I am working on trying to convert an (old) galactic tigrean image to look more like Kimba the White Lion, so I can make a matching pet profile for my new pet Kimba the way I did with my pet Raiya. I need some tips on how to make it a little better though. I can't really see the shading well on the original tigrean photo so it's difficult for me to imitate it. I literally just drew over all the outlines from scratch for everything I can see, so far. Please advise me on how I can make it look better or more in line with official subeta pet art so it'll look nice when I submit it for a custom overlay, please? I'm not the best at shading but I'm not sure how to fix it properly. Original: My attempt at a recolor: Reference for Kimba the White Lion:

i think it looks pretty good and cute! one thing i might suggest is scooching the eyes just a teeny bit closer together.

as for shading, notice that official art like the tigrean has multiple levels of shading. i'd recommend making your overall shadow color a bit lighter (maybe about half the opacity it has now), and adding another, slightly darker layer of shading to the more intensely-shadowed areas. for instance, where one back leg overlaps the other, or where the head casts a shadow on the body. you could even do three layers of shading – one subtle, general layer; one to give a little more definition across most of the body; and a third to really define the areas of greatest contrast.

i'd also suggest making the edges of the shading & highlights follow the implied shape of clumps of fur instead of having smooth edges across the whole body. you can see examples of this in other pet art as well. using short, quick brushstrokes helps achieve this effect. i don't know if you use a tablet, but if you do, pen pressure options are very helpful for tapering lines in this way.

shading helps to define form; for instance, the face on your overlay isn't very defined right now, and the muzzle in particular looks a bit flat because of it. notice how the sides and bridge of the tigrean's muzzle are shaded to suggest its shape and the way it protrudes from the face. study other examples to see where the shading is the deepest and think about how the body is shaped to figure out where to add your shading and highlights.

I agree with everything Frenchi said

I'll also comment that the eyes and the shading is the part you should really work on. Refining that linework a bit as well. The pose, anatomy, and overall design is really good!

Thank you for the helpful tips, I'll try to do that. I felt like the eyes were a little too spaced apart too, but I was going off the original linework and I think it's the Kimba eye style that makes it look more funky than the original does with the spacing. I'll try and work on adjusting that when I continue with my editing. I also appreciate the tip on making the shading more fur-like; part of my issue was I was trying to follow the original tigrean's shading, but I couldn't really find the edge lines for where the shading is separated from each other on it in some places. I also color dipped kimba's colors from a reference which is why some of the shading is so dark. I'll keep working at it and try to apply what you said!

Not really sure how to refine the linework; the pose, anatomy, and overall design are of course directly traced from the original tigrean image, so I cannot take credit for any of that xD I may edit the forepaws to be slightly thinner because they seem a bit big with a white lion rather than the blue-and-gold one it was before, but even then all credit goes to subeta and the original artist who drew it. I'm sure they'd appreciate your compliments though!

Very wonderful! The lines could be thicker and more stabilized in term of the grittiness to their edges, and the eyes could be closer, but other than that, I love your little white lion reference.