Fursuit Ref: Literal Tatoba

After I'm done making Biyomon, this is the next costume I'll be making.  I want to have it done in time for Midwest Furfest and granted I get everything done in time I should be able to make this one for that.  I'd hope I could have the OOO Driver by then too but not having great communication so far with the person I need to commission in order get a modified driver.

In the end I hope the leg padding won't be really awkward.  The way I planned this out, the only body padding will be on the backside and the front of the leg.  It isn't really "digitigrade padding" because he doesn't stand digitigrade unless he's running or walking...as a non-anthro,  Anthro form he stands more plantigrade.  The most similar thing I could relate it to (other than a grasshopper...who's legs are actually backwards) would probably be a kangaroo.

Anyways, had to simplify the stripes because my body is short and "stubby".  Plus to sew as many stripes as I had on the original version just...no that's not gonna work.  So less stripes but same feel to it.  That nice wavy look.  Even on the tail the stripes are simplified but I think it gives the same sort of feel and you won't mistake the character for someone else's.  Stripes are just one of those things that it's hard to keep even.  If I were to commission someone for their version of him, I'd probably just tell them that they can do whatever with his stripes so long as they keep the same basic flow of colors (especially from the yellow to the green).  But for now, this is how I'm gonna make him.

I think the hardest part other than keeping the spots even (in actuality the body suit might be the easiest part to make), would probably be the feet/legs and the head.  I need to figure out how I'm adding in those feelers.  And the "spikes" on the back of his legs.

Anyways, I still need to make a ref for his arms and that's about it.  His markings are symmetrical so I don't really need a full...everything view.  I can figure out the rest fairly easily.

Commission: Gabriel

Commission for Twilight Master on FA of his character Gabriel.

Ended up saving two versions.  The one on bottom is initially how I paired the background colors with the character.  The one on top is what the customer liked better.  He wanted a Chinese New Year/Year of the Dragon theme and the red and gold worked better.  After looking at it for a while, that background looks nicer than what I'd initially made anyways.

Biyomon Foam Work (99% Done)

Well as complete as it will be for now.  There still needs to be a little bit of tweeking (mostly on the inside of the mouth so the fleece will fit smoothly).  Maybe minor tweeks on the outside of the beak too to smooth out bumps.   But the full structure is now done.  Aside from the feather on her forehead which will have wire as the main structure so I can get the curl.

Next step is putting together the structure for the body suit while I save for the material to fill this out (the fur and fleece).

Biyomon Head WIPs

Spent some time today trying to fix up previous details such as the eyes and beak as well as add in more details to this.

I'd had the head shaped out for a few weeks now and hadn't touch this much because I felt a little stuck.  Especially with how to do Biyomon's largest feathers on her head.  Finally I figured out how I could do them so I tried it out.  Took a bit of pinning at first, but once I got it all in place and glued it down it actually looked decent. 

Also took some time and rounded out her cheeks.  Since she has a static jaw, I can do a lot with her expression so eventually I'm gonna go back, add in more foam and shape it so she has a bit of a smile at least.  Biyomon's such a cute character that it probably wouldn't be right if she didn't have a smile.

The beak still needs quite a bit of work anyways.  At least on the left side of it.  The right side is much smoother and looks better than the left.  But aside from that and the smile, the next part is smoothing out the top of the head, fixing parts of the eyes (still) and adding in the four other feathers.  Also still smoothing the inside of the beak and making sure the foam there is tightly glued together.

Master of Chaos and Insanity

I wasn't too keen on Discord's design in the beginning, but you have no idea how much fun it is to draw him.  He's just...insane.  His eyes, his facial structure, the various animal parts to his body...it's crazy.

His face was the best part to draw.  So far he's the only MLP character that I've successfully drawn in my style.  It actually might be easier to portray the male characters in my style rather than the female ones as I'm more inclined to want to use more equine faces on them.  Not sure how "equine" this is but I tried as best as I could while trying to keep that crooked/bent look his muzzle has.

Also his eyes...Discord has the best eyes.  Ever.

Sombra v.4

I felt this need to revamp Sombra's design.  I put a lot of effort into how she looked before.  And honestly there wasn't much physically that I wanted to change.  But there was something that I felt I needed to change about her to make her more interesting.

I thought at first maybe that meant I wanted to drastically change her physical appearance.  Trying to mix her with corded poodle or various other dog breeds to give her a more interesting coat type or to thin out her frame.  Debating on what colors she should be. 

In the end...I liked the colors that she had.  The cream, red, and brown.  I just wanted to rearrange them a bit.  And for good measure I added in a bit of white.  What I really wanted to change was her personality.  She wasn't an interesting character before.  I just gave her whatever personality I had on a given day.  Which for the most part (if I'm not hanging out with friends) wouldn't make for a very interesting character.  So personality wise, instead of having a personality 100% like mine, she has the personality of the sort of person I want to be rather than the one that I am.  I ended up writing and rambling on the various things I wanted to get out of this character (things that I previously didn't think about), and just worked from there.  Physically she isn't very different.  The colors are the same.  Just with the addition of the white spots and modifications on the brown markings and the split between her neck and torso markings.

This is just a temporary reference for now.  I'm working on a full one that will include how she looks like in anthropomorphic form as well as various outfits that she likes wearing. 

I think I'll keep Old Sombra around too just as a sort of juxtaposition between the person I am now and the person I want to be...something like that...if that made any sense.

Theme Commission: Nya18

Pokemon themed chibi commission for Nya18 on FA.

Unfortunately my theme commissions didn't really take off.  This was the only slot that filled so I just made them regular commissions.  If people want to put a theme to them they can.  I'm still waiting for a Super Sentai or Kamen Rider themed commission.  I want at least one.

Anyways, the commissioner wanted their character drawn as a Persian.  The wings and the fluffy tail are characteristic of this person's character though.  This was cute and fun to work on.  I do like "chibi" art a lot.  It's just adorable.