Whirlybird

This is a commission for for his character, the Autobot Fairy, Whirlybird! When scanning for her alternate mode, she chose an Apache attack helicopter, but ended up getting a remote-controlled toy model!

In keeping with the fairy theme, Whirlybird's helicopter rotors become her wings. Thinking about it in possible toy terms, I designed the rotors so that one pair splits and joins with the other pair to form the upper wings, while the remaining portion of the first pair end up as the smaller, lower wings.

The primary influence on this interpretation comes from the CG models of Transformers: Prime, with a touch of Animated. Her body design has a mix of contoured limbs with a more blocky main body, which is a little G1 (post-movie).

Played with scale a bit here too. A low angle shot makes Whirlybird look large, as expected from a Transformer, but she's actually perched on top of a desk, and what first appears to be some kind of radar dish is a lamp.

Pencils on A4 Vellum Board
Colors on Photoshop CS3 with a Genius G-Pen 450

Whirlybird created by
Transformers by Hasbro
Original art by Jon Mallari