This was one of my key positions that I’d sketched up before hand. Because of his hiding tendencies, I wanted this Yeti to look like a small snow covered hill when he sat down.
However, just showing a small snow covered hill wasn’t going to work for a character reference sheet. I think. So I tried to make it look like he was letting the viewer in on the secret.
Which led to the desperate need for hand models.
I needed the ‘hush’ finger WITH both elbows up on knees in a crouching position. Apparently this is trickier than it sounds.
My first model failed:
But he gets points for cuteness.
My second model was accomodating:
But did not take this endeavour very seriously…
When his patience wore thin (‘Mom, arms don’t DO that!), he brought me a mirror to take my own reference shots:
Gorgeous.
I had this idea that the Yeti would be winking with the hush finger. But it didn’t read well in the end. Kinda looked like a deranged crazy lady for some reason.
Also, hand covering the head:
Why are you so beautiful?!
Okay, modeling done, this is what the finished pic ended up like.
My kids call it the nose picking picture.
Actually, it’s those little critters in front that gave me the trickiest time. I wanted some confused critters to show that the Yeti was hiding and they didn’t know where he was. But, frankly, you can’t make them out very well. I’m not sure how to fix that. Better background colours? Better silhouettes? If it was an illustration, I’d have them much closer to the foreground with the Yeti hiding as a little lump in the back. But, this is about the Yeti, so he had to be the main show here.
Original sketch:
It all started with this timid Yeti snowball:
Like I mentioned before, he had more snow covered bushes and rocks on his body in the first sketches. But I couldn’t pull it off without it looking like a big mess.
Also, I tried this stance with both hands in front of his face, but with his hairy arms it just looked like a huge moustache!
And I still think the winky face idea is cute.