Category Archives: Unusual Animals

Steampunk Wombat and Cat, Copic Markers

Steampunk Wombat and Peterbald Cat, Copic Markers 8.5 x 11

I wasn’t sure whether to call him Steampunk Wombat or Aviator Wombat. He has asked me repeatedly to simply call him Taz, his given name. (Actually, I wasn’t sure if I should even call him a wombat, since his appearance has strayed somewhat from species norms. But that’s ok.) Along with Taz today is his good friend Hastings, a reserved yet wily cat.

Because my last post’s piece suffered in the sketch stage, I have included some extra sketches. Here goes:

Steampunk Wombat Sketch 1

Mostly wombat shaped. Reference is an un-attributed photo on this page, which must be Australia’s version of the Franklin Mint.

Steampunk Wombat Sketch 2

A much-needed friend (adding interest to the composition, hooray!) Reference is Sir Mauri Vilendor, hailing from a Lithuanian Cattery. (Ah internet, what wonders you still hold!)

Steampunk Wombat Sketch 3

Now that’s a sketch. I decided against an ocular device obscuring one of the wombat’s eyes, and I didn’t leave enough room for a dandy-ish Victorian scarf or suit, so I went with aviator-ish goggles and a curious yet stylish pipe. Very happy with this sketch, I must say. Slowing down at the sketch phase = good. It also means the sketching takes all of one evening, leaving the rest for a subsequent evening.

Of course it also suggests that taking more days for sketching might be better still, but I must work up my patience slowly.

Steampunk Wombat Initial Ink

Recently I’ve been doing an initial ink in a color other than black. They smudge less when erasing pencil lines, for one thing! But they are also somewhat less final.

Steampunk Wombat Masquepen

Steampunk Wombat Color 1

Steampunk Wombat Color 2

Steampunk Wombat Color 3

 

Steampunk Wombat and Peterbald Cat

The background is white because I could not decide on a color. Probably peach or something dark. I did some digital backgrounds to test.

Aviator Wombat and Peterbald Cat Peach

Aviator Wombat and Peterbald Cat Purple

Leave it white? Any preference?

Oh also, new banner! Thank you so much for dropping in.

 

IF Puzzled, Capybara and Crowned Crane in Copics

Green Capybara and Crowned Crane, 8x10 Copic Markers

I would have expected the capybara and the crowned crane to be equally puzzled upon meeting the other. But it turns out capybaras are rarely puzzled (or troubled) by much. The crowned crane, for her part, was not so much puzzled by meeting her first capybara, as by its peculiar coloring. Granted, it had been some years since university, but she felt strongly that no member of the rodent family came in any green shade whatsoever. Puzzling indeed.

The topic is “puzzled” at Illustration Friday. You haven’t joined yet? Why the heck not? Here are some progress shots:

Capybara and Crane Sketch

Capybara and Crane Ink

Capybara and Crane Frisket

Oops! Colored his foot before I remembered to scan!

Capybara and Crane Color 1

Capybara and Crane Color 2

Capybara and Crane Color 3

I think I like this stage the most. But it felt like it was missing a bit of something and the ground seemed very unfinished.

Green Capybara and Crowned Crane, Final

Sometimes I think these progression posts are as much about what not to do, as things you can do. Not sure about those clouds. Definitely not sure about that landscape with the somewhat unfortunate green amoebas. The crane has too much tone in common with the ground, and the bright orange feathers are a tad too bright! Hrm.

There is no undo with Copics, which sometimes leads to interesting things. And sometimes not. I don’t hate it but I do need lots of landscape practice. I can say this capybara is head and shoulders above my first tragic attempt, (at the bottom of that page, with the purple emu).

Thank you for stopping by! (And don’t forget I have an IF thumbnail tutorial on the right side of this page. Make sure your thumbnail works!)

Capybara reference from this site. Crowned crane reference from this one.

 

IF Shades, Wombat and Chihuahua

Wombat and Chihuahua Copic Ghosts

I’ve been meaning to do a wombat for ages! So my choices for Illustration Friday “shades” included – wombat with sunglasses (shades) or a wombat in front of window shades or in shades of a particular color, or a wombat ghost (shade). My first wombat is a wombat ghost! His name is Nigel. And he wouldn’t be complete if he weren’t haunting the place with his best friend Gabriel the Chihuahua (also a ghost).

Their friendship is a tale of incredible mystery and adventure, but we’ll have to save that for another time. Suffice it to say they met their untimely ends together during an escape attempt from a trio of American kidnappers in Venice sometime in 1974. They haunt the Venetian tavern where they lived with a quiet Irishman for  eight years after being won in a dice game from their former owner, a globetrotting Tasmanian.

I am not sure they look entirely like shades in the final above. But how about 2 scans ago:

Wombat and Chihuahua, Somewhat More Ghostly

I can’t decide which I prefer. The background is definitely unfinished in this one, but I could have left the critters alone. Let me show you the whole process:

Wombat and Chihuahua Sketch

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 1

Wombat and Chihuahua Frisket

On Nigel here I went over frisket with three shades of gray then peeled off the frisket. On Gabriel you can see the Masquepen (frisket) in blue, with no marker yet.

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 2

Gabriel colored with 2 grays and one gray-purple so the ghosts would not be quite the same color. I suppose I could have left the eyes white. That’s rather ghostly.

Wombat and Chihuahua, Somewhat More Ghostly

This would have been a stopping place for the figures, but the wall and tabletop need somehelp.

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 3

Wombat and Chihuahua Copic Ghosts

I don’t know, the more I look at them, the more ghostly they seem, though they did not need the extra thick black outline. I can say with certainty I have never drawn a wombat ghost, or any animal ghost, before this challenge. And though I do get a kick out of steampunk trend-wise, I don’t have much enthusiasm for the whole zombie thing. But ghosts, that’s totally different! Right? Thanks for coming!

Photo inspiration from Wombats! and Chihuahua Pictures.

Steampunk Anteater, a Cautionary Tale (with Progress Photos!)

Steampunk Anteater has issues.  I was planning to tell you up front, but instead I am going to post the progression photos and you get to guess the problems! (And let’s be clear, asking why I don’t do illustration digitally – thereby bypassing many of the problems to which you will shortly be witness – is not worth any points.) And now without further ado (I am actually quite fond of ado):

Tree Anteater by Maladjusted-Platypus at deviantART

Steampunk Anteater sketch

Some questionable moves up front. But that often happens! It was going to be a male but I did a male horse last. This one didn’t *have* to have hair but it does, in certain cases, help a great deal in matters of gender identity. (Also, I liked the hair on the llama and kangaroo. Used to similar purpose.)

Steampunk Anteater ink

Steampunk Anteater color 1

 

Steampunk Anteater color 2

Steampunk Anteater color 3

Steampunk Anteater Final (?)

Oh, here are two versions with simple digital backgrounds that I tried in the hopes it would improve my appreciate of this poor anteater:

Steampunk Anteater, Mustard Background

Steampunk Anteater, Purple Gradient

I do think the backgrounds improve the overall drawing, but not enough. So. Did you spot the problems? Ugh, so many:

1. Not enough attention paid to gadgetry. Not sure why I lost focus there. 2. Muddying of colors. I’m just not happy with some of the color combinations, and part of that is because I tried to change the palette partway through. 3. An eyepiece without a lens.  Yikes.  I really needed to decide on the design of the lens instead of initially coloring the eye as if it wasn’t covered by anything. 4. The body color and hat were too close in color all the way up to the end – changing the hat to red was the last thing I did. 5. The brown I used to swirl shadows on the yellow/mustard was a really bad choice, too dark, wrong family.  Arrrgh! 5. The dark stripes on the upper body look a bit like a shrug or stole.  Actually, I guess I don’t mind that. But I was hoping those stripes would help identify this  beast as an anteater.   6. Hair color – not sure this was the best choice. 7. I am not sure she has a lot of life to her.  Sure, she may be the quiet, brooding type, but a hint of personality is always nice.

And so concludes tonight’s cautionary tale.  tl;dr* – here is what we’ve learned:

Take your time. Plan ahead, at least a little. Try not to change colors midstream. Test color combinations before muddying things up! Take your time – it’s worth mentioning twice!  I know deadlines can be killer but in the end, you want to be happy your name is on the thing, right?

Thank you for visiting – bonus points if you read that whole damn thing. :o)

*tl;dr – acronym for “too long, didn’t read”, i.e. here is a summary of all the preceding text that you didn’t read. [Most of you already know this, which is why I put it away from the action, in a footnote. But some of you did not know, and it is to you I direct this note. I know I appreciate it when things of which I am ignorant are spelled out, instead of the norm – which seems to say unless you know these obvious things your opinion doesn’t matter.  Well listen, your opinion DOES matter.  (And so concludes your positive affirmation for today.)