Xakaal wrote:Im prolly gonna make this sound really confusing >.>
How did you learn (guides? schooling?) to be able to draw the muscle n bone indentations in faces and on the bodies? Like, Faron's facial expressions with the wrinkled fur caused by different muscle contractions (muzzle, eyes, around the mouth), and body-wise, Plebieose's head, neck, main body, legs (the lack of muscle rather in him, like, how the skin drapes over his bones and really gives him the emaciated feeling). And the textures, im loving the textures extremely! Everytime i try to texture, it become way, way too much and ruins the picture.
Also, what progam do you use to draw Faron and Plebieose? Im hugely in love with your character Fog, how he was drawn and textured and how well you drew his anatomy and have been peeking in since then and im absolutely dying to know how these amazing works of art are being done >.> i dream of being able to draw, shade, and texture like this *_*
For muscles; To be completely honest, I do a lot of guesswork. I think, "This growl would make his lip raise up" and shade the raised lip accordingly. Or, "This grin would lower his eyebrows and raise his cheek," which would mean shaking his eyebrows and cheeks differently. However, I also look at a LOT of references as tutorials. If I don't know how to do an expression, I look on Deviantart until I find something to reference off of.
The same goes for anatomy. References, references, references! Stare at a moose. Look at how the skin lays over the muscles. For Plebieose, I knew he had no muscle left over his ribs, so I found an image of a moose skeleton and looked at how the ribs looked. From there, I could assume that the skin would have indentations where it dipped down between the ribs. Those could be darker, hidden from the light. Where the skin was laying on top of ribs could be lighter, because it's pressed out so light can hit it. The legs were shaded with the same idea in mind; where is the fur pressed in (creases between muscles) and where is it pressed out (on top of muscles)? I admit, I just kind of winged it on the leg muscles, because moose are very smooth-furred and really don't show their muscles. Often, I just go with what looks good.
So I guess the main thing to keep in mind is, "What is under this skin?" If it's bones, you'll see big indentations between each bone. If it's muscle, look up "Muscle anatomy of a _____". And also, keep in mind how the skin moves when the creature moves.
Texture! Texture is neat, and honestly, I'm only just figuring it out myself. The brush I use in Photoshop (I use Photoshop CS5, but most versions should work just fine!) is a normal, flat brush, but then I go to the brush menu and turn on "Scattering". That makes the brush make a bunch of dots instead of just one smooth line. Then I can turn the opacity way down, choose a lighter or darker shade of my base color, and shade away. It adds a soft, speckled texture. I can start with fur detail on this step by making fur-like shapes with lighter and darker shades. Once that's done, I can just add in a few individual hair highlights by making my brush fairly small, jacking up the opacity to ~25%, and picking a lighter color. Gotta be careful though; it's easy to overdo it. Personally, I think I overdid the fur texture in the Triumphant Faron picture.
…Uh and I draw with Photoshop, as I just said. xD
Malackai wrote:But if people want to share there Photoshop/other programs pencil/brush configurations or getting a push in the right direction that would be awsome.
because brush configurations can make a huge difference.
Sure!

This is the brush I use. (The black bordered one) The size can be anything but the opacity is *usually* around 15% once I start shading. See that little "Cup of brushes" icon next to the "Mode- Normal" thing? That's important. Click that, and you get...

The wonderful brush menu! I then check "Scattering" and play with the amount I want the line to shake. For small strands of fur, I'll have it at roughly 130%. For lines (I make them with the scatter brush too) I'll stick it at around 60%. And fur big shaded parts, I'll put it at 220% or so.
Of course, this brush is NOT accurate. It goes all over the place and definitely outside the lines. I just erase whatever got outside the lines once I'm done.
GormanGhaste wrote:Do you have a back-story to go with that?
Uh, yes, actually! Not the one you might except though. >.> He's the culmination of my boredom. I wanted to draw and I asked my friends what I should draw. One suggested a decaying plant creature, the other suggested a moose. His name, Plebieose, is a mutation of Plabieose, or PLAnt zomBIE moOSE. After that, I decided to make him a sort of spirit, representing life (and by joint, death). He spreads death as he walks forward, as his decayed front legs kill all life they touch, and spreads new life as he leaves, as his healthy back legs renew life.