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Here's your chance
to see where it all
began (and what's been changed)!
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This is the original color chart and character layout sheet
for Dixie Grant, the youngest of the two vixen sisters at
Melody's. Pages like this helped me to figure out the
character proportions, as well as list what colors I used, and
where. While Des's interpretations of these characters
have, in some cases, changed drastically, it can be noted that
some similarities in construction still exist. The
character information on the upper right-hand side is no
longer true. In that respect, Des has definitely changed
them quite a bit. ~JMH |
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Here is the original character model sheet of Dixie, showing
her in various situations and positions. At the time I
was drawing these, I was still not too proficient at rendering
expressions and poses, although I was beginning to get the
hang of it. Des drew up some similar model sheets when
she redesigned the characters, but whether or not she ever
plans to post them is ultimately up to her. She is not
too keen on posting her rough drafts, but it's possible she
may ink them for future use. If she does, they'll be
posted in her section.
~JMH |
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What we have here is the original color chart and character
layout sheet for Ebony Cole, the first skunk babe I had ever
drawn (prior to By The Tail, most of my anthropomorphic
characters were aliens of some sort). While my memory
might be getting a little fuzzy in my old age, I do believe
she was inspired by two things: Fifi (from Tiny Toons), and a
children's Hallmark card I had seen in the store. I used
to get a lot of ideas about renderings and textures from
looking at greeting cards. Yeah, I know, I'm weird. ~JMH |
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Another character model sheet, this time featuring Ebony.
In the original By The Tail format, she was a quiet,
introverted, studious individual who never quite seemed to fit
in. Exactly what she was doing living in a brothel is
beyond me. I mean, what the hell kind of brothel is
going to let someone stay there who doesn't even work there or
earn the house any money? Yeah, it didn't make any sense
to me, either. It should also be noted that Ebony is
actually black and cream colored. ~JMH |
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Ivory, bimbo-extraordinaire, in all her sketched glory.
She's a true blond (and you can tell, because she's blond all
over!), but Des often resorts to just leaving her white.
Whether that's because she doesn't want to color, or because
she's just being lazy, I have no idea. But I digress.
Ivory is the tallest of all the girls at Melody's, though only
by a couple of inches or so. I think Dixie is the
smallest, unless Des changed the vixen's height in the course
of her redesign. ~JMH |
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And here are a few sketched poses of Ivory just hanging out
(in more ways than one, it would appear. But you get the
drift of it, even if she is wearing clothing in these
early sketches, right?) I had figured her to be of
marginal intelligence, and with the psychotic sex drive that
only rabbits seem to possess, early on in her design.
Des has kept quite true to this formula, but is able to take
it several notches higher than I could. See what college
can do for you? ~JMH |
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Melody Rosa, the queen of the domicile, in marvelous graphite
pencil. I rather like the way her body was proportioned
in these pictures, although I think the head was somewhat off.
Des gave Melody a ponytail, I believe, but she still kept the
black bands that start at the center of Melody's back and
widen as they get near the tail. Des often draws her
with a necklace charm of a broken heart, which I suspect she
lifted from my picture of Marie Queneau (Caterwaul Inc.). ~JMH |
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And, once again, here are a few model poses of Melody, brought
to you in astounding black and white (although it's
technically grey, not black). I was quite pleased with
the pose at the lower left corner of the page when I drew it.
I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I drew her
sporting the baseball cap. Maybe she was going for that
ghetto-gangsta flavor that makes people look like absolute
idiots. Or, maybe she was just on her way back from a
baseball game.. ~JMH |
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This is the color chart and character sheet for Trixie Grant,
Dixie's older sister. She's a bit taller than her
sibling, but not as tall as Ivory. Trixie was, in my
mind, always the "nastier" one of the vixen sisters, and Des
has carried that trait along even in the new style.
Think of Trixie as a fox version of Lori, from the Skunkworks
studios. Heavy into the hardcore stuff, and a little
rougher around the edges. I don't think her voice is as
coarse as Lori's, though. ~JMH |
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Model poses! Yup, here's the last batch of 'em,
featuring Trixie. The upper left picture is kind of
standard, and I don't know what she's doing up in a tree (in
the second image, on the upper right). The lower picture
looks like she's getting ready to tear off her pants and let
the viewer drive it up her ass. My kinda girl!
Notice that Trixie has black hands and feet, whereas Dixie has
black ears and a black-tipped tail (plus, the difference in
hair and facial cheek fur). Makes them easier to
identify. ~JMH |
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