Albert the... polecat? WIP

[Sabrina Gosselin]

I also had a real tough time deciding! Coincidentally, one of my options was a pine marten, which is essentially a mini polecat and bandana was something I was toying with as an accessory! I didn't do either though. I am loving your design so far. Way adorable!

[lizardillo]

@Georgios-Christopoulos thank you. I was thinking of adding colour to his fur (so not just black/brown and white) but never though about eye colour. Great idea!

@Sabrina-Gosselin my original was a weasel and a bandana kind of suited his nature and you can do a lot of things with a bandana. Then it kind of went through weasel, stoat, pine marten and then polecat and marbled polecat. I just loved their little faces and how flexible they are - even if they are little devils in real life. If you had created your pine marten they could have gone on mischievous adventures together

[Sabrina Gosselin]

@lizardillo Haha mine could've been a spazzy little sidekick

[willicreate]

Except for the polecat, I went through the same list of animals as potential candidates. There's a reason why bears, elephants, etc are beloved by humanity. Loving the exploration of the polecat's spagetti body.

[Becky]

@Georgios-Christopoulos that's a fun idea!

[Becky]

Your sketches are very fun. Thank you for sharing your visual thought process!

[lizardillo]

Thanks all. I have tried to stylalise a bit and make him looooooooong. Polecats just look like furry tubes when they stand up but I've added a bit of shape just to add some form. Going with a teal accent colour (it's my fave and I like to sneak that colour in wherever I can!), he's not wearing a waistcoat, it will just be spots or a pattern around that area. I'm having a bit of an arm positioning dilemma. Position 1 seems the most comedic but he looks like a giraffe, 3 seems the most realistic to the actual animal but make him look too skinny. I'm thinking somewhere in the middle like 2, although that limits his reach a bit to get high things but I can stretch his lower body and squash his upper body if he's reaching for something high up. I'm swayed towards 2 but any opinions welcome. I thought of having him bending on the front and back 3/4 like the top left but then realised thats not a 'neutral pose'.

I think I'm going to have to say 'polecat inspired' soon as it's moving away from the real thing and becoming a polecat/meerkat/squirrel. Albert the Polmeersquirrelkat.

[xin li]

@lizardillo lovely character. I wonder what it would look like if no.2 and 3, the arm is a bit longer. Right now the arm feels too short in these 2 versions.

[lizardillo]

@xin-li thanks I've added some length on. It will definitely help if I extend them as I was trying to draw him eating and his arms wouldn't reach his mouth at that short length.

[miranda-hoover]

@lizardillo Looking great! Love the multip-purpose garment; very clever!

[Jules]

I love your design of the polecat! It has really great shape and I really appreciated seeing all the behind the scenes with your reference and thoughts. It looks fantastic!

[lizardillo]

I think this will be my finished character sheet layout. I will redraw, colour and add fur patterns/details tomorrow (it’s late evening here ). I will try and give him a little more personality, my facial expression skills are not that good, they are all a bit generic so will be looking at trying to improve on them. He’s not as mischievous as I would have liked but I may have time to try to add some bits at the end but I may be pushing it a bit.

Thanks for all of the feedback, it’s really appreciated. Glad you are liking the process, sometimes I feel I waffle on a bit too much, sorry if I do!

I have no idea what mammal he’s turned into now. Some sort of polecat-mouse with a touch of hyena think!

Thanks again for being so supportive.

[brettb_draws]

@lizardillo This is such a fun design, I really love the proportions !!

[LordAzazel]

@lizardillo Very nice work. I love how he can use his little scarf in many ways. Such a versatile design choice!

[lizardillo]

Here is the final. I will submit in a bit as I can't decide whether to take off "spotty polecat" as I'm not sure he's very polecat-y any more

Thanks everyone, it's so nice to have such a helpful and supporting community.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's Alberts this month.

[Janette]

Oh, I love him! So much fun!

[willicreate]

Nicely done. If you're polling, I've vote for spots. It's for kids, so go colorful and imaginary.

[lizardillo]

@willicreate I toned down the spots a little so the bandana was a little more prominent but otherwise he's still spotty