Animal Hybrid #2 (Finfox)

For my second final animal hybrid illustration as part of the animals project, I have decided to merge the unique characteristics of two very different species together. I have taken some inspiration from the artist, Lucy Atkinson, in terms of mark making style, line use, and also the use of watercolour paint. You can find my research on here here, at this link. > (https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8837406714505932435#editor/target=post;postID=3227425674860409006;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=24;src=postname).

http://www.lucyatkinsonillustration.co.uk/Animal-Illustration < image reference at this link.

You can see in this piece, how she uses a bold watercolour outline in her illustration.

My illustration draft plan, as a work in progress (WIP).

Creating the outline of my Finfox illustration, using watercolour paint.

The addition of colour, on my illustration.

The addition of mark making, and simple shading.

The coloured background, filled in with watercolour paint like the rest of the illustration.

The animals that I have taken inspiration from for this piece, is of a Fox, and a Dolphin (image above). The ways in which I have displayed this is quite clear, however I will note where the elements of the two creatures lie in this blog post. The reason I wanted to choose these animals in particular, is because I wanted to see what a hairless marine animal, would look like with some fur, also I wanted an animal with curves, but also with a mix of rough elements (fur).

The head is based around that of a Fox (image below), I tried my best to display this via the shape, and also the size. The ears very much resemble a fox also.

http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/fox_hunt_logo.jpg < image reference found at this link.

I took a lot of ideas from my sketches of foxes, the opportunity came along to sketch one in primary form, as Amy brought in a taxidermy figure, of a Fox, that lay in a resting pose. this was very helpful, and it was the first time that I have seen a Fox up close. It gave me a lot of time to study it's anatomy.

Sketch of taxidermy Fox #1

Sketch of taxidermy Fox #2

Sketch of taxidermy Fox #3

My initial draft, I used this as a design plan, and also to see what a creature with Fox/Dolphin elements would look like.

The body has been based solely on a dolphin, this can be easily seen through the addition of fins, the colour, as well as a smooth body.

http://wallnen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Dolphin-01-HD-Wallpaper.jpg < image reference at this link.

I took some research from a previous blog post that I posted earlier. In this post I looked at existing images of the animals for anatomical use, and as a reference point.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8837406714505932435#editor/target=post;postID=5970409750920242110;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=19;src=postname




Thomas.