Character Design: Playing With Style

I have started to play around with the overall art style of my characters as this could have great influence on how the characters are designed.

The first style is much more painterly, I have been trying to create a look that incorporates a fur texture which will create a much more realistic style in the end.

This second style is much more heavy, and is based on layers of block colours. This gives a much more cartoon feel and paints the image of a stylised world.