Valonia - Into the Vale of Shadows

I'm still in awe of the visuals in that film....trying not to think too hard about that fact that Kane Parsons is only 20!!!

barely scratched the surface

yeah!! here you go:

you may take it. ONCE.

i'll keep it a buck twenty with you. a way i learned how to stylize animal faces was tracing. i just traced that shit.

it's a massively helpful tool to draw over references as a way to study. obviously, don't trace it, post it, and claim you drew it. but for studies that are purely personal, studies that will never really see the light of day, just trace.

don't force yourself to rely purely on your imagined idea of what these animals look like. find REAL references, and study various angles, expressions, etc. figure out how these animals are constructed! the animal kingdom has such a vast world of colors and shapes, just dive right in!

and especially for the purpose of drawing furries, you can ignore so much of a photo reference. don't worry about realistic fur textures, extraneous details, scientifically accurate depictions. draw from a wide array of interpretations.

you'll find many of your favorite interpretations still have solid foundation in the real animal! and once you figure out the rules, you can bend and break the rules! you'll learn how to capture the essence of that animal, and make a style that is truly your own.

find reference. study reference. figure out animal. draw animal in your own style. badabing, badaboom!!!

also i'll just put this here. it's great. i stare at it a lot.