We hope you enjoy this exclusive IMPACT books bundle to celebrate Free Comic Book Day! Go to NorthLightShop.com to purchase these books and more.
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
We hope you enjoy this exclusive
IMPACT books bundle to celebrate
Free Comic Book Day!
Go to NorthLightShop.com to
purchase these books and more.
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.impact-books.com
Fu r r i e sve r
Fu r e
Jared Hodges
& Lindsay Cibos
Draw & Color Anthro Characters IN a Variety of Styles
Demonstration
Sphinx: Drawing
The Sphinx, best known from the famous For this character, we’ll create an
Egyptian monument in Giza, is also a character in anthropomorphic sphinx dressed in Egyptian-
Greek mythology. The Greek Sphinx is described inspired clothing, a fusion of her Greek and
as having the body of a lion, the wings of a bird Egyptian roots. With a sharp tongue and a
and the face of a woman. She would challenge fondness for riddles, she sits atop a pedestal
travelers to solve her riddles, and those who on the lookout for travelers to quiz (for her
failed were mercilessly devoured! However, amusement, not dinner).
other legends characterize the sphinx as being a
benevolent protector.
1 Brainstorm Character Designs
Do some rough sketches to figure
out your character’s look. Consider the
2 Thumbnail Pose
Working small, no larger than a
few inches, decide on a pose and do a
3 Sketch the Body Position
Following the plan of your thumb-
nail, start with a circle for the head. Add
character’s personality. This sphinx is a final take of the design that combines a centerline to establish facing. Sketch
catty snob who’s used to getting her way. all of your favorite elements from your a curving line of action and build the
Reflect these traits in her facial expression exploratory sketches. Although rough rest of her torso along this line. As you
and body language. For her costume, and lacking detail, this sketch should draw, keep in mind landmarks like the rib
browse images of ancient Egyptian art give you a strong idea of what the cage, waistline and hips to help with the
and classic interpretations of the sphinx finished picture will look like. Think of it proportions.
for inspiration. as your road map.
46
4 Build Up the Shapes
Sketch the eyes, ears, cheeks and
structure of the muzzle to complete the
basic head shape. Add arms and legs
to build upon the solid structure of the
torso. Note in the thumbnail how she’s
pressing against her fingers and toes
to hold her position; try to capture that
force in the drawing. Then sketch the tail
using surface lines to help visualize the
curvature.
5 Sketch the Clothing
Following the form of the body, lightly sketch the general
contours of her outfit. Keep the details minimal for now and
focus on flow and curvature. Note how the arm and leg bands
wrap around her; draw the full three-dimensional shape to
ensure a perfect fit. Sketch her long hair cascading around her
ears and behind her shoulders. Finally, build the basic structure
of the visible wing (the left is hidden behind her hair).
6 Add Details
Work through your drawing, clarifying lines and adding
details. Try for a good balance of straights and curves in the line
work (for example, the sharp elbow of the right arm versus the
rounded shoulder) to create tension. Draw the toes and add
claws (fingers too), fluff up the tail with dashed lines for a hint
of fur and draw some folds where the clothing is compressed or
pulled. Finally, refine the details of her face, hair and wing. Erase
your guidelines.
Fun Facts
Furry art was a part of ancient Egyptian history in
the form of animalistic deities like the jackal-headed
Anubis and falcon-headed Horus.
Download free furries bonus materials at impact-books.com/furries-furever. 47
Demonstration
Sphinx: Coloring
With the line art complete, the sphinx is ready If you draw traditionally with pencil and paper
for color. If you look at ancient Egyptian art, you like me, the next step is to scan your drawing.
see a lot of richness and warmth: reds, browns Once scanned, open it in Photoshop and clean
and yellows. Black, white and vivid blues and up the drawing. Use the Eye Dropper tool in
greens fill out the rest of the spectrum. For our a dingy area of the paper as the sample color
anthro sphinx, I’m using a tawny red color to for adjustment. Then you’ll need to adjust the
express her lioness fur; tan for the wings and Fuzziness and Lightness sliders; I set it around
outfit, and red, blue and gold as accent colors for 70 Fuzziness and +100 Lightness, but it depends
her jewelry and accessories. Indigo stands in for on how rough the drawing is and the paper
black hair. But before you can start laying down type, so experiment to see what works best.
the colors, you’ll need to prep your drawing for Use the Eraser tool to remove any remaining
digital painting. grain or straight lines, and set the line art layer to
Multiply.
1 Establish the Color Palette
Make a new layer beneath
the line art, then use the Lasso
tool to make a wide selection
around the character and fill it
with a neutral color. Carefully
erase any colors outside the
lines and lock the layer. Make
another layer for your palette
and dab some colors to set up
your color scheme. I’m working
with a palette of red, brown,
tan and gold, accented with
blue and deep purple. Using
broad brushstrokes, roughly
apply the colors to the charac-
ter.
2 Block in Shadows and
Highlights
Develop the form of the charac-
ter by building up the shadow
tones and highlight areas. Don’t
worry about getting the shad-
ing perfect just yet. The goal
at this stage is to feel out your
color scheme and lighting.
48
3 Adjust the Shadow Placement
Continue to refine your shading and
use a reference photo for help. Brighten
up the face to help make it the focal
point. On a new layer beneath the char-
acter colors, began to paint the pedestal,
including cast shadows, to ground the
character.
4 Refine the Details
With controlled vertical strokes,
build up the shadows and highlights on
5 Finish the Background
Finally, refine the coloring on the
pedestal. Add some light speckling to
the hair. Try to keep the shading subtle give it a stony texture, blending several
so the hair doesn’t look too stringy. It’s a layers of color to give it a weathered look.
good idea to flip your image periodically On a new layer set to Multiply, paint in
to check for mistakes. If you discover you details like cracks and the suggestion
need to fix something about the drawing of hieroglyphs. With a hard eraser, cut
at this stage, the easiest way is to make a away excess color to create a rough edge
new layer and paint over the lines. around the structure.
Download free furries bonus materials at impact-books.com/furries-furever. 49
You can also read
