Albert the Muskrat WIP
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Hi, I'm trying to get more active on SVS... I am a member for over an year but fail to get the most out of this opportunity and make some more consistent progress. My goal is actually making comic books but I also love children's books.
So, after a more superficial take on the May challenge I'm trying to invest more time with Albert.My daughter likes muskrats, so this was my starting idea. She said my first sketches are not hairy enough
My impression is that hairiness is more difficult to use with a stylized anthropomorphic illustration character but I will try some more.I want to go again through some of the funny characters SVS classes, do you have any reccomandations?
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@Oana I like your muskrat! Very cute!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiminyrose/
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These are adorable...I love the direction you are going with the sheet of muskrats in overalls, but for some reason my favorite is the expression of the muskrat wearing the flat hat
.Personally, I agree with your daughter about muskrats. They are noble creatures in Algonquin creation myths, and peacefully coexist with beavers (in beaver lodges). Pretty cool animals.
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@Kim-Rosenlof said in Albert the Muskrat WIP:
@Oana I like your muskrat! Very cute!
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@RachelArmington Thank you!
I think the looped smile gives him more cheek. We saw muskrats by the river in Prague coming out of the water and approaching people like domesticated animals, they looked very cute, though larger than I expected so a bit intimidating -
So adorable, nuff said:)
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Very cute - love him especially in the bottom right pictures
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@Larue
@Rachel-Horne
Thank you! This helps -
So, still at doodling stage but I feel I am closer... I tried to incorporate my client's (daughter) observation (he should be hairy) and gave him a nautical look because he is an aquatical animal. I also think I will go with a long tail as muskrats have, the short one is not working and makes him look like a hamster.
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I’m still loosely sketching Albert trying to find the other poses… not easy! Seems his main feature are the wiskers and it’s tricky getting those in perspective!
I also notice I shrunk his head over time… I’ll try to get the head size from the previous drawing, looks more “muskrat” like that… well now he looks like a mouse..back to the drawing board
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His long tail is very expressive!
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@RachelArmington Thanks, I like it too over the short one! My problem is he seems to get less "Musk" and more "Rat" every time I redraw him
I'll try to go back some steps and look at some muskrat pictures again. Muskrats do look like large rats....
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Not much time left and I am still not sure how to render the final drawing, but at least I managed to finish the page composition and I’m done twitching Albert’s shape and proportions! I like it, family likes it… I’ll try not to stray far from this sketchy look but rhight now it just looks toooo sketchy…
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I love how loose he is...the lines add motion to the figure (as in the marvelous tail)!
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I agree with RachealArmington, the looseness of the drawings are great. Your handling reminds me of the wonderful art in the Disney Short Burrow. I don't think you need to render at all, just play with tones and clean the lines.
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@willicreate @RachelArmington Thank you! This coloring and finishing part is something I have less experience with, but this is the time to learn
I didn’t know Burrow, thanks for the reference! -
My submited character sheet! It was a great exercise and I am happy with the results. I feel it does not look too original but it is a feat for me to be able to put together an image like this, colors and all. My daughter watched closely the whole way and at one point she even took the stylus from me and demonstrated her idea of fur rendering, wich actually was very good and I used
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It's a sweet looking character. Nice rendering and storytelling. Easily works for animation.
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@willicreate Thank you! I actually have a kind of animated version of my subject in my head when I draw
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I have been watching the “Creative composition” class so I am trying to go through the thumbnails process to get Albert a home! I’m posting some of the 10000 thumbnail sketches as a wip though they are not much to look at yet… Actually I had started with too much detail, then I got to the discussion about thumbnails and realised it is a much better idea. Hope I make it in time.
