Floating Otter & Little Hedgehog 🦦🦔💕(Step-by-step guide - Week 26) (Patreon)

Hi everyone!! 🤗

For this last week, we will draw a floating otter, and a little hedgehog. The hedgehog was the most challenging one, because he can look very angry very quickly, which you can see down below in the base layer step 😂. Tip to get him less angry: try to add rounded lines above his eyes instead of straight pointy lines!

You will find my tips & step by step instructions from sketch to final illustrations below, together with the materials I used!

Tips

Here are some tips I also shared the other weeks in the step-by-step post, I keep them here as a reminder:

Start with a sketch first: Don't skip the sketching stage! A light pencil sketch helps you place the head, body, and features before adding color and details.

Focus on the biggest shapes first: Look at the overall body shape before drawing eyes, wings, feathers, or tiny details.

Cute animals are often round: Softer, rounder shapes can make animals feel more friendly and adorable.

Suggest textures instead of drawing everything: A few pencil strokes and scribbles are enough to create the feeling of feathers.

Practice is more important than perfection: Don't be afraid to make mistakes and experiment! 🥰

Trust the process: When drawing the base layer with brush pens, the drawing can look a bit weird. Even I sometimes doubt if it will be alright in the end. But when I add the pencil layer the whole illustration comes together.

Floating Otter

For the sketch of the Otter, I used Faber-Castell 283 (Burnt Sienna). When the sketch is finished, I lightly erase the sketch lines with a kneadable eraser.

I used the following Brush pens as a base layer:

Tombow 020 (Peach)

Tombow 991 (Light Ocre)

Tombow 553 (Mist purple)

Use Peach for the lighter parts of the fur and Light Ocre for the darker parts. Draw the water with Mist Purple by applying little scribbles and leaving some white spaces open for the little waves around him.

For the second layer, I used the following Pencils:

Faber-Castell 157 (Dark Indigo)

Faber-Castell 283 (Burnt Siena)

For the second layer, use Burnt Siena to draw the fur on his body. Trace the outlines with light and dark scribbles. For the nose, eyes, inside of the ears, and mouth, first use Burnt Sienna to create a dark color. Then use Dark Indigo to make them even darker. Add some Dark Indigo to the fur as well to create extra depth.

To draw the water: Use Dark Indigo again and draw in little scribbles and waves. Vary in the amount of pressure.

Little hedgehog

For the sketch I used Faber-Castell 283 (Burnt Siena)

In this case, I first created an oval circle for his whole body. His nose is on 3/4 of his body on the right. Then his eyes make a little triangle with his nose and his ears start on the inside just a bit next to the eyes.

I used the following Brush pens as a base layer:

Tombow 553 (Mist purple)

Ecoline 374 (Pink Beige)

Tombow 912 (Pale Cherry)

I agree... he looks veryyyy angry 😂. I too was afraid that this wouldn't work out at all! But it did, so this is a reminder dat you have to trust the process haha.

Start with pink beige around his nose. Use Mist purple for his eyes and nose, leave a highlight in his eyes. Use Pale Cherry for his ears and de darker spines on his body.

For the second layer, I used the following Pencils:

Faber-Castell 157 (Dark Indigo)

Faber-Castell 283 (Burnt Siena)

For the second layer we will, again, only use Dark Indigo & Burnt Siena. For the nose and eyes, first use Burnt Sienna to create a dark color. Then use Dark Indigo to make them even darker. Draw some spines around his eyes with Burnt Siena and create a bit of shading. Create the spines by drawing little stripes.

I wish you all lots of fun with this week's reference, and don't hesitate to ask me any questions or show your illustrations in the group chat 🤗

Celyn 🌸