The following images were produced four years apart and demonstrate, roughly, my techniques, such as they are, and how they have "fine-tuned" themselves. The first image was made just before ConFurence 6, in December 1994, and the second image was made in May, 1998.

Notes for image I (1994):

• Notice the graininess of the coloured pencil (white paper shows through it). I was still using "paper for pencils", which has a tooth or grain to it -- it feels rough to the touch. The colour is very flat -- no depth, and the shading is light to nonexistent (there's a little more shading in the original picture).
• The lettering is smudged and the lines uneven because I was trying to use India ink with a dip pen, which is simply impossible. The ink splattered and the nib of the pen caught in the grain of the paper. There is only one line width. The lines aren't smooth and the speech circles aren't rounded.
• The shape of the cheek (the blocky, round jawbone) is due to my beginnings drawing horses -- I figured that all heads looked like that. Note how square and blocked-off the head is and how I seem to have cut the muzzle off from the rest of the face. The hair looks two-dimensional and looks like a solid mass rather than hair (I still do this now, mind you).
• The neck is two-dimensional and doesn't quite attach well to the body. The collarbone doesn't dip down in the centre and is floating a little too high. The ribs are badly angled and too prominent. The arm muscles are rudimentary lines, the arms themselves two-dimensional. Notice that I couldn't attach the right hand to the arm properly and had to cover it with the green fabric. The torso is way too long (it should be about as long as the thigh). The thighs also look two-dimensional and the muscle structure is off. Also, notice that I couldn't draw the legs either, and had to cover them from knees down with the green stuff.

• The colour is smoother and richer on paper without much of a tooth to it (a smoother surface). Depth is achieved by using lots of colours to create the impression of any one colour -- the tan of the lioness' fur, for instance, involves white, corn yellow, gold, tan, light brown, dark brown, and black, blended with golden yellow. (Never be afraid to use black or dark brown to make shadows.)
• The lettering has been added by Adobe PhotoShop 4.0, the wonderful program. The speech balloons are more rounded and outlined in technical pens. Notice that the pen outlines have not smudged on the smooth paper, and that there is more than one line width -- thin lines around the eyes, and thick lines cutting the character off from the background.
• The face has been smoothed out and made a little more coherent -- no blocky cheek-line like in a horse. The muzzle isn't cut off. I've got rid of the "eyeliner" effect and added eyebrows and lips. The hair is a little more three-dimensional and hairlike -- "Otter Ballet", from December 1997, is a good example of slightly better hair.
• The neck is more three-dimensional and looks like it attaches to the shoulders. The collarbones dip properly (she is raising her shoulders, so they dip sharply here). Note how the thick lines denoting musculature have been reduced to suggestion by shading, and notice how their direction has changed to more accurately denote the position and shape of the muscle. The ribs don't show and there is a suggestion of the cage instead. The torso is shorter. The hands attach correctly to the arms (although I still need to perfect the notion of "finger"). The shape of the hips works a little better. Unfortunately, I still can't draw the calves -- they're still covered with the fabric...:)