Sketch-A-Day: Tiffany Redesign Thoughts [artwork]

[the_gneech]

I asked susandeer to assist me with Tiffany's redesign, on the grounds that Sue is awesome at that kind of thing, and of course she's been exceeding my expectations as always. :) So tonight I decided to try a potential Tiffany model incorporating Sue's ideas as well as a few of my own, if nothing else to see if I could pull it off.



What do you think, does it work?

-The Gneech

Comments

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

I'd say it works and a half!

[aj-hyena.livejournal.com]

I don't see it, not as black and white like this. Makes her look like a beerslam between a Indian goddess (thanks to the eyes) and a clown.

Throw in some color for full effect, I say :) Though it might just be me.

[graveyardgreg.livejournal.com]

I think it does work. I see your style, and that's the important part to me, that I recognize your style!

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

If I saw that out of contexy I would not say Tiffany Tiger bay Gneech... but than again I'v been drinking so what do I know?

[frostdemn.livejournal.com]

Spiffy! She looks even more glamourous than before. I like the hair redesign!

>.> And what of Leona, hm? She's not been in the spotlight nearly enough!

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

She doesn't work yet, but she could.

Right now, the image looks less than three-dimensional -- and too detailed to be two-dimensional. Right now, she looks more like she's wearing the top half of a mask rather than a person.

Compare the lines around Tiffany's nose against this reference picture. The lines around her nose go up (looking like a higher-quality half mask than this image) when they should define her muzzle.

Finally, remember: I'm not an artist. You, not I, decide what's right for Tiffany.

[harper-knight.livejournal.com]

Nah, I agree. It just doesn't look right.

[susandeer.livejournal.com]

What I'd like to see: Build lines. They might not be obvious from my sketches, because they're light, but I don't really see them here. It looks like you've gone straight to drawing the finishing lines, which will cause you to miss out on a more dimensional look.

Now, that being said, I like what you're doing with the striping and I've visual confirmation of the proportion for the features. Ignore the clown comment. That's only because you're using a line that too closely mimics her smile to differentiate the orange areas from the white. Once you wrap your pencil around the structure, you'll be better able to lay the striping and color changes over it.

Keep at it! @:)

[darkwolfie.livejournal.com]

The previous version of Tiffany had bigger hair...this version seems less defined by her mane.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem quite Tiffany to me, I fear. I'm not sure why -- possibly, it's too stylized, and a little too... ethereal? Delicate? Dare I say... girly?

For me, Tiffany has always been very much a TIGER. One of her strengths, both visually and personally, is, in fact, her strength, like Power Girl. Her role as "Kitten Kaboodle" always brought actresses like Sigourney Weaver or Angelina Jolie to mind more than Jane Fonda's Barbarella.

Tiff's not a "girly" kind of "pretty". She's a strong kind of beautiful.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Meeeyow!

I, for one, like the eyes. They look rather Siberian, not Indian (glances at the hyena above).

Tiffany's a successful model/actor now. She deserves to look more like that than your jane-schmoe geekless drone, working for Megahuge.

-=Kiyoshi

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

I agree with this comment. I can't really see how this design would work at different angles as much as the old design. Perhaps it's a failure of my imagination, but that's my problem.

I do *like* the new design. It's different, especially around the eyes. I think that's the way I'd want *my* picture done. :)

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Absolutamente Fantastico!

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

She looks older in this interpretation - appropriate, as she's aged since the comic began. This look would take some getting used to for those of us used to the old style, but I think it works!

[tr-wolf.livejournal.com]

To me, that's not Tiffany.

[hbar98.livejournal.com]

My first thought, honestly? Shades of Catena Manor.

I'm torn...but then again, it is 4:30 here...

[fferret.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a few different expressions first.

[chanur2000.livejournal.com]

Take this with a grain of salt, Gneech. I have NO artistic experience.

Having said that, this sketch seems to have lost a lot of what we've come to expect from Tiffany. She looks harder, more professional, much less approachable. Instead of Natural good looks, she looks a lot more quaffed and stylized. She's much more feminine and lost a lot of the broad shoulder that Wen liked to ride on. It might be the broad strokes you've used more so then actual style differences that make it stand out more.

This version of Tiff strikes me as better suited for the story series and new 32 page format you've talked about going to, rather then the 3-day a week strip format. If that's what you're prepping for, you've hit it right in the head.

(And finally, on a first impression note, She looks beautiful but...a bitch. The expression there is of someone who knows she's beautiful, and is prepared to do anything it takes to get her way. Not the confused and slightly naive but still pretty model we've some to expect. I think the expression and hard lines would look better as a portfolio shot of either Glory or Leona.)

Just my impression.

[mitchy.livejournal.com]

I'm not keen on this, I think a lot of the character is lost. The face seems wrong to me, too small perhaps. All the other redesigns I've seen, I could recognise the character instantly but I don't recognise Tiffany at all here.

[theodwulf.livejournal.com]

It's the eyes that are a problem for me. They're too realistically feline, which just makes her look evil. Whatever else changes, I think the eyes have to stay toony.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

I like the hair. I like the eyes.

I have no idea who this is, though.

Looking carefully points out mechanical details that aren't necessarily "the problem" but may be stones on that path:

There's a "massive lower face" effect going on that seems inappropriate. Tiffany has a forward-projecting muzzle, but this lower face seems to project in ALL directions.

The attractive eyes are surmounted by very heavy eyebrows, which take away from them. Immediately below and between the lines are skin folds denoting the mass of the muzzle, showing by implication that her eyes are set way back and that she almost has a little trouble seeing out of her face.

The cheek ruffs suggest massive musculature supporting the upper jaw -- as if she can strongly open it, or lift things with her muzzle. It seems a bit far forward to be jaw-closing muscle. But below the jaw, almost no musculature is shown.

Her neck seems preternaturally long here -- and though part is hidden by hair, the implied width is quite substantial too.

The striping that was a Tiffany trademark is now limited to a small portion of the upper surface of that large face wrap.

Various cues in this view suggest a long face and head, but the right ear is so far forward that the side has no head hair between face and ear. Considering how high the ear is, this seems unlikely.

The lip bifurcation and overlap here works reasonably well, but it is hinting at an underslung jaw (which hardly seems Tiffanyesque) and that "single buck tooth" effect is odd.

Because of the cheek ruffs and overall face width, her shoulders seem too narrow -- though they're actually fine if you cover her face.

What happens if the ruffs are aimed more "down" than "out"? Keep it back -- you don't want a beard -- but hint at it rather than proclaim it loudly. And strong demarcation lines are fine, but that surface might also extend lower.

This sort of ruffing might work in one circumstance -- when she has clenched jaw muscles and is showing a lot of teeth. That "lawsuits" face would be an interesting study.

Best wishes!

===|==============/ Level Head

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Heh. :) I can see what you're getting at.

-TG

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I did the undersketching in blue pencil, which is why it's not visible here. I can rescan to reveal them if you like. :)

The up-sweeping "differentiation line" was an experiment, trying to put the orange just on top of her muzzle (and because tigers often have visible lines between their eyes and the sides of their nose), but looking at it in the light of a new day I think it causes more confusion than anything else.

OTOH, look how many comments this has garnered compared to Drezzer the other day! ;) And a very wide spectrum of opinion, for that matter.

-TG

[mg4h.livejournal.com]

As a drawing of a tiger, it's very pretty. It's also quite different from your previous drawings.

I don't know if you put this up and said it was Tiffany I'd recognize it right away. From the context most likely, but it's much different.

None of your characters seem to have upswept eyes, so that's the first jarring change. It's not a bad change, because eyes tend to be more oval than you've drawn before, so that just needs to be phased in. Her ears were orange (light) before, you darkened them here - is that right?

She looks thinner, somehow. I'm guessing it's because there's more round corners. It does make her look more human feminine.

I'm sorry if I'm pointing out more differences than upgrades, it is a very nice design. I think you can pull it off in the comic, you'll just need to reintroduce her, or make it gradual. Unless of course your fans aren't as easily confused as I am :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Is it the eyes?

-TG

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

The expression there is of someone who knows she's beautiful, and is prepared to do anything it takes to get her way.

Hmm ... I was aiming for a Spock-eyebrow reaction to one of Leonard's snarky comebacks, actually. I'll play around with it and see if I can come up with a friendlier look.

-TG

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Hush, she'll get her chance. ;P

-TG

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Originally, her ears were orange with black tips, but that tended to interfere with her hair too much (because I often did her hair as black in the early b/w days). I switched to all orange during my first big art upgrade to get away from that, and I haven't decided yet whether or not I want to stick with it.

-TG

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

The problem with a heavier under-jaw from an artistic standpoint is that it tends to read "masculine," which is a recurring problem with having a female tiger protagonist. :) Even the most feminine of real female tigers looks masculine.

I agree, the neck is a little too long. That's an error rather than a design choice. But it was a quickie sketch. :)

-TG

[hbar98.livejournal.com]

A bit. I could see some purple hair on her too. ;)

In this pose, and with the apparent (to me) attitude of this picture, she reminds me of Belle from Catena Manor. Aside from the differences (Tiff being a tiger, and your inclusion of vertical pupils instead of dots), I see Tiff and think she's related to Belle.

But I'd really have to see Tiff and a couple other SJ characters together to see how this new style meshes with the other characters.

And I like the hair...now if only Drezzer could get an updated haircut...hehe

[kylet.livejournal.com]

FWIW I understood the white "upsweep" on the muzzle, but that's something I do with a lot of my characters ;-)

As noted...I agree with the sentiment that it makes a nice tigress, but it's not very Tiffany-like to me.

I think most of it is the eyes. Sue's sketch had similar facial proportions, but she also gave Tiff much, MUCH larger eyes. You definitely are aiming for the sultrier eyes, but that loses a lot of the cuteness and innocence that way. Here her gaze is more regal and authoritative--my first thought was you should use those eyes for Athena! Tiff is still a sweet girl at heart, so I think she needs to retain the "cute" look instead.

I find it interesting that some people say this design looks too girly, and others think it looks too masculine. I have to admit I'm more in the latter line of thought, just because of the emphasis on the lower face. It may look different from other angles, but the straightness from the chin to the cheekruffs looks more like a male jawline. A little more sweep or angle could help, and I also believe the aforementioned smaller eyes aren't helping (larger eyes would mean a larger crown and more attention to the top half of the face).

The thing is she overall strikes me as a more realistic tigress, so I'm not sure if she's "stylized" enough to match, say, Drezzer's looks. The muzzle and chin are smaller than a real tiger, but the broad face and markings are more reminiscient of a real tiger than you were doing before. Meanwhile, Drez, love 'im or not, folks, really isn't structured like a true wolf, he's made like a toon wolf.

Just my two cents :-)

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Uh....

Errr...

Can I just plead the Artistic 5th and call it a day? I mean, everyone above me has all these really good critiques and all I can say is "It doesn't look like Tiffany to me".

--Salen

[radbaron.livejournal.com]

Going back and looking at these earlier drawings... http://www.rumblepurrlion.com/artwork/tiffany_2008.gif I can see (I think) where you're headed. While this is a quick sketch of Tiffany, it might be more appropriate towards Leona. Maybe if her cheek stripes were spaced at the bottom instead of joined, the "clown effect" with lessen.
I dont really see her neck as being too thin here, it's just the hairdo falling into place without us being able to see through it. Lastly, maybe if her ruffs were slightly forward.

I am definitely no artist, but more of an observer. Take everything with a grain of salt, but not too much, because it's bad for your blood pressure :)