M. Le Renard said:
Hey... Blotch is doing redlines. This might help.
Normally I wouldn't ask for a redline, but this one's for a commission, and I'd like to get it looking nice.
This is my first attempt at drawing an anthro kangaroo, and I'm having a hell of a difficult time. The pic is attached (pardon the crummy quality of the scan); I'd like to know how totally bad it still looks. Mostly it's the legs and tail that bother me (and the right arm is probably too long, but I know how to fix that)... anyway, any advice you could give would be appreciated.
One more thing, if you would. Do you have any general advice on how you do such nice looking paw-hands? I attempted it in this one, but... yeah.
Thanks again.
Hullo!
His head, ears and body are extremely kangaroo-ish and look great!
Kangaroos are hard to anthropromorphize since they are already plantigrade and walk (well, hop) on two legs. I suppose you have to ask yourself if you'd rather humanize the roo all the way to the point of just having normal human legs with 'roo feet (and no more hopping to get around, just walking like a human)--or something more true to the animal which would probably give it a bouncy kind of gait. Looks like you went for the more animalistic approach (which is good, because I like that more--I mean, what's a roo without the jumping? ;] )
Anyway! If an "anthro" kangaroo is static and sitting up, its weight goes back onto its tail and its feet are flat (toes to heel) on the ground, back straightened. The legs would have to be a little longer in the thigh to accommodate for when the kangaroo would be moving. Roos have immense thigh muscles and you have to get across that they are solid and able to propel the guy forward.
You'll have to do a little foreshortening to give the illusion of depth with the roo's knees coming toward you. If you move the fingers of the hands, which are resting on the hip, to curve follow the line of the leg coming toward the viewer, the could help get it across.
Roo's really are subject to a lot of interpretation but the most important thing is to make your character look like he's solid, has weight and is in contact with the ground. He has to feel "heavy" and powerful (not muscle bound, just in the sense he could leap off the page if he wanted.)
About the tail--keep in mind the tail is the extension of the spine. It should come out straight and down from the point of the tailbone in humans, then have a natural, gentle curve. Roos use their tail for balance, both as a "third leg" while sitting upright, and as a counter balance when their in locomotion. If he's just standing like you've drawn him, the tail would probably just be straight out behind him, helping him support his weight--but for the sake composition, I think you can get away with curving it back around into the picture. Just make sure its coming out where it should! :]
Kangaroo feet are weird. They have three toes (the middle two toes became fused a long time ago.) I threw some photos on there of 'roo feet for some reference, since a picture is worth a thousand words. :]
All in all, he's a great looking roo. People usually try to draw them with canine faces when they really look a lot more like giant rabbits. You did an excellent job on the face and the roo's ears are the right shape. If all you did was modify the feet to be a little more roo-ish, and forgo all my ramblings about roo locomotion, I think you'd still have a good anthromorphization of a kangaroo. :]
I hope my advice was at least a little helpful!
Cheers,
-Blotch