[Art] The Panther's Art Station (6/26--Two Holiday Cards and an Aisha Comic)

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Heh. Okay, okay. I'll stop being picky. ;-]

[WhiteFox]

I don't know about you, but I'm not aware of any major areas in which red camouflage could hide...Is it for autumn use, or something? ;-]

Mars.

[Aisha deCabre]

I don't know about you, but I'm not aware of any major areas in which red camouflage could hide...Is it for autumn use, or something? ;-]

Mars.

Mars is more orangish, I think...

Besides, it'd be easy to hide in the sandstorms. 

[Aisha deCabre]

New art!  Only one picture for the moment though.  New pic on the bottom!

Heh, I must admit this guy gave me a bit of trouble at first.  I seem to be getting so used to drawing anthros, that I'm starting to forget how to draw feral-like beasts. x3

Reference of sorts for a male Canyon griffin, one of the four breeds of griffins that I use in a story of mine (and the longest of my stories to date), Chronicles of the Griffin: Remnants.

The story can be found here, if anyone's interested.

Anyway, the stats for this critter, as also shown on my Deviantart:

Breed: Canyon Griffin

Environment: Nests in crevices and caves on cliff faces

Appearance: Body colors mimic their natural environment: mottled in black, brown, and often white.  Patterns vary.  Feathers may stick out of forearms and the back of the hind legs and tail.  Very sleek, best suited for flight.  Males have manes from early adulthood and grow thicker with age, are slightly larger than females.  Forelegs resemble eagle talons.

Society: Live in gatherings within one territory; mostly with close family members.  When males take mates, they leave their birth family to join that of the female's.  Fights may break out over dens, but otherwise different clans may live together in a "village" territory.  Peaceful and reclusive, tend to work together.

Special Abilities: Uses elaborate songs to communicate and also to invoke invisible barriers.

Status in the world: Isolated, wholly unknown from public knowledge.

Enjoy!



Also, this is a gift pic I did for Gareeku, as I wanted to draw his idea of one adventuring or tomb-raiding type outfit.  Hope that's good too.   The only obvious flaw I can see could probably be the muzzle, as I had to redraw that thing over and over again and it just wouldn't look right. x3

Enjoy!

[Aisha deCabre]

Hokay, new pictures.  I hope everyone liked the previous bunch.  If nobody saw, I added to the bottom of the last post another picture without having to make another post.

Huzzah, I triple-post anyway. 

Anyways, first off, Mah first commission, courtesy of Lysander, starring two of his characters Lysias and Mishael.  Lysias is the mustelid standing in the trenchcoat, and Mishael is the wolf hanging off him.  Only an example of my pencil and shading skills, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. x3

And also, just another one of Aisha in a rather peaceful environment, as I hadn't done one like that in a while: A Peaceful Contemplation (Slightly NSFW, but only slightly.)

That pose was rather hard at first, but at least I only had to show the parts out of the water.  Amazing, I'm too lazy to draw the faint spots that should be there, but not all the water droplets. xP

Enjoy 'em both ya'll.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Good Stuff Aisha

[Aisha deCabre]

Thankye Pal.

I decided to go through my DeviantArt, and there was quite a bit of art in there that I was surprised I hadn't put up before...though it's understandable, I was having an art block at the time here. xP So here's a couple of said pictures back in my old coloring style.

Two griffins who are two characters in a story, the same one that the Canyon griffin reference is for up yonder.

A reptilian rain priestess.  I hope it's not strange, but I love experimenting with rain effects in Photoshop. 

And finally on a second note, another commission has been finished.   A poster for Fae Con, starring Azlan.  Warning, it's full of bright and shiny coolness. x3

Enjoy!

[Gabi]

Aw, the griffins are so cute! And the Fae Con poster is funny.

[Aisha deCabre]

Thanks Gab, much appreciated. ^^

And now, one more commission and then I think I'll take the chance to let this thread either gather comments or sink down to the bottom.  I know, I churn these out pretty darn quickly; but sue me, I've been feeling artistic. 

Introducing Paladin's picture, Paige vs. Aisha

Now this'd be an interesting battle.  I wonder who'd win. 

Or maybe it's not that serious and Paige just stole Aisha's lunch money. x3

Enjoy!

[techmaster-glitch]

Hee hee...Paige looks a bit smug, no?

[Paladin Sheppard]

Awesome stuff Aisha! thank you soo much for drawing this!

[WhiteFox]

Wow... all kinds of awesome goin' on here.

Just to be constructive, the shading and highlights makes things seem kind of flat. It looks like a photoshop bevel. Only advice I can think of is to try thinking of the shadowed and lit areas as volume.

I love the griffies. Getting two characters to look like they're really standing next to each other is a subtle thing to pull off (Sure you can just draw them next to each other, but getting the body language is a little harder). And it is pretty cute.

[Aisha deCabre]

Hee hee...Paige looks a bit smug, no?

Heh, I doubt she'd look much like Paige if she didn't.    Thanks!

Awesome stuff Aisha! thank you soo much for drawing this!

No problem!

Wow... all kinds of awesome goin' on here.

Just to be constructive, the shading and highlights makes things seem kind of flat. It looks like a photoshop bevel. Only advice I can think of is to try thinking of the shadowed and lit areas as volume.

I love the griffies. Getting two characters to look like they're really standing next to each other is a subtle thing to pull off (Sure you can just draw them next to each other, but getting the body language is a little harder). And it is pretty cute.

Thanks again for the insight, glad they're liked. ^^  Though is there a picture in particular up there that you were looking at when it came to the shading, or was it all of them in general?  I know, I have a bit too much fun putting in the shading itself that I neglect to actually concentrate on how I place it and how it works, such as the intensity. X3  But at least I hope I have a sense of direction from the light sources.

[Azlan]

I have no idea who Paige is, but from what I know of Aisha... I would put money on her.  Very nice though... makes her look like SuperPanther though what with the blue suit and red cape.

Thanks for the Fae Con piccie it is very cute.  I'm going to try and get a few more of these from peeps who are commissionable.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Heh Azzy, Paige is the character I'm using in the ER RP.

[Azlan]

Heh Azzy, Paige is the character I'm using in the ER RP.

*nods* Ah, Eternal Rains... I don't watch that one, pardon my ignorance.


******

On a side note, after taking a look at the Aisha/Paige picture longer, I have an observation.  The weapon, which I am assuming is a short sword of some sort by way she is holding it, probably should be slightly longer for comfortable placement of the hand/paw... unless it was manufactured by hobbits.  Just an observation.

[WhiteFox]

Though is there a picture in particular up there that you were looking at when it came to the shading, or was it all of them in general?

It's a trait that they all have a bit of, but it's notable in the Paige vs. Aisha image. This isn't the first time I've seen that look in shading (Schlock Mercenary did it for years), so I'm pretty sure it's a fairly common habit.

Some quick illustrations:
Here's a ball with more volume to it's shading. The highlight is actually a reflection of the light source in this case.
Here's a ball shaded with the look you have now. There is no indication that there is any depth other then the shadows around the edge, so the middle looks flattened.
Here's a ball I modeled in 3D as a comparison.

This is one of the reasons it helps to think of a figure as a group of cylinders, boxes, and spheres. But I/d better stop myself before I go into a full rant about shadows, cause I'll be here all bloody day listening to myself talk.

Azlan: I have to agree with you on the handle. Even as a one handed sword, the grip could stand to be twice as long.

[Aisha deCabre]

I have no idea who Paige is, but from what I know of Aisha... I would put money on her.  Very nice though... makes her look like SuperPanther though what with the blue suit and red cape.

Thanks for the Fae Con piccie it is very cute.  I'm going to try and get a few more of these from peeps who are commissionable.

No problem, I'm glad you liked it. ^^  And yeah, I should probably use the design of her normal outfit that's been given in one of my favorite renderings of Aisha.  (At least it's better than having a character with red stripes and hair with a golden shirt and being mistaken for Ronald McDonald.  That happened to someone on Furcadia once. xP )

On a side note, after taking a look at the Aisha/Paige picture longer, I have an observation.  The weapon, which I am assuming is a short sword of some sort by way she is holding it, probably should be slightly longer for comfortable placement of the hand/paw... unless it was manufactured by hobbits.  Just an observation.

Actually it's supposed to be a longer sword...it's the Dragonblade, seen here as one of my better references.  I didn't want the blade long enough to actually be impaling Paige, considering my canvas was rather small. x3  But I guess you can seen in both examples that yeah, I may need to negotiate the length of the grip comparatively.

Quite honestly I'm better with living things than I am with items, always have been, probably always will be. ^^;

It's a trait that they all have a bit of, but it's notable in the Paige vs. Aisha image. This isn't the first time I've seen that look in shading (Schlock Mercenary did it for years), so I'm pretty sure it's a fairly common habit.

Some quick illustrations:
Here's a ball with more volume to it's shading. The highlight is actually a reflection of the light source in this case.
Here's a ball shaded with the look you have now. There is no indication that there is any depth other then the shadows around the edge, so the middle looks flattened.
Here's a ball I modeled in 3D as a comparison.

This is one of the reasons it helps to think of a figure as a group of cylinders, boxes, and spheres. But I/d better stop myself before I go into a full rant about shadows, cause I'll be here all bloody day listening to myself talk.

Thanks for the examples; I actually know of that from taking art class, it's just a matter of how and when to apply it, seeing as I'm not just working with spheres, and not every shape looks definite. x3

[Aisha deCabre]

Right, a few new pictures.

To go with the Canyon Griffin reference pic I put a few posts up from a story I'm writing, here are two more breed references:

Regal Griffin and Forest Griffin.  Their info is right there in the DA description, as I'm too lazy to copypaste them back here with having to make them look neat and tidy. x3

Also, I attempted a bit of a better mode of shading on the Forest griff.  *shrug* A little more depth added, I guess.  As in, not just shading around the edges, but a little further in.  You get the message, it might look better. x3

Finally, from inside the (shallow) depths of my DA gallery, a sketching of a wolf jumping over what might be a ravine.  I dunno, my digital camera sometimes does crappy work re-rendering the thing.

Also, a slight change has been made to my commissions info; since business seems slow for right now, I lifted my five-at-a-time limit.  For the moment they're available to everyone until I actually -get- overwhelmed, though considering knowing what I'm up against, that won't likely happen.  (That's a compliment, you guys.) 

[Kipiru]

I love griffins and the Regal one is just superb- very nice colors and shading! though I think the heads on both griffins could be a bit bigger, but I'm no expert on animal anatomy, it's just what I feel it should be! And the wolf is flawless, if you could just color it it would be awesome!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I don't know that I'd go as far as "flawless", Kipiru. The right front foot seems too short, slightly, and bent back a little far. And the head seems a trifle small for the width of the shoulders - or possibly the shoulders are a little wide for the wolf, I'm not sure which.

*looks at it again, considers*

Hrmm. It looks as if the body is at a slight angle (3/4?), and the head is directly underneath the view - so the head doesn't look quite right on the body. That might be it.

Despite that, it's an excellent drawing; I'd be fascinated to see it run through a proper scanner, and inked...

And, as Kipiru says, the heads on the griffins could stand to be a little larger. Other than that, impressive work. I like the stances, too; the regal griffin is, well, regal. Very lion-like, but you'd expect that. The forest griffin, though, looks like it's just been caught stretching, which is a pleasant change from the same stance, over and over, as some people do...

[Kipiru]

I don't know that I'd go as far as "flawless", Kipiru. The right front foot seems too short, slightly, and bent back a little far. And the head seems a trifle small for the width of the shoulders - or possibly the shoulders are a little wide for the wolf, I'm not sure which.

*looks at it again, considers*

Hrmm. It looks as if the body is at a slight angle (3/4?), and the head is directly underneath the view - so the head doesn't look quite right on the body. That might be it.

I knew that was going to come back and bite me! But for someone who has grand issues with drawing animals like me, that wolf looks really good!

[Aisha deCabre]

I don't know that I'd go as far as "flawless", Kipiru. The right front foot seems too short, slightly, and bent back a little far. And the head seems a trifle small for the width of the shoulders - or possibly the shoulders are a little wide for the wolf, I'm not sure which.

*looks at it again, considers*

Hrmm. It looks as if the body is at a slight angle (3/4?), and the head is directly underneath the view - so the head doesn't look quite right on the body. That might be it.

I knew that was going to come back and bite me! But for someone who has grand issues with drawing animals like me, that wolf looks really good!

Thank you for your input, Kipiru, I'm glad everything was liked. ^^  I dunno about the heads of the griffins, though.  When I draw, I try meticulously to not make the head too big for the body, as I usually tend to do (and I'm quite surprised that nobody's ever pointed that out to me...) and so now they're too small.  Next on the list, find a tutorial for the size of the head relative to the body.  And that can be hard as it seems to differ between creatures.

Thanks for your input too, Llearch, though I suspect that you just had the urge to comment upon Kipiru when he said the word "flawless", as an opening to critique. xP  Anyway, I see what you mean about the head and body, but the foot, I don't.  It's kinda hard to fathom when you want to have almost an entire leg hiding behind the body.   The foot's there to show that there actually is a leg.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

No, no, I really wanted to comment. He just got in there first, was all...

... and, since I was critiquing anyway (hopefully helpfully), I thought I'd start by critiquing his post. ;-]

[Aisha deCabre]

No, no, I really wanted to comment. He just got in there first, was all...

... and, since I was critiquing anyway (hopefully helpfully), I thought I'd start by critiquing his post. ;-]

Heh, I'm just saying you never miss an opportunity. :p  And it was helpful, thanks. 

[Kipiru]

I thought I'd start by critiquing his post. ;-]

He is the forum's biggest lurker, always waiting for unsuspecting prey(as it turns out I'm a prime kill these days). A predator box he is!

[WhiteFox]

On the wolf: There are lines on the body implying muscles that would just not appear on a body with fur. The hips and shoulders (the muscle lines near the spine, most notably) look like they're more human then wolf.

On the griffins: birds eyes are very, very round, there's almost no white visible, and their eyelids are almost completely open all the time. As well, most birds have a very prominent beaks and brows, especially the carnivorous ones. The way they look now gives them a very human like facial structure, which might be why the heads look weird: it looks more like a human skull with a bird beak.

In either case, it couldn't hurt to take a look at some real life examples for refrence.

The shading is better on the forrest griff, but there's the couple places where it looks off. Mostly the shadow on the back and the highlight on the belly. it looks like that should be reversed to match the rest of the pic. It looks like you're using single strokes with an airbrush tool to do the shading and highlights. Shadows are better shown as volumes rather then strokes, and I have found that it's worth it to take a little time to "fill in" areas.

I love the look of the griffs, your ability to pose characters really comes through in them. Same with the wolf, he really has a great sense of motion to him.

[Aisha deCabre]

On the wolf: There are lines on the body implying muscles that would just not appear on a body with fur. The hips and shoulders (the muscle lines near the spine, most notably) look like they're more human then wolf.

On the griffins: birds eyes are very, very round, there's almost no white visible, and their eyelids are almost completely open all the time. As well, most birds have a very prominent beaks and brows, especially the carnivorous ones. The way they look now gives them a very human like facial structure, which might be why the heads look weird: it looks more like a human skull with a bird beak.

In either case, it couldn't hurt to take a look at some real life examples for refrence.

The shading is better on the forrest griff, but there's the couple places where it looks off. Mostly the shadow on the back and the highlight on the belly. it looks like that should be reversed to match the rest of the pic. It looks like you're using single strokes with an airbrush tool to do the shading and highlights. Shadows are better shown as volumes rather then strokes, and I have found that it's worth it to take a little time to "fill in" areas.

I love the look of the griffs, your ability to pose characters really comes through in them. Same with the wolf, he really has a great sense of motion to him.

You know, I almost dread when you post here now.   Thanks for the comments on the posing though, one of the things I work on the most is making my characters dynamic instead of looking like they have a stick up their spine/legs.

At least I get the shading, also.

On the wolf:  How are the muscle lines human-looking?  I know I have a bit more practice drawing anthros than ferals, but still, I don't see how that could integrate into the picture...unless you mean that muscles just don't ever show under fur, in which case, one thing I aim to practice on is musculature; so it's a habit to add them.

As for the griffs: I know I don't have that much practice on avians, and I plan on drawing more griffins in the future, so maybe I could look into it...but the thing is, I wasn't going for making them look realistic.  They're griffins; a creature that shouldn't exist in the real world, and don't.  Thus, I kinda wonder if real-world appearances apply to them.  That they're not part eagle, but the bird parts are theirs in their own right.

Don't get me wrong, White, I do appreciate all your critique.  But you seem to assume that everyone's trying to tune their unique individual styles to one way: realistic, rather than aiming for storybookish and fantastic.  If I were aiming for real-world, I'd probably also drop the cel-shading style (by the way, I use dodge and burn now, not airbrush).

But that's just me.    Like I think I pointed out, I draw for fun, I don't aim to do it for a living.

[WhiteFox]

Oh, jeez... sorry. I take art a little too seriously some times. It takes me more time to explain why something looks off then to talk about what I like about the pic, and I end up sounding overly critical. I'm trying to throttle that back, but old habits die hard.

Not to mention, "Draw from real life" is the first piece of advice my mom always gives me when I'm having trouble with something. More old habits, and again, I'm sorry. Just cuz it works for me doesn't mean I should tell everyone else to go do it.

[Edit]
And it occurs to me now I didn't actually answer the things you asked me.

Humans have broad shoulders while wolves have a narrower build. The width of the shoulders make the wolfs anatomy look more humanoid then animal. On top of that, the lines make him look fur-less. I hope that clears things up.

As for the eyes of the griffs... they don't have to look realistic, but the way they look now is kind of strange to me. I guess I'll just leave it at that.

Also, I read somewhere that one of the hardest things to draw dynamically was a character just standing around not really doing anything. I think you do it pretty well.

[Aisha deCabre]

Oh, jeez... sorry. I take art a little too seriously some times. It takes me more time to explain why something looks off then to talk about what I like about the pic, and I end up sounding overly critical. I'm trying to throttle that back, but old habits die hard.

Not to mention, "Draw from real life" is the first piece of advice my mom always gives me when I'm having trouble with something. More old habits, and again, I'm sorry. Just cuz it works for me doesn't mean I should tell everyone else to go do it.

[Edit]
And it occurs to me now I didn't actually answer the things you asked me.

Humans have broad shoulders while wolves have a narrower build. The width of the shoulders make the wolfs anatomy look more humanoid then animal. On top of that, the lines make him look fur-less. I hope that clears things up.

As for the eyes of the griffs... they don't have to look realistic, but the way they look now is kind of strange to me. I guess I'll just leave it at that.

Also, I read somewhere that one of the hardest things to draw dynamically was a character just standing around not really doing anything. I think you do it pretty well.

Thanks for the apology and the insight.  No worries, I know how people can take art seriously.  Heck, as I get better and try to apply what I know to my own works, I find myself looking at a picture and looking for anything that -those- artists might have wrong.  It's just part of being observant, I guess, and that's not too bad a thing. ^^

I'll also keep that in mind next time I draw a wolf from the dorsal side view, or any feral for that matter.  I do remember that animals are thinner than people, width-wise. x3

Heh, and I find it harder to try dynamic movement poses...but I'm glad to be acknowledged at getting better. ^^

Also, I thought, what the heck; here's a new picture.  I think it's the first anthro lion I've ever drawn in my life, so I'm guessing it might be rather bad. x3  'Tis a lion in paladin's armor, of my design...the marking should be mine too, though it looks too common to me, considering how elaborate I've seen other markings.

And on that, no, he's not a 'Cubi.  For anyone who's read Rynkura's RP profiles, I put down that she was once married to a paladin...this would be him.

...I just wish I could think of a name for him. >>  Anyway, Lysander pointed out the pic's flaws to me in the comments, which I may amend later.  Enjoy!