I have decided to change things up a bit regarding the art style for ITLD book 2. Here are the following proposed character design elements:
1. Hands (paws): Five fingers instead of four. I found it a bit weird myself how the critters have only four fingers while the beast-forms have the correct number of digits. This is something I wanted to change for a while but kept it in the first book for consistency sakes.
2. Face: I've gotten comments in the past about the "blank eyed" look of the characters in the past. I agree that they look better and less uncanny with pupils. I'm also experimenting with different eye colours with races such as cats. Also, whiskers.
3. Shading: Trying a bit more detailed cel-shading on this one. It takes more time, but I think the end result is worth it.
Suggestions are welcome!