Opinions please...

[Succubus_1982]

Been doing a piece of art today and figured I'd run it by you guys to see if theres anything that needs changing, or if its okay to use as is...



Werewolf concept I'm working on. Wanted to give it a stocky powerful build hence the hunched shoulders and lack of a neck. Not 100% sure on the limbs. Ears at the side are an intentional part of the design.

Excuse crappy scan-quality. I will most likely shade it and possibly colour if nothing needs changing.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Interesting. It appears to have a wolven hindquarters and a human-ish forequarters.

And the huge claws are an interesting touch - significantly oversized for standard wolves; heck, outsized for equivalency to human fingers, even though fingernails is more appropriate.

Not out of scale for the whole werewolf mythos, I might add; slightly odd even for those in that the "hands" are larger than usual.


I'm not suggesting you change any of this, mind. I'm merely commenting on what I see; the artist gets final call on what he or she is trying to achieve...

[Mao]

I think, that for me the forearms don't look right.  Lack of joints on them (or at least the seeming lack of) makes them look short and a bit off.  That's all I can really see.  Given the pose it's kinda hard to comment on other proportions, but they do look pretty good.

[Succubus_1982]

Mm well anatomy's never been my strong point but I did think there was something off about the limbs. Maybe its the lack of neck that makes them look weird?

[Mao]

Actually, given the pose, the 'lack' of neck isn't noticeable. (to me at least, others will obviously differ)  I think it really is just the lack of visible elbow joint on the forelegs/forearms.


Though looking at some reference pics, this isn't much of a big deal given how the shoulders of canines seem to work.  (reference link: http://www.sitmeanssit.com/images/blogs/dog-training-expert.jpg)

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

http://www.forwolves.org/ralph/

There's a fairly useful pic on there.

Lack of elbows is not a big deal, if it's very wolf-like. ie, a quadrupedal werewolf, rather than bipedal.

http://gouk.about.com/od/ukfamilytravel/ig/Animal-Babies-at-Longleat/Wolf-Cub.htm is a lovely pic, too, albeit of less utility for this conversation.

[Succubus_1982]

Alright thanks for the input. I think I know where I want to go with this now

[bradypodidae]

Alright thanks for the input. I think I know where I want to go with this now

I have no useful critique to offer since I lack a critical artistic eye, however, I wanted to comment that I like your sketch and hope you will post future evolutions for us to follow your progress. I love being made envious of others talents.

[Tezkat]

That's pretty cool.

Not something that necessarily needs changing, but since people have been discussing it...

The proportions, particularly the length of the hindlimbs, and the shoulder musculature give the impression more of a crouched biped (or partial biped) than a fully quadrupedal animal. The left forelimb (his left) is clear off the ground. The other is, if not also raised, at least up on fingertips--opposable, grasping digits rather than paws. It's not a very stable posture, especially since the curvature of his spine would place his center of gravity fairly far forward, so it looks like he's about to stand up or take a swipe at someone. An interesting way of suggesting movement, actually.

[Succubus_1982]

The left forelimb (his left) is clear off the ground. The other is, if not also raised, at least up on fingertips--opposable, grasping digits rather than paws. It's not a very stable posture, especially since the curvature of his spine would place his center of gravity fairly far forward, so it looks like he's about to stand up or take a swipe at someone. An interesting way of suggesting movement, actually.

I was actually trying to put him on unlevel ground i.e slightly sloping upwards, hence why his paws are at an angle. But your way works too I suppose.

Anyway I went ahead and coloured it. I tried to increase the shadowyness of the background to compensate for the thickness of the paws so now it looks like he's looming out of the shadows (at least thats the aim).



I COULD have edited the original drawing to make his legs thinner and paws smaller but I liked the big paws, they were remniscent of a big bears claws swiping for you. Wolves tend to have smaller daintier paws which wouldn't have had the same effect. I think since its an unnatural creature I can probably get away with some irregularity in proportions. A deformed monstrous appearance. That was my aim. 

However I agree with everyone elses opinions and if I draw something like this again I'll try to take them all into account. Thanks all for the constructive criticism. 

[bradypodidae]

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

[Aisha deCabre]

Since nobody else has said so, I must point out that your coloring is absolutely beautiful.  I envy how you do fur textures, and the lighting is actually very appropriately dark and creepy.  Nice touch on the glowing eyes, each a different color.  Very nice work.

[Succubus_1982]

Thankyou. I used a tutorial for the fur technique though. As for the odd coloured eyes thats a special attribute of the character in question. In his human form he has odd eyes, one blue and one brown so I tried to convey that with the glow.