Shark Week Illustrations, Part 1 (Patreon)

Hey there Patrons!

So rather than do individual posts for each image (given that I didn't post these individually when they were done at the time), and to keep from bombarding your inboxes, I'm bundling up all the current shark week pics into one post! Keep in mind that this won't be the "Complete" image series post, as implied by the title, as that will go out once all the Riptide Growth Sequence and Shark-ify Pinups are done. I will be posting those individually as they're completed though, as well as the final bundle so keep that in mind!

Normally I'd copy-paste descriptions for these pieces from gallery posts like FurAffinity or Cohost, but since there's multiple different pictures, it doesn't really make sense for this post, so instead I'll just include a little overview and some thoughts for each.

We'll start with Marjask's piece, and admittedly this is really pushing the envelope of what I would consider a "finished illustration" that would fit into the posting structure here, but realistically the only thing that would really change to make me feel more comfortable with doing that would simply be changing the lineart to not be colored. That being said, I really do like how the pic looks without the colors and toning, especially Cali's hair in particular. Maybe I should've colored the linework for the hair to be red as well. I might do that later to see how it looks!

Glitch's piece was really fun for a variety of reasons, starting with the fact that I just love drawing Izzy. She's a big goofball! This was also a wing-it, so I had a bit more creative freedom with things, and I wanted to figure out a reason for why Izzy would know what Riptide is while still being smaller than she wound up being in the not-so-little sketch comic page where she first tried Riptide blue, and I came up with the head canon that the spiked bracelets she's wearing are actually compressors to keep her size more manageable. For those that don't know, Izzy is basically addicted to getting bigger, and I'm still not really sure if I want Riptide's effects to be permanent or temporary, so if it was permanent I needed a reason for her to be smaller, and if it's not permanent, she's the type that would chug enough to keep up a ridiculous size anyway, so having compressors was a nice hand-wave! I REALLY like how her pre-kaiju body came out too, such a good size. For the Kaiju form, I wanted to lean into the more aggressive pointy designs you'd see in a modern godzilla, and have it be more evocative of "giant creature that's still very reminiscent of a well-known animal" rather than something more akin to a deep-sea horror that looks alien like some kaijus have been (i.e. Pacific Rim), so I didn't change a ton about her design except for a lot of spikes, some additional fins, and of course glow, because all kaijus must glow! The Anchor piercings came about as a spur of the moment comment during a stream  I was working on this piece, given Izzy's piercings already being so big, the comment "she'd need an actual shipwright to commission piercings that big" immediately made me think of anchors, and the rest just worked itself out!

CJ's piece was fun for entirely different reasons, mainly because theirs was the only one in the first batch that was "select a flavor at random" (though of course I would roll "More muscles and Curves" in her flavor XD), and on top of that, I got to work some art muscles I don't normal get to, mainly in doing human faces. I'm super thankful CJ let me get the practice in (As well as trusted me to do a human face), and I think it came out well! I mentioned this in a stream (I think?) but every time I draw human faces, whether it's practice or studies or in this case for a commission, I'm ALWAYS taken aback by how subtle each element is. CJ mentioned it's likely due to us needing to be able to identify people from each other, and realistically that's probably it, but it still struck me as so interesting that drawing a furry character (say Val for example) I can get away with pretty radical changes to her facial proportions and people will still be like "Yeah that's Val!" but change the shape of the jawline ever so slightly or raise the cheek bones too high on a human face and it is a thousand times more apparent that something is off. Drawing furries is easy mode by comparison. That being said, while I would put my art style on the more "realistically stylized" section of the graph, doing this piece made me realize that I really do need to spend some time getting a "style" down for human faces that works well with all the anthro characters I draw. I've done anime style practice experiments before, and I liked the look, but it wouldn't mesh well with how I draw everything else, so it's not really a good fit for most of the work I'd want to do with the few human characters I have. 

Closing out with Sal's piece, this was one of those moments where everything just clicked. I was so excited when I saw she had put a commission proposal in, and almost right away the ideas were flowing into me like a divine prophecy. And the best part is that everything came out the way I wanted it to as well! It was like I entered into ultra instinct mode and came out with this piece at the end of it. As I've mentioned before I've been a fan of this character for a long time, so maybe that helped, but either way I'm so glad that it came out as well as it did. On the topic of Sal, something that always struck a chord with me was how simple the character's design is, and I don't mean that in a detrimental or insulting way; I've always felt like simple designs are MUCH more powerful than overly complicated or extremely detailed designs, especially if you can carve out a particular niche, and I feel like Sal is the exemplary embodiment of that. Well chosen color palette, relatively minimalist body markings that read at a distance and aren't distracting, but do enough to bring a clear identity to the character, and consistency in accessories and complementary elements. I was actually hesitant to add the background for a second after putting the flats down because the colors and design on their own are so good, and I didn't want to ruin it, but the rim lit scene worked out really well in the end. I think part of that is due to the fact that the lighting itself is pretty simple as well. Really not a lot of extra work went into it, just enough to light the edges and some really minor glow effects. I'm also super happy with the pose and the foreshortened arm. Again, everything just flowed so effortlessly, and I'm so happy with that piece!

Alright, that'll do it for today. Two really wordy posts back to back in a single day? Y'all have probably had enough of me for more than a week, haha!

Hopefully you enjoy getting to look at the various stages of these pieces in greater detail! If you have any feedback for these types of posts in the future as well, I'd be happy to hear it!

As always, thank you all so much for your support!