Treefolk

Description from original post (created 2012-02-19 14:19):

Myths about treefolk (http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Treefolk) span the globe and the millenia. They have many names including: Leshy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshy), Lesovik (http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/creature.php?beast=Lesovik), and the Greenman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man). Tolkien called them Ents (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ent) in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. These woodland spirits, or fertility deities, protect nature and are often seen as threats to mankind's attempts to control nature. They are usually depicted as wild, cunning shapeshifters that like to assume the guise of a bearded man the size of a tree.


This was a challenging skin to design. I wanted it to look more treelike than manlike but the basic minecraft body was pretty limiting. I decided to use the "hat" option to give the head a 3D leafy look and to create more expressive eyes and facial features. The top of the head and body joins are meant to look like the tree rings you would see if you sectioned a tree. I wanted the arms and legs to look like branches and roots coming off of a trunk-like body. Simulating bark, leaves, and vines required a lot of shading.