These are just any furry foxes, used to their routines on the paper of one of the author’s sketchbooks, which were drawn suddenly. They don’t have a name, but they serve as an experiment, just like all the other sketches.
There was nothing better than taking the initiative to put the concept on paper instead of waiting for a specific right moment. All that was needed were ready-made materials, a sofa and some free time for these foxes.
All these characters in the image were made in their simplicity and cuteness, portrayed in this article, from the first lines of their actions to the small details of their expressions and shading.
Poses Already Defined in a Few Lines
The graphite pencil sketch begins with basic lines in development. In the case of the three foxes, they were enough to suggest three distinct states of observation, calm relaxation suggesting meditation and preparation for action as if they had a gun in their hands.
In addition to the lines of the body and heads, the snouts and some paws, which later adapt to be hands and feet, begin to form without much detail. The heads are circular in shape, with “plus” signs to indicate their directions.
Observation Upwards
In the first fox, the lines are centered and almost all vertical, with gentle curves that point to a focused posture. The axis of the head that is facing forward indicates attention focused on the environment above, as if something had captured its interest. The right leg is also facing forward. There is balance instead of haste or instability in the lines.
The body is slightly sideways to the left with the right arm raised upwards along with the hand which is already drawn with the fingers showing.
Relaxation
The second fox is pointing to the left, with no part of the body suggesting a reverse turn. Due to the impression of lines that collide in some parts of the figure, such as the arms and legs, which are in the shape of a butterfly, their axis had not yet been established in the initial stage.
There is economy of movement and a greater focus on the general shape of the body than on internal details. The silhouette speaks louder than any facial expression. The first lines guide a pose that seems to be resting, but which holds intentions of relaxation that does not abandon consciousness.
Preparation in Action
In the third fox, everything begins with an arched line in activity. The pose is not static, but rather in movement. Even without defined contours, the character’s body seems to be “thrown” into space. These first lines determine the entire rhythm of the drawing, and the rest of the body simply follows suit.
Similar to what happened in the second character, in the third there is also a line without an established axis, in this case in the left leg, which is resolved in the following steps. We see the entire direction to the right, except for the left leg and the head which are slightly to the left. The arms are on the right side, with the hands not touching but coming closer together.
Giving Volume to The Foxes
With the positions of observation, relaxation and action defined, they gain a new function of giving body to the gesture. The drawings are no longer just axes and silhouettes and receive more depth.
The foxes are no longer sticks with missing paws and start to have more presence. The volume in the characters appears to reinforce the aforementioned poses. In addition, the fur on the ends of the faces, the tails and the ears that were missing before were added.
The Upward Observation Having a Body
As the title above suggests, the first fox looks at what is higher up, together with the head, this time the volume suggests this with mass and structure, even though it is not finished.
You can already see how the left hand is drawn, which, as it is a more generic positioning, does not indicate anything, but covers other movements if the figure is reused in a future project. The lines lose their curvature, being straighter at this stage, something that can be improved in another drawing.
Legs Forming Butterfly Wings
In the second fox, the volume is more relaxed, since the body parts, including those added after the first lines, are relaxed.
The hands are simply touching the legs, without much secret, other than what the character is thinking. It is only in the legs that there is tension because of the butterfly position, which can be done casually when they are crossed, as well as to rest after more demanding exercises when the feet meet.
The Action Taking its Shape
Here, the lines are elongated, repeated with variations, which creates the sensation of expanding movement. The hind legs and the line of the back are reinforced with curved lines that indicate muscles in tension.
Being ready to run or fight, we still have the volume accompanying the impulse, in addition to the tail moving. The lower part of the left paw is visible, being used to take the next step while the right one is for support.
Giving The Foxes Some Characteristics
From here on, the eraser was used, so some unnecessary lines were erased to make room for those that determine the contours.
With the structure of the pose and the volume determined, the scribbles begin to take on even more subtle aspects. Additionally, facial expressions and more fur begin to appear on the same extremities, still in their simplest versions.
Happy Looking up
The same first fox from the other paragraphs gains an expression indicating a state of attentive observation that indicates excitement and curiosity. The eyes, ears and open jaw are accompanied by the head, all pointing to the character’s emotion of happiness. In addition to the extremities, there is also more fur on the top of the head.
The paws that would be the hands increase in size, the fingers have their shapes. The left hind paw was dragged backwards, lifted off the ground and directed more towards the center but still remaining to the left. The tail, which was initially pointing to the left, went to the center.
Calm Face
In addition to the body, the facial expression of this fox indicates relaxation, especially in the eyebrows, on the upper parts of the face, being the calmest and most delicate of the three. Although its calm state is there, until then the eyes and pupils had not been well drawn.
The character’s legs became longer and thicker, and consequently more exaggerated and heavy, this did not look good and was fixed in the next step. On the other hand, more definition was given to the ears, fur and toes.
Focusing on Running and Attacking
The third fox gains the facial expression of someone very focused on their activity, with the eyes, eyebrows and mouth indicating a serious expression and focused on the target.
More fur was added to the face and ear, the left leg remains the left, but was fixed to be more central. With the position of the fingers it seems that the fox is ready to act with the weapon it has, leaving this characteristic of the drawing ambiguous, indicating a kind of magic that becomes invisible.
Refining The Details for The Foxes
The time has come to pay attention to the details, referring to that stage in which the scribbles begin to organize themselves and the identity of each fox is consolidated on the paper.
This does not mean making a sketch rigid, although most of the gestures in these drawings have taken a bit of that direction. The important thing is to sharpen the intention of the figures, with the help of a type cleaner, eraser and mechanical pencil in that order.
Always With The Observation Upwards
Not much has changed with respect to its previous variant in terms of details, with its outline being the notable difference.
The character acquires footprints, teeth and a tongue. One thing that was missing were the pupils in the eyes, lacking a bit of life in the look and in the facial expression as a whole. The roots of the whiskers that foxes and several other mammals have were also missing for the rest of the drawing process.
Breathing and Concentrating
Next we have the closed eyes of the second fox, a finer and more detailed facial expression, and his small smile indicating that he is resting well. However, one aspect that was not finished very well was the ears, which were crooked in relation to the direction of the head and even anatomy.
This is a character with shorter fur, as on the head, which has a small addition of fur, barely visible. The legs, which were previously thick, were noticed before finishing the sketch and then fixed, in any case, they can always be improved. The toes of the paws became thinner. The body is more puffed out, as if the fox were breathing in.
Fingers in Conjunction With The Rest of The Agitation
In the middle of the face there are small lines that indicate muscle movements originating from the eyebrows, revealing the focus and impatience of this fox, and the closing eyelids above the eyes and the mouth reinforce the sensation. More fur was drawn on the ears.
Refinement follows locomotion, with the joints and toes of the paws having their shape ready, especially the positioning of the thumb which has been corrected. The character acquires footprints and slightly thicker fur on the tail.
Latest Changes to The Foxes With Shading
It’s time for the shading to enter the figure and fur of the foxes, which was done lightly with the shading pencil, with little use of the pencil and mechanical pencil. If before, the eraser and type cleaner were used a little.
The shading under the paws or at least one of them helps to fix the foxes in the space they are inserted, as if they were on a support and not flying or swimming. The darker graphite color was applied where there is less light source, in this case behind the foxes.
Observing the Lights and Shadows from Above and Below
The shading on the first fox was between the right hind paw, solidifying its observing posture, while the left is slightly raised. Before they were already drawn, now the shadow reinforces them.
Where there was most shading was on the left side of the face, under the right and left arms, and on the tail. There was isolated parts on the rest of the body and face. Absence of whiskers and their roots on the upper jaw.
The Place of Relaxation
All two of his legs, plus the tail, are stepping on the ground, hence the more concentrated use of the blending pencil, outlining them on the outside and inside of the figure.
The right side of this second fox is where it is darkest, from the head, face, to the body, paws with their folds, and tail, the latter of which has a little more fur. The eyelids have also darkened, which could suggest makeup or simply a darker fur color and not necessarily shadow. The character is physically and even mentally focused on where it is lighter. Although he does not have whiskers, he at least has their roots.
Ready for Action
Since the first stage of the drawing, the right hind leg is on the ground, while the left, which has dark parts there, is raised, but it is here where the light application of shadow confirms this.
Still on the subject of shadow application, the front of the body, the lower part of the right arm, the right part of the jaw, the tips of the legs, and especially the tail had considerable darkening. Similar to the second figure, this third one has the possibility of makeup or coloring of fur in the corner of the eyelids, in addition to the inclusion of the roots of the whiskers. A slight mark of erased graphite was noticed on the right hand.
Concluding Practicing Lines and Shadows With Graphite on The Three Foxes
Although unfinished, the figures in the sketch may communicate something to the viewer, or just find them cute. In any case, it was an essential exercise to create poses, expressions and to get the anatomy of furry foxes right.
If you notice that in some paragraphs mistakes were pointed out when creating the sketches, this is not to say that the drawings were bad, but that most of these are common mistakes made by beginners and are useful notes for future applications.
Just as was done with these foxes, if you have an idea for furry characters from sketches of thought-out poses, put them into the sketch, into practice and don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because that is where you can acquire the learning.