Looking back into some of my older sketchbooks this time! I used to draw almost exclusively “anime style” for most of high school and part of college – not that there’s anything wrong with the style, but I was definitely using it as a crutch.
I also thought it was interesting to find one of the first ideas I jotted down for Fox’s character. At the time weren’t even close to planning a webcomic, but I wanted to come up with a fox that was clearly “him” for my doodles anyway.
You can also see I “talk to myself” a lot in my sketchbook notes…!
Fun fact: I’ve noticed some people have very intricate and detailed avatars. I’d never bothered with a character design. Maybe because it’s my real first name, or I simply identified with only the concept of the fox, I just didn’t make one. No avatar, nothing. Thus when Mandy questioned me on what kind of cartoon fox I’d be, I said: “I dunno? Red?”
I noticed last week’s style definitely broke the anime style and showed the characters in a style close to 80’s comics. My favorite pose for the floating heads is “I’m just a face and neck! Agh!” since it reminds me of the internet meme “Let me show you my Pokemans.” I would like to see the sketchbook entries continue after the vacation.
I don’t mind that there won’t be any comics for a while; in fact, I always loved seeing these sketch pages. 🙂
Browsing those face drawings is oddly relaxing.
I love seeing sketches like this so you can see how much an artist’s skills have grown. You’ve improved so much! 😀
Wow, those expression sketches are amazing! I’d like to see that bottom right sketch become a full-colour image, too – it could be the official poster for the comic!
Would love to grab a beer as well, Mandy, but unfortunately I live in the UK.
These are really nice sketches, and take care on your work-related road trip Fox
Those early colored sketches look like they came from Disney’s Robin Hood.
I quite agree with your assessment of the bottom drawing. I believe it would look great, especially if you have Fox giving you one of his famous snarky comments about the game you’re playing. LOL
@Fox:
My avatar is just something I modeled freshman year. I had a lot of free time, so I practiced my 3D modeling by making some Pokemon. (You’ll find the models if you click my name link.) When I finished the Lucario, I figured “Hey, why not?” and set the high-quality rendering as my avatar. (Someday, I wish to find the time to change the model to a Salamence.)
I created a character around my online handle, and then made an action figure of him.
I just wonder if I should switch to a body shot, instead of the closeup.
I still suffer from the “Crutch” thing, even if it’s not anime… Congrats on breaking out of it. You go gurl.
P.S. “Fluff!” lol