I just read that the year Babe Ruth hit the most home runs, he also struck out the most. It seems appropriate as each time I take on a new sketch the old problems get easier and new problems come into view. Moral? Do more projects..
I was surprised at how easy this one was to throw together, though now there's some decisions to be made; the front legs and shoulders aren't sitting right, especially the way I've dug in with a crease behind the shoulders, and the ears, which popped up and then hollowed out with two successive extrusions, one convex the second concave will be difficult to tweak out into their authentic shape without the two thin layers in the ear winding up overlapping through the mesh.
I didn't like the forelegs/shoulder construction at all...it was full of crimps and lump and generally seemed unyielding to future sculpting I wanted to do on its musculature, so I ripped it off and instead did an extrude on two polygon faces together and presto, I got exactly what I'd been looking for. It's almost as if
Extrude = Edge Loops
This had the added effect of allowing me to get ride of all my Ngons with the greatest simplicity so that was win/win.
Then I got to do the tail. The tail is the most sensuous part...all those curves sweeping back and forth as it tapers to its tip. I have to confess...I really enjoyed doing the tail. It was fun and easy..
Paws and claws, with the first prototype that I was proceeding with until I discovered there's four digits in there, not a cartoonish three.
