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PT - It's a Safari Out There

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:bulletblue::bulletyellow:Picture This: Sam&Sara:bulletyellow::bulletblue:
An arc in a collaborated girl's love anthology, Picture This
By *Tyshea and *Ai-Bee


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Wow, it feels like forever since I did a PT picture!

Work on the comic has been slow lately, I admit we hit a bit of writer's block after the new year had started.
But me and Bee found a spark recently, so the ball's rolling! Just....slowly
(Thank you all again for your patience, you've all been great about it ;v; )

Anyway, a while ago, one of our fans commented on one of Bee's drawings saying Tammy reminded her a giraffe.
Since I've always seen Sam as a lion, I thought it would be cute to give them all African animals-- but then of course my mind ran off at the speed of light and started coming up with a pseudo-high-fashion advertisement for animal-inspired clothes?
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED??
WHY DIDN'T I GO INTO FASHION???

So as an early birthday gift to myself, I worked on this happily for the past three days and YEEEEAAAAAAH
I also had realized we'd never once drawn all of Sam&Sara's characters in one illustration, and I've been trying to devote our time to fleshing out the first arc.
This really helped me personally collect my thoughts about the dynamics between the 8 girls for S&S...lots of story development came while I was working on this!

But onto the descriptions/explanations! Because I know you guys love listening to me ramble HAH


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Some general themes I went with were sedated animal prints, artificial materials (shiny plastic color pops, quilted pleather, metallic accessories), and quirky makeup. Focus on summer fashion.
I wanted to blend a natural (and maybe even "wild") inspiration with some very constructed elements. I personally love the outcome.

    On each character:

  1. Jayden (Nile Crocodile): I wanted something dangerous and blatantly threatening for her. Big scary teeth, mean bite, huge fucking predator. I kept her style generally simple with a focus on her shoes, which are crocodile skin. Her jewelry is sharp, simple, and to-the-point. I didn't want to overdo the croc skin because it's a hard texture to work with before it gets tacky, so I kept the patterning on her shirt and pants more abstract-- almost like camo (which is another texture I typically don't like)

  2. Lissy (Greater Flamingo): Bright, colorful, almost silly. I could not say no to making Lissy a Flamingo, but IT WAS REALLY HARD TO AVOID FLUFFY FEATHERS FOR HER. I wanted to keep the artificial feeling to her dress, so I went with a constructed fit-and-flare dress with leather hemming. The feathers mainly went into her makeup and hair, where I brought back the flamingo inspiration in her hairpiece. It's abstract, but fit in with the theory of this line better than an obvious bird head.

  3. Mal (Emperor Angelfish): She's always been ocean/fish themed, so I wanted to find a colorful fish to bring out that regal potential. Her color scheme was the hardest to work in because the Angelfish naturally has crazy colors (and her red fucking hair). I consolidated this by making her outfit as simple as possible (a romper with heels), with a couple of simple silver pops in jewelry. The romper and shoes provide the bold color and patterning, while her earring balances it with simple texture but sharp silhouettes. I felt it reflected her personality very well

  4. Sam (West African Lion): Well we all know Sam's been lion-inspired for a long time; the attention-grabbing but quiet (and surprisingly tame) king of the high school jungle. She originally started out with a typical poofy jacket, but I felt that look was too boring because it matched her usual style too much. I decided to cut off the sleeves to help her keep the summery look the rest of them had, and focus on color-blocking to bring in some visual interest. I wanted to femme her up a little, so I decided to give her heeled Chukka boots. The furry hood, big nails, and cloth belt were enough to hint at her animal, so I brought in some teal pops to prevent her design from falling flat.

  5. Sara (Meerkat): We actually struggled with Sara's animal for a while, since Bee likes to associate her with seals. I couldn't get meerkats out of my head though, being small, twitchy, and resourceful. We went with it in the end, but I had a bit of trouble showing it through her outfit. I ended up relying on the leather toes and finger gloves to bring out some of the more interesting parts of her animal, and stuck with a generally light and simple silhouette to match her personality. The thin shorts, tall boots and socks were brought in to elongate her look, and give her a compacted kind of "hiker" look.

  6. Tammy (West African Giraffe): The bumbling cutie-pie that started it all <3 It's pretty hard to work with Tammy because she's so awkward and unfashionable normally, so I wanted a simple style that kept an androgynous and quirky look to it. Her haircut is probably the main selling point for her look, but contrasting a huge printed shirt with her terribly skinny legs was really fun for me too. I didn't want her dipping too far from feminine, so I added big eyelashes to match those on a giraffe (thanks to the fan who suggested that!) As awkward as she is, I think the girl's got potential, heh.

  7. Blaire (Egyptian Cobra): Ah, the other lizard of the group. Her and Jayden share a lot of similarities, being threatening and all, but I wanted something a little sneakier for Blaire. Poisonous and deadly, but sleek as well. I had a hard time coming up with something high-fashion for her, so Bee helped me with some glam-rock-inspired runway shows. I didn't want her look to be too 80s, so I added more 50s-retro inspirations to match Mal and Lissy. The blazer is snakeskin, but done with a more modern cut. Paired with her plastic knee-high boots, they prevent the style from looking too old...even with the shoulder pads (don't kill me).

  8. Gwen (African Elephant): Stable and seemingly placid until slighted. (Hell hath no wrath like Gwen scorned) I wanted to keep her style very simple and chic, bringing out her sex appeal without sacrificing her personality. The colorblocking here is much more sedated to match the grey tones on elephant skin, and the droopy dress was to match their wrinkles. The combination of a stiff and constructed blazer with a loose, flowy cloth matched the overall natural/artificial theme of this line. Also the white toes on the shoe are to match Elephant toes as well as Lissy's shoes.


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AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, HAVE A GRRRRREAT DAY LIKE FROSTED FLAKES.
Also let me know if you can pick a favorite! :la:

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markbell4175's avatar

Hello. Love this piece. I was wondering if you did the “picture this” age charts for these characters? I remember a few years ago seeing all the age char/progressions for each of these characters. I can’t seem to lock them anywhere. Do you know where I can view them again. I love this series. Thanks.