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Toying with adding more color to (some of) my OC's
3 years ago
General
As I inch toward adding some new OC's to my roster, I've been touring a variety of other folks' galleries and over time, something occurred to me.
Including the new characters, about half of my OC roster pre-dates FurAffinity, some going back to the late 1980's, about a deacde before I first got Internet access and ran across the furry fandom. That means some of them have existed in recognizable form longer than some of you looking at this have been alive :D
So, what do all those other characters have to do with this? I'm looking at the demarcation between my OC designs prior to and during my involvement with this fandom, and I noticed something. My oldest OC's from "before fandom" are all monochromatic, having only a single body color. The ones designed after that have actual fur markings or color variations at the face, chest/belly, tails and extremities.
Now, I've already defined some across-the-board physical changes to my OC roster, among those being a switch to five-fingered hands, less-detailed ear fluff and four-toed feet with pawpads (although that last one won't be terribly obvious since I can draw shoes ), but now I'm starting to think about adding colors to my monochromatic OC's to make them a better visual fit with the newer characters as well as any guest OCs that may cameo in What, me Furry or might appear in unspecified one-off pics with my characters that I'll be able to resume doing once everyone is settled in.
I haven't done any test pics yet, but what I'm considering are lighter tones on the neck/chest/belly, variations on tail-tips, hands and feet (or fingers/toes). Nothing elaborate really, as I still have to draw + color all this. The characters themselves being self-aware, would likely comment on this in the course of the comic. And while there is a distinct possibility that nothing actually comes of this, I thought I'd throw this out there for viewers to add their own thoughts. Doesn't cost ya anything :D
Oh yeah, I'm also attending Anthrocon this year :)
Including the new characters, about half of my OC roster pre-dates FurAffinity, some going back to the late 1980's, about a deacde before I first got Internet access and ran across the furry fandom. That means some of them have existed in recognizable form longer than some of you looking at this have been alive :D
So, what do all those other characters have to do with this? I'm looking at the demarcation between my OC designs prior to and during my involvement with this fandom, and I noticed something. My oldest OC's from "before fandom" are all monochromatic, having only a single body color. The ones designed after that have actual fur markings or color variations at the face, chest/belly, tails and extremities.
Now, I've already defined some across-the-board physical changes to my OC roster, among those being a switch to five-fingered hands, less-detailed ear fluff and four-toed feet with pawpads (although that last one won't be terribly obvious since I can draw shoes ), but now I'm starting to think about adding colors to my monochromatic OC's to make them a better visual fit with the newer characters as well as any guest OCs that may cameo in What, me Furry or might appear in unspecified one-off pics with my characters that I'll be able to resume doing once everyone is settled in.
I haven't done any test pics yet, but what I'm considering are lighter tones on the neck/chest/belly, variations on tail-tips, hands and feet (or fingers/toes). Nothing elaborate really, as I still have to draw + color all this. The characters themselves being self-aware, would likely comment on this in the course of the comic. And while there is a distinct possibility that nothing actually comes of this, I thought I'd throw this out there for viewers to add their own thoughts. Doesn't cost ya anything :D
Oh yeah, I'm also attending Anthrocon this year :)
For your characters, a change in fur coloration seems less drastic than the addition of another finger, but I could imagine one of them being a little distressed by it or worried what might change next. I could see Nei'chelle studying her reflection in the mirror for any deviation from ideal skunkliness.
As for their ages, mine have a range of ages in the low 20's, but effectively don't age either. In this journal I'm referring to their existence as my creations in meatspace :)
Color wise, some of them have already undergone changes. Tina and Roland were both grey like Cynthia when first designed, and Roland did not have head-hair back in the early 1990's. Some of that artwork still exists in dead-tree form, and will eventually be posted as part of the 'ancient art archive' series. As for Nei'chelle, I don't think she'd be concerned, thinking she's already perfection :D, she would also be all for 'improved' markings for the others. (as well as barefooted-ness and bottomless-ness, assuming complete nudity is off the table).
Decades-plural before FurAffinity, it might have been Terrie Smith who got the ball rolling with more-than-mono-chromatic characters, especially lighter shades of fur on chest/belly/inner thighs, etc. That was an observation shared with me a while ago by a graymuzzle out there, who... I'm honestly not sure is still around or not.
I think the origins of my OC's being largely monochromatic are rooted in their being inspired by animated animal characters (in my case, The Catillac Cats) who for reasons of economy did not have much in the way of color variation or fur patterns. It wasn't until I ran across this fandom that the idea of drawing other species occurred to me, and by extension, that tended to include more in the way of additional colors and patterns. Years later, people's fascination with prominent 'beans' may well have influenced the minor changes I made in the characters' feet. I doubt I'll go all the way to digitigrade though...I wouldn't be able to draw recognizable shoe styles if I went that far
I remember Terrie Smith's artwork from way back then (or was it Shannon Stuart?), and that a fair number of artists back then were indeed inspired by her work. Not so sure that her work had that much influence on how many colors in-fandom OC's sported, since individual tastes toward
various species would also do that (foxes, raccoons, ...sparkledogs XD )