I have been asked how to draw Murfy so here is a terrible totorial I've cooked up for gang 😎
(Take it with a grain of salt, I myself don't always follow these rules and go more with the flow of my hand, but it's something I guess XD)
Ignore the fact some pages were left white, by the time I realized it was too late to fix it
Let's start with the head:
I always try to imagine him as a 3d model in my head, tho that does give him a more realistic look. For a more cartoonish/fun look I try not to think about things too hard and just draw my lines as quick as possible.
His head is an interesting shape, compact, especially with the mouth, so I think about his movements as if it were in an animation. This means I make his headshape move with his mouth. I didn't add this in the drawings, but his eye shape also changes with his expression! (Squish and squash) ex: You can either give him eyelids to make him squint, or you can make the eyeshape squished as if he were squinting, etc.
Also a lot of the small details like lips, freckles, eyelids etc are definitely optional. His design had been seen in 3 rayman games and in each of them he had different designs. I just tried to combine it all in my own way :)
Shapes shapes shapes. He's a small fellow, so I try to draw him with as little as details as possible (shapewise, bodywise) as if he were right in front of me. Like ants, we do not see all their details because they're so far away from our eyes (small). While Murfy definitely isn't ant-sized, his body is small and so details are harder to see, like dents in his arms, biceps, etc.
Now this isn't also the case with his head, as it's much larger. Normal sized I think? So I add more details to that area since it'll be easier to see.
I drew everything in sections so it's easier to see, but when I actually draw him I don't think about them much. Again, I try to draw the lines as fast as possible, in one smooth move (or as little moves as I can). Offcourse if I don't like it there's always the undo button XD
You can make him as realistic of cartoonish as you feel like, I myself keep changing between what I want. It also depends on the vibe of my art whether realism fits more or not.
In Legends for example, his clothes never really look realistic, there's barely any perspective and it's not as flowy, it's almost stiff. For that effect I noticed it's better to first draw the clothes and then the body, although to help me out a liiitle bit I still add his torso to keep the right proportions.
I personally like him in his dress cloak? Idk what it is rn. But in Rayman 3 he didn't wear it so idk how to properly mix that body with that piece of cloth. But I am trying lol. But yea that means I don't really know how to explain the way it lays on him in that style. All I can do is draw the body first and hope for the best.
Remember, experimenting here is crucial! It took me many many tries to get him to look the way he does and I'm still not fully done figuring him out. So best I can say is experiment and see what you like most, this is only a base and idea :D
So yea, don't take this too seriously, it's only how he works in my brain when I try to draw him. I hope this post helped someone out there, don't forget to be yourself in your art and that you never have to draw like someone else. The only person who needs to be impressed is you <3
Again, I have no idea what I'm doing lol my art of him is inconsistent as hell too
