The Island of Lost Souls is an ongoing personal design project I have returned to over the years.
The story is set after the creatures of Dr. Moreau’s island rebelled, leaving part of it destroyed. Unknown to them, Moreau had been hiding worse experiments on the other side: babies raised as human children, unaware of their true nature.
Without access to Moreau’s serum, predator and prey are left to fend for themselves, caught between instinct, survival, and the remains of his failed science. This page focuses on character morphology explorations — how much human remains, how much animal emerges, and where each character lives between the two.
JAMAL | CREATURE
Jamal- Creature morphology and character exploration.
Jamal is a jaguar hybrid. These early concepts explore how much of his animal nature would show through at different stages: the facial markings, ear shape, hair, expression, and overall attitude.
The goal was to find a version that still felt like a child, while quietly suggesting the predator underneath.
OLD MAN RAY | CREATURE
Old Man Ray - Morphology exploration
Ray is the children’s elderly butler and caregiver, and the only one who understands the true nature of the experiments taking place on the island. As a fish hybrid, his design needed to feel strange, but not frightening.
These thumbnails explore different facial shapes, proportions, and expressions. With hybrid characters, morphology changes how emotion reads, so the goal was to find a face that still felt deeply human — eventually landing on a gentler, more hopeful version of Ray.
LEANNA | CREATURE
Leanna - Portrait explorations
Selected sketches exploring Leanna, the lamb hybrid, from a stubborn toddler with attitude to a softer, gentler child version.
For Leanna, I wanted the animal traits to feel less threatening and more disarming. The question was not only how much lamb to bring into the face, but how to keep her feeling vulnerable, funny, and childlike as the reversion begins. I also explored small costume and accessory details that could hint at her true nature in a playful way.
Leanna — human-to-lamb transformation.
Selected sketches exploring possible stages of Leanna’s reversion from human child to lamb hybrid.
With Leanna, the transformation needed to stay delicate. The lamb features had to become clear enough to read, but not so strong that she lost her softness, vulnerability, or ability to express emotion in the story.
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