lias is a fae-dragon with a third eye and facial markings that resemble sliced Pallasite meteorites (look them up, they’re beautiful). Originally, they were just going to be a flat pallasite-inspired pattern slapped onto Lias’s skin. Then, I was struck by inspiration. What if Lias instead had a series of translucent nictating membranes layered over each other that resembled pallasite patterns? That’s infinitely more eldritch, body-horror-esque, and interesting to think of!

Here are my test patterns. I settled for a base layer of yellow that looks like it’s glowing from within. Then, I worked backward and started with the outer layer of dark brown. Then an inner layer of silver, then orange. I wanted to get that intricate veiny feel, and I went from careful layering of lines and crisscrosses to just scribbles. I think all experiments look good at a distance, but up close you can see the sloppiness of the scribbles versions.

Overall, I think the middle test on the top image looks the best. It’s the one where I drew all the lines carefully. It’s also the most time-consuming to draw. Going forwards, I think I only need to make the outer layer carefully drawn, and go looser with the inner layers. I’ll need to keep in mind to not make the lines too thick or numerous, to really get that base layer glow across.