Zodiac Assignment: The Rabbit

For this weeks assignment we were each given an animal from the chinese zodiac, and I received the rabbit sign. The goal was to make a human and an animal character that reflected upon the signs key traits; one with the positive traits, and the other with the more negative traits.

The rabbit for the most part is a friendly, compassionate sign, that is rather outgoing and makes a good friend. But it can get very timid and shy, and grow introspective. This can lead the rabbit into becoming very introverted, and it can appear to be aloof to others.

With this in mind, I developed two characters, a timid human girl who was far too shy, and a very friendly rabbit spirit, who decided to take a true rabbits form to become the girls closest friend. :D

Now on to the images. First is the inspirational photos from my research. I settled on a type of rabbit I liked, as well as a period for the clothing for the girl. I thought something that felt victorian would suit her well.

Next are some silhouettes for both my human character and my rabbit character. I selected my favorite from each to move on to finishing.

For the girl, whom I named Angeline, I selected the seated silhouette, and aimed for a more detailed "Painted" look. I need to work on this technique a little more, but I like where it's going.

Next for the rabbit, which I named Buttons just for fun. X3 I picked two, since she's a rabbit spirit and I wanted to make something of a transformation image, and tried for a loose, line-less style that I've been wanting to try for a while. I think it turned out alright, but I once again would like to improve upon it, and maybe try a more cutout style next time. :3

And some story for the both of them:

"A young human girl named Angeline spends her days sitting around her home, too shy to play with the other girls brought to play with her. One day, while sitting in the shade of the garden, feeling particularly timid while hiding from visitors inside, a small form moved in the grass near her. At first she was afraid, but still she felt compelled to look upon it in the end, to find a delightful surprise hidden in the soft grass; a small, friendly, spotted rabbit. She spent the next several weeks playing with the elegant little rabbit, which she named Buttons, and the two grew quite close.

When her parents tried to convince her to leave Buttons alone to play at first, she would quickly withdraw once again and hide herself in a room to talk with only her rabbit friend, but slowly she would be more willing to follow their wishes under the condition that Buttons was with her. Her parents would notice that with the rabbit around, their daughter wasn't as shy as she was before, talking about Buttons as if it were a trusted best friend and telling everyone she could about it. 

What none of them really knew was that Buttons was herself something quite special, because she was in fact a rabbit spirit, who had felt very sorry for the shy girl when she had come upon her in the garden. She had decided on that day to hide in the form of a living rabbit so she could look watch over the girl as close as possible, and to slowly start opening her up to others. Once the girl had learned the positive traits the Rabbit spirit had to bestow on her, she would reveal herself and leave the girl to grow with her new gifts."

So that's all I have. :D Enjoy!