MerMay | Day 5 | Ebi Merman

Ebi Merman

Illustration done with HB/4H pencils on 4.5 x 6.5 white cardstock.

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This picture is stupid, and I love it.

The values aren't quite as strong as I would like them to be. Sheriff is quite hairy, but the hair I drew doesn't stand out as much as it ought. However, overall, it is an idea well executed. He does appear to be draped over the rice (particularly how his wrists curl), the lineart is clear, and I especially like the shading on the ground. In addition to being hairy, he has slightly dark-ish olive skin and the amount of shading displays that well enough, though I could have gone darker. While I'm sure someone else could have done better, I like the shading on the shrimp tail. Those three grains were put there because the ground was looking bare without something there.

All other 30 pictures were one-offs, but I knew if I was gonna do one of my own characters for MerMay, it would be Sheriff. He's one of my favs to draw and write. For whatever reason, I wanted to draw him as if I were actually drawing him as if he were a model in a studio. But if I were actually drawing him, how would he feel about that? Well, it's (or it was) MerMay and Sheriff is not a merman, so I'd have to stuff him into a shrimp tail for him to fit the theme, have him lie on a giant knob of rice, and have him be still. I don't think he would like that. I don't think he would like that at all. Hence the face of regret.

It's a very nice little picture. I'm glad I drew this ridiculous thing.

Thanks for reading.

#ebisushi #merman #mermay #cartoon #pencilshading #illustration