Alex Ries

Alex Ries is an Australian illustrator and concept artist, currently based in Melbourne.
He is probably best known for his original approach to creature design and has worked with clients including book publishers, videogame developers and the scientific and medical communities.

His education and experience, coupled with a strong interest in biology, zoology and real-world technology, has fostered an amazingly artistic style able to not only accurately illustrate life from the real world, but fictional life as well.

He's been doing this for years and for a range of medias, but especially his thought and designs on aliens are interesting. They all seems very applaudable and real, and you accept them on the spot as living beings.
His designs, colours and the way he poses and presents his creatures makes you think more in the lines of BBC nature and historic programs than Star Wars I-VI. It's all got this underplayed tune running as a red line throughout most of his artwork.

Birrin:
And even though most of his stuff is worth a close study, his Birrin project close to being his most fascinating one.

The Birrin are a sentient hexapod (six limbed) living on a Venus sized home world. And they seem to enjoy life immensely! They do drugs, socialize, explores, hunts and fights with great enthusiasm.
He illustrates and writes small scenarios of their social and cultural development through the ages, which is not quite unlike ours.
I really like their designs very much and I am always eager to see more about the Birrin.

If I have to put my finger on anything, it has to be that I still need to see where they really differ from us, other than in their apperance. What's their psyche like? When threatened, how do they react?
I am aware that some theories works with the idea, that civilized alien species will have more in common than not (read interesting io9 article here), but what if they for example communicated via chemicals? How would that effect their cultural and technological development? Stuff like that...
But that's minor details. I still find them more believable than the Na'vi... 

Alex Ries uses his Deviantart account both as a gallery for his brilliant art as well as as a puplic forum, where he posts thought for general debate and decision making on anything related to his works. 

For a short introduction to him, his works and his thoughts, don't hessitate to watch this wee video presentation made in connection with a course he gave at Phoenix Atelier in the fall of 2013.