Well now, aint this hideous!?

Actually, I thought to bring this out and submit it for a couple of key reasons.

First off, to show folks who might think I'm an art god or something of similar caliber, just how grody and simple my work starts as. This is because I believe anyone can draw, and draw well. you simply have to peck, and peck, and peck away at a picture, erasing ugly lines, and adding better ones, here and there, until your intended idea shines through.

I know some artists can scrawl out a piece that looks beautiful, if incomplete, from beginning to finish, but I am not one of those lucky few;) Good ol' Bob Ross is a great example. On the furry front... I think it was either Cameroo or Chris Sawyer who can make a mass of what look like inked scribble-clouds which gradually coalesce into an amazing image as they erase lines seemingly at random... Its possible both do, but my brain is fuzzy on which one I witnessed working personally. 8P

I am also plunking this down here because I said I was going to be putting up work regularly, regardless of its quality, until I got both fast and efficient. Well, Something about this picture struck me as having potential, so rather than throwing it out incomplete, I wanted to show where I currently was on it, process wise, and keep chisling at it until It looks as good as I am able to make it. I intend to only slow down on pictures like this when I feel inspired by them... otherwise, I intend to keep chunking away... when my family isn't using the computer, anyway;)

But yeah, the numbers essentially represent "detail steps" in my work, going from #1, the first, most basic, and slipshod, step, all the way up to... as many steps as it takes for me to feel it is "complete" or at least as realistic/accurate as I can make it with my current level of skill, patience, and energy.

So yeah, a quick-ish descriptor on each step here...

#1 I make a marionette out of balls and lines, the balls signifying important joints or body structures providing a sort of anchor, and the lines showing how they will connect. Since I don't have the manual dexterity to make a perfect line showing the intended connections, I slash out a series of moderately accurate lines, which, after several intersect and overlap, the ideal line will begin to be seen within the overlaps.

#2 Once an at least basic ideal form is visible, I erase all of the balls and anchor shapes, as well as erasing the ugliest, most divergent lines. by erasing parts of the shape that "blend in" you can create an illusion of depth, like there at the knee and ankle, or for horse anatomy, quarter and hock. If the flesh blends in, erase the inner lines. If it kinks back or otherwise creates depth, leave the lines there.
There are also quite a few vestigial lines left to clean up.

#3 just some minor details added, like a few lines to indicate the basic position of the toes, ankle, and knee. A little more line cleaning and thinning.

#4 Pointing there at the lower chest/ribcage, this is the last step where you will see those hideous extra lines jutting out of the primary shape. I admit that here it looks a bit like body armor, but I wanted to add some extra detail down the line before smoothing the rib-shape into the anatomy of the body.

#4 1/2 I call this awkward step a half step between four and five because I wasn't liking how the linework of her hair was coming out. In fact, her head is actually a bit of a placeholder: I will likely erase most of it and redetail it; I can't really explain this from an academic standpoint: something about her head and face just looks incomplete and under-par compared to the way I have it imagined/ I imagine a more dynamic/chaotic mix of human and horse facial anatomy, and right now she looks mostly just cartoon anthro horse, so yeah... placeholder head. sorry dear (pats her), but I always guessed that if my creations came to life, they would kick the living crap outta me for the things I did to them in the name of "Beauty" ;)

#5 At this point, the lines are nice and crisp. leaving just the slightest bit of jagged white in the linework gives it a sort of "comic style" look. If the linework is thinned more, its to give the illusion of delicacy, or to free up room for more detail. I kept the linework on the chest fairly thick to create the illusion of size and depth, to illustrate the point of the subjects chest is growing large and powerful.

#5 1/2 I named this a half step because, while it is looking more or less complete, there are details that need adding, including sprouting fur on the parts where the fetlock is going to form: I am going to add that long hoof fur that certain horse breeds have. Actually, there are alot of small anatomical details I am going to be adding as I polish this up, such as vestigial breasts (ticking this up to a "mature" rating...) musculature, sprouting fur, etc.

#6 the last key step before it more or less just becomes "clean lines, add detail, repeat" Is the introduction of imposing foreground elements that are important to the subject, or otherwise get in the way. Here, the subject is going to be leaning on a fence to keep her balance while her body chaotically transforms. near the beginning of the drawing, these lines were very faint and dotted, and basically just showed where the object was going to be: the balance of a character is important... if they are off balance, you need to either have a marker object showing what they are leaning on, or obviously have them stressed out that they are about to fall on their rear/face/clavicle.

So thats all I can think of just at the moment. Hopefully some folks will find this post edutaitonal, or at least not irritating. I'll keep polishing this up soon, but the missus is home and wants WoW time, so off I go for now. ;p