DEV WORK AND STUFF | Western Fox Belle (Patreon)

COMMISSION DETAILS

A character design for a anthro female fox from a D&D Western setting. This image will be used as a display piece to show who and what the character is atop a character sheet.

Greg will be my example.

Thank you Greg.

KEY CHARACTER DETAILS

These are specific details that sI need to factor into the final character design.

• Western + D&D
• White Fox (Vixen) - Tall
• Fur styled like hair
• Green + lavender eyes
• Right handed (sword hand)
• Light pastel colours
• Costume: Southern Belle with Vest + Belt
• Red metal hand: thumb, index finger and ring finger + Cult mark

ART DETAILS

• Single character
• Shaded
• Coloured
• Simple Background

Example of the finished style - though the final version will be much more refined.

Cheese the Pirate.

REFERENCES

Character mood board.

Cult Mark

Sword reference.

With some discussion with the commissioner I got the vibe that they wanted cute. Some of the other references I was shown made me think tuning my designs towards a more 'Zootopia' look (mostly with the head) would definitely fit.

First sketches of the Western Fox Belle.

I passed on my first version to the commissioner, who was happy. They did have a few little edits; A different pose and no shoes but I was heading in the right direction. RAD.

The commissioner drew a small sketch to explain the pose they wanted. Side note; holy shit this is so useful. I LOVE when a commissioner does this it is so useful.

Taking the sketch the commissioner provided I drew straight over it. This is a much better direction. Details, like the folds of the dress and some anatomy very much need some attention but I got something. 

Second version of the Fox. This much more refined and I am almost ready for line art.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS WITH SELECTION TOOLS

After seeing the exported version of the sketch, it felt like she looked too rigid in her pose.

You know, there is a way to RECORD this, but that would be to easy ( ་ ⍸ ་ ) also, thank you Greg.

THE LIQUIFY TOOL (PHOTOSHOP)

More sketch tweaking! Liquify if a strong tool to quickly move things around. Using this sparingly can help you manipulate your work without the effort of redrawing it.

Before and after I moved things around.

WHY IS HAVING A GOOD SKETCH IMPORTANT?

If your art style is primarily line art based it is important to have a good foundation with your undersketch. Minimising mistakes with anatomy, perspective through the sketch stage stops them slipping through your refined line work stage.

It does seem like a lot of extra work, but your quality of work greatly improves and over time as you pick up on things you will become much, much faster.

A new layer above and I start the line art. This type of line art is not my normal super clean finish. It will have a sketch quality about it, with gaps and gradients.

Zoomed out its where its texture shines, well I think it does. I like textures.

Line art is almost done. 

YOU CAN FIX OR CHANGE THINGS AT ANY TIME!

I had some trouble with the back arm with the sword. I placed the sword ref and drew over with a HOT PINK brush. It is worth noting that is doesn't matter at what point of your commission you're at you can always find something to fix.

Line art DONE.

I redrew that back hand like 4 times before settling on this. (ভ_ ভ)  

A downside to this method is that my Magic Wand Selection will not work as the line art does not have closed spaces.

So good old fashion colouring - WITH A BRUSH AND ERASER.

Then I painted all the colours.

I picked a peach colour instead of the green that is shown in the reference images. The green did not compliment the colour scheme of the the features that I could not change; the red fingers and white fur coat.

I placed a temporary background colour to help make what I was colouring easier to see.

I also tinted the line work with a dark brown which worked will with the warm colours and I think adds to that whole 'dusty, western look'.

Using the colour layer as my guide I created a selection area.

In Photoshop: CTRL + Click Thumbnail of the layer you want to select.

SHADING

Add a new layer above and draw/paint in your shadows. I picked a cool red to offset the warm tones.

Turned shading layer opacity down to 35%.

I DID NOT CHANGE THE BLENDING MODE TO MULTIPLY - I kept this on Normal to keep the colour saturation in the shadows.

Zooming out and showing the entire character I use a large soft eraser brush and softened all the edges. I did not erase them entirely I kept the hard lines of the cell shading intact.

LIGHTING

This piece will not be getting any fancy lighting, I will only be adding highlights and rim lighting. A new layer above the colour and shading I draw in the rim lighting and some simplified highlights. Highlight layer blending mode is set to Overlay.

I don't want to pass over this commission without some better presentation. Even adding shape in the background can compliment the composition.

A quick way I make these backgrounds is to use the square selection tool and mark out an area that I want to fill. 

Note: The grey is temporary just so I am not blinding yours and my retinas with a white or checkered screen.

I unapologetically own 1000 of Photoshop brushes. I just painted a random grunge paper texture.

Just a few things to add; eye highlights, nose and little things around the face .

Not gonna lie, I am pretty proud of this one. I completed this quickly and I am happy with the quality. I do feel like the dress frills could have been more frilly.