Line,Talk: evolution of a Cybertiger

here's a picture I did for a friend, based on a drawing she made.
please don't reuse this picture without asking <str...@io.com>.

                              .--.       .-.
        ,;;``;;-;,,..___.,,.-/   `;_//,.'   )
      .' ;;  `;  :; `;;  ;;  `.       '/   .'
     ,;  `;   ;   `  `;  `;   ,`    /\ ' /\`;
    /'     `      \   `     ;','   ( d\__b_),`
   /   /       .,;;)       ', (    .'     __\`
  ;:.  \     ,_   /         ', ' .'_      \/;    Visit the Cybertiger's lair!
 ,   ,;'      `;;/       /    ';,\ `-..__._,'  http://www.io.com/users/stripes/
 ;:.  /____  ..-'--.    /-'    ..---. ._._/ ---.
 |    ;' ;'|        \--/;' ,' /      \   ,      \
 `.fL__;,__/-..__)_)/  `--'--'`-._)_)/ --\.._)_)/

doing this took maybe a couple hours total, spread out over a week or
so.  here's my scratch pad for it, with some commentary.

                 __               .-.       ,-.
             /      .---.  .... -/ `\\_./,_//' )
           /                     \   `'  '>   .'
                                  `>    /\' /\ \
         / /                     /     ( #)_#_)\
        /  \          \        //      .'    __\
       /               )        /    .' _    \/;
            /         /     /   '//  \ '`.._._,'
       /   /         '--.  /       /  `-.__._;---.
               \         \ \____                  \
        \___   /   __ ; ) )      ---'       -- ---'

this was the first draft.  when I looked at the original GIF, I
quickly decided that I'd have to spend most of my time on the head,
because that's where most of the interesting detail is.  if the body
were in an active pose, I might have to worry about that more, but
it's just a static horizontal mass, which is pretty easy to do.  the
stripes might be a little trouble, but it didn't look like it was
important to get the stripes exactly right.  I knew I could fake them
pretty easily as long as the picture wasn't too small.

for ascii art, it's often a good idea to start with the smallest
detail that you want to make clearly recognizable.  so I started with
the triangular nose, put a quick face around it, and roughed out the
body to get a feel for the size and proportions.  this size looked
like it would work out pretty well.

next draft:
                 __              .--.       .-.
             /      .---.  .... /   `;_//,.'   )
           /                    `.       '/   .'
                                 ,`    /\ ' /\`;,
         / /                   ;;;'   ( #\__#_);\
        /  \          \       ';;(    .'     __\'
       /               )       ';;, .'_      \/ ;
            /         /     /    ';;\ `-..__._,'
       /   /         '--.  /     `.---._ ._._; --..
               \         \ \     /      \   ,      \
        \___   /   __ ; ) ) `---'`-._)_)/---\.._)_)/

the face and front paws are about 90% finished.  note that the face is
wider now, for a couple reasons: I thought the earlier version looked
more like a cartoon bear than a tiger, so I was trying to fix that a
little.  and I decided these proportions look better in most of the
fonts I tried.  and the smile needed to be wider.

I spent a lot of time testing possibilities for the mouth and the
eyes.  (these are usually the most important features of faces.)

             _...__              .--.       .-.
          .-'      ``-._....----/   `;_//,.'   )
        .'                      `.       '/   .'
      .'                         ,`    /\ ' /\`;,
     /  /                      ;;;'   ( d\__b_);\
    /  (              )       ';;(    .'     __\'
   '    \            /         ';;, .'_      \/ ;
  '     /           /       /    ';;\ `-..__._,'
  ;    /__..__     '---.   /     `.---._ ._._; --..
  ;           ;         \ /      /      \   ,      \
  `..____.____/--.._;_)_/ `-----'`-._)_)/---\.._)_)/

here the body is filled in.  it ended up wider than I originally
sketched, mostly because I had to adjust for the wider head.  the
shape here still isn't quite right, but this is easy to adjust later.

also got rid of the # in the eyes; # is one of those ascii characters
that varies a lot in different fonts.

               __                .--.       .-.
          ,;;'';;`-;,..__..,,.--/   `;_//,.'   )
        .'`;;  `;  :; `;;  ;;   `.       '/   .'
      .'    `   `   `  `;  `:    ,`    /\ ' /\`;,
     ;: /            \  `      ;;;'   ( d\__b_);\
    /  (          _,;;)       ';;(    .'     __\'
   ;:.  \       _    /         ';;, .'_      \/ ;
  /   .;/        `;;'       /    ';;\ `-..__._,'
  ;;.  /_____   .-'---..   /;:'  `.---._ ._._; --..
  ;    ;   ; \ /        \-/      /      \   ,      \
  `.,;___;___/'-..._)_)_/ `-----'`-._)_)/---\.._)_)/

started doing the stripes here.  semicolon textures are very
versatile.  I played with a couple darker textures for the stripes,
but the stripes are a little too small for anything heavier.

               __                .--.       .-.
          ,;;'';;`-;,..__..,,.--/   `;_//,.'   )
        .' ;;  `;  ;; `;;  ;;   `.       '/   .'
       ;;  `;   ;   `  `;  `;    ,`    /\ ' /\`;,
      ;'     `       \  `      ;','   ( d\__b_);\
     /  /         .,;;)        , (    .'     __\'
    ;;, \       ,_   /         ', , .'_      \/ ;
   ,   ,_)       `;;/       /    ',;\ '-..__._,'
   ;;, `/____  _..-'---.   /`-    ..---. __._; ---.
   ;    ;' ;'\'         \-/,- ,' /      \   ,      \
   `.;,__;,__/-...__)_)_/ `--'--'`-._)_)/---\.._)_)/

around this time, I was spending most of my time playing with the
shape of the tail, because a lot of it is almost-vertical.
almost-vertical lines are pretty hard to do in ascii line-art.

I made the stripes a little more irregular, to make it more visually
interesting.  and I also took out most of the semicolons in the face
fuzz, to help make the stripes look darker.

looking at that version, I decided the body was too long, so I
narrowed it by one character.  changes like this are a little awkward
at this late stage, but not really too hard to do.

                                .--.       .-.
          ,;;``;;-;,,..___.,,.-/   `;_//,.'   )
        .' ;;  `;  :; `;;  ;;  `.       '/   .'
       ,;  `;   ;   `  `;  `;   ,`    /\ ' /\`;,
      /'     `      \   `     ;','   ( d\__b_),\
     /   /       .,;;)        ; (    .'     __\'
    ;:.  \     ,_   /         ', ' .'_      \/ ;
   ,   ,;'      `;;/       /    ';,\ `-..__._,'
   ;:.  /____  ..-'--.    /-'    ..---. ._._/ ---.
   |    ;' ;'|        \--/;' ,' /      \   ,      \
   `.,;__;,__/-..__)_)/  `--'--'`-._)_)/ --\.._)_)/

I also made the rear paw shorter and moved it away from the front
elbow to make it easier to see.  and also cleaned up the overlap
between the tail and the rear paw.

and this is essentially finished.  found a place to stick my initials,
made some minor changes to the face, called it done so I would stop
fiddling with it, and mailed it off.

                              .--.       .-.
        ,;;``;;-;,,..___.,,.-/   `;_//,.'   )
      .' ;;  `;  :; `;;  ;;  `.       '/   .'
     ,;  `;   ;   `  `;  `;   ,`    /\ ' /\`;
    /'     `      \   `     ;','   ( d\__b_),`
   /   /       .,;;)       ', (    .'     __\`
  ;:.  \     ,_   /         ', ' .'_      \/;    Visit the Cybertiger's lair!
 ,   ,;'      `;;/       /    ';,\ `-..__._,'  http://www.io.com/users/stripes/
 ;:.  /____  ..-'--.    /-'    ..---. ._._/ ---.
 |    ;' ;'|        \--/;' ,' /      \   ,      \
 `.fL__;,__/-..__)_)/  `--'--'`-._)_)/ --\.._)_)/

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 _________
|  _____  |\
| |\ ___| | \
| | |   | | |
| | |___| | |
\ | |____\| |
 \|_________|
 Andy Johnson

  __      _
o'')}____//
 `_/      )
 (_(_/-(_/

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