Hi folks.... It's been a very long time since I have picked up my pen and put my ideas to paper.

On that note, I've decided to do an overlay for Rugen, my nostalgic kumos. My idea here is to create a stuffed weimaraner in the same style. I've changed the body shape, lengthened the legs, and modified the head. What I'm looking for here is thoughts on my proportions... It is suppose to be stuffed, so I'm not looking for realistic canine proportions here, more of a cartoony balance.

1st WIP:

2nd WIP: Tilted front paws up and widened the front hide leg...

Here's where I am now: I plan to go in and fix some of the shading in the morning, when I have fresh eyes.

I know it's in need of shading and I'm going over tutorials for that now. I also need to add in some detail. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!!

Cute!! Make sure when you are shading him though to make him look "alive". Even still lifes need to look "alive". When you are shading him don't forget the reflected light- in my experience this is what makes a drawing go from good to great. I also notice with the front paws that they are moving more like a joint in a real dog than that of a unchanging plush. Or your plush is floppy and not super stuffed like old plushies. I would suggest angling them up a bit?

I see what you mean... I will have to consider how to angle the paws in a more realistic plush manner.... It would have to be more stiff to suit the overall structure I have going on...

Thank you. I know that shading will be important and I'm trying to teach myself all I can. It has always been my shortcoming.

I would just take them and then angle them up about 30 degrees? What program are you working on?

I'm using photoshop, a newer version of it.

I've started shading too:

Much better!!! I do notice two things though- one, the lines are rather harsh. I'm not sure if you want that or not. Two, you don't have any reflected light. As I stated earlier, reflected light is what really makes a drawing come to life. The idea of reflected light is that light bounces, and when you have an object, where you think the darkest shadow would be (for the kumos the belly) there is actually a highlight. That's because light bounces, and will bounce off the surface that your object is sitting on and reflect back onto the object. It can be pretty subtle, but when you get it a drawing looks loads better.

Tutorial, and an example that's more soft shaded.

I'm not sure if I want to mess with the mines on this, but I do see what you mean. As for reflected light.... I get the concept of it. The example sees so easy because of the material. I will search around and see if I can so more info. Thank you for all the help.

I tried out some and there are some more details now: I think I need to give it a rest and reassess with fresh eyes. c: