Some more fox heads - my process
Added 2025-04-14 10:12:06 +0000 UTCI figured I'd step through my process and talk a little about how I go from a sketch to a finished piece of lineart!
For me, the crucial first step is to get a very rough sketch down on the canvas as quickly as possible (pics 1-2). I rarely get the size or shape correct at this stage, and oftentimes the pose isn't right either, but it's important not to let that cause frustration; it doesn't actually matter if it looks right.
What's important is getting -something- down on the paper as a reference point. I can't tell what I'm doing unless I have something to compare it to - for example, when I first draw the snout, I can't tell if it's too big, or too small, or angled wrong, until I have a head to place it on.
Once the basic shapes are there, I begin adding details and addressing any major issues with the drawing. I'll play with size and placement of major features, but mostly concern myself with cleaning the drawing up so it isn't quite as rough (pics 3-4). It comes together pretty quickly at that point, and the lineart soon looks fairly complete (pic 5) - but it isn't.
Between pic 5 and 6, where it's complete, there's a whole lot of trial and error. There's a lot of temptation to stop at 5 because it's a fairly clean looking piece of art, but it has numerous issues that need to be addressed if I really want the head to look the way I want it to.. So at this point, I begin working on the harder to diagnose issues - For instance, in pic 5, the head shape doesn't quite look fox-like enough... it just looks like a generic furry. It can be hard to say why. Is the head too narrow perhaps? maybe a bit too round? Do the fur tufts look right? Is the snout the right size? There are other issues that are more obvious to me, but still requires some finesse to get right. The lower jaw for example is too short, and also too thick, and the expression isn't what I want.
