On his Instagram account, artist Joseph C. Pepe posted the first illustration he made for “Avatar”, revealing a character very different from the Na’vi we know.
Blue skin streaked with bioluminescent white spots, long black hair, four-fingered hands and pointy ears…
Since the release of the first Avatar in 2009, viewers around the world have come to know the unique appearance of the Na’vi, the inhabitants who inhabit the planet Pandora in the famous saga.
However, as recently revealed by artist Joseph C. Pepe, who has worked on the physical appearance of the characters since the very beginning, James Cameron’s big blues could have sported a completely different facies.
Indeed, as is usually the case on a project of this magnitude, the character designers and illustrators offered many different sketches to the filmmaker before he settled on his favorite.
The concept art seen above is the first that Joseph C. Pepe presented to James Cameron, in 2005, during a 14-day “baptism of fire” session, where the illustrators had to come up with something something new and photorealistic to the director. Even though he sports all the main characteristics of the Na’vi, the character that can be seen here looks very different from those of the film.
“At this time, Cameron did not express the slightest emotion during the debriefing”says Joseph C. Pepe on his Instagram post.
“He just recognized the bioluminescent sea slug I had used on the forehead. He said, ‘It’s a Pelagic Nudibranch, Phylliroe bucephala.’ My jaw dropped, I was amazed that he not only recognized the type of bioluminescent animal I had used, but also knew its scientific name.”
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