Snow Bear

Chapter opener illustration for my section of Furries Furever, the third and newest title in the Draw Furries series! As you can see, I used the image as an opportunity to do an anthropomorphic polar bear and arctic fox. ^_^

Furry Friday: Picnic for One

With the release of my newest tutorial drawing book Draw More Furries, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the talented artists who contributed illustrations. Given that so many artists these days work digital (myself included), it was a wonderful treat to have Kacey Miyagami do a traditional acrylic painting for the book. Check out the exquisite coloring on this lovely illustration of a shy raccoon enjoying apple pie. The delicate textures of fur and blades of grass are a nice touch.

Here’s what she had to say about her artistic process:

"I work primarily traditionally, my preferred medium for illustration being fluid acrylic paints. Fluid acrylics are a watered down version of full body acrylics, which behave similarly to both acrylics and watercolors. I start an illustration with one or more simple concept sketches, which I then redraw and refine into a finished pencil sketch on cold-press illustration board. Often, I will scan this pencil sketch and do a quick digital color test to determine shadow placement and overall color scheme before committing to the actual painting. Once I begin painting, I will work from the background forward, painting the characters last, to make sure they feel unified with their surroundings. A particular focus of mine with character illustrations is to create detailed environments to provide greater context and narrative for the characters." - Kacey

Draw More Furries is now available in bookstores, as well as through my online shop!

Furry Friday: Quiescent

With the release of my newest tutorial drawing book Draw More Furries right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the talented artists who contributed illustrations. First up is Quiescent by Kristen “CentraDragon” Plescow, whose whimsical digital painting style and color palette are a joy to behold. This tranquil illustration of a kirin appreciating nature is featured as the double-page spread for Chapter 4: Mythical Creatures.

Here’s what she had to say about her artistic process:

“My process varies a bit from day to day, but overall I try to keep everything as simple as possible. For a large illustration like this, I start with lot of smaller doodles with ink and markers to get in the spirit of things, and to better envision the world around the character. Next, I make a sketch in Photoshop CS4, and move onto a quick under painting. Once I’m satisfied with the composition and color scheme, I’ll work on refining and detail from back to front. I don’t worry too much about layers, and like to merge them as I go. One thing I’ve learned—if you know there’s a part of your painting that’s going to be more difficult, always (ALWAYS) do it first. It’ll save you a lot of frustration and rage-quits later on.” -Kristen

Draw More Furries arrives in bookstores on November 23, 2012.
Signed copies are available through my online shop!

Marina

Marina takes a small respite from otter play to enjoy the soothing sounds of the ocean as she gazes at a pearl from an oyster she found.

Part of the Mustelid family alongside ferrets and weasels, otters are among my favorite animals to watch. :3

Pencil + coloring in Photoshop CS3.

Honey Bear

Honey is a bear-butterfly-lion (a Bearflyon?). My favorite part is her heart-shaped nose. :)
Pencil + coloring in Photoshop CS3.

Track Meet

New pic! Puppy love on the track

Last of the Polar Bears - now a webcomic

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let all of you know that I've started posting pages of The Last of the Polar Bears online as a web comic. I plan to post a new double-page spread every week, on Mondays, as well as write about the process of making comics as time allows. You can read The Last of the Polar Bears comic here: www.lastpolarbears.com.

Why the webcomic format?

I started working on The Last of the Polar Bears a year ago, researching, plotting the story from beginning to end, designing the characters, and working on the sequential art. After storyboarding the first chapter, I determined the complete story would be around 500 pages--meaning it could take years before the book would be ready for publication.I strongly believe in The Last of the Polar Bears and its message, so rather than keeping the project hidden for the next several years while I continue to work on it, I've decided to make the pages available to readers as they are created. I'd love to hear your feedback. :)

P.S. If you know anyone who might also enjoy the comic, please pass along the link to them! Thanks and enjoy! :)

Draw Furries: New Book!

I'm proud to announce the upcoming release of Draw Furries - How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals written and illustrated by me and Jared Hodges, published by Impact Books!



In a nutshell, Draw Furries goes over drawing anthropomorphic and animal characters. It's 128 full-color pages, covering step-by-step anatomy, poses, and species-specific details (wings, tails, eyes...) for feline, canine, equine, rodent and avian characters, plus coloring and backgrounds! The book also includes a bonus guest gallery featuring art by the very talented Bara-chan, Kelly Hamilton, CookingPeach aka Miu, and Makime!

Here's some sample spreads from the book:




The book comes out the beginning of December!