Okay folks. Here is Bri the Raccoon’s new 2022 ref sheet. I decided to do ref sheet of my raccoon boy as part of my campaign to write a romance story involving Bri and his best buddy Tod the Prairie Dog. In this new ref sheet Bri pretty much looks the same as he did in his previous ref. However, the details are were the changes have been made.
First things first, Bri is a bit larger and stockier than before. This is for two reasons. One I want a noticeable size difference between Tod and Bri, denoting that raccoons are larger and quite a bit stronger than prairie dogs. That fact will play an important roll in how Tod is shaped for better and worse in personality as the story’s plot establishes itself. Secondly I want Bri to be larger and stronger than Tod due to the fact I am gearing Bri to be Tod’s emotional sanctuary where the prairie dog feels safe and secure from the rigors of the world around him every time he is in Bri’s loving embrace. Size and strength coupled with a sweet tender heart is very conducive to somebody, who had a rough go in life, to find emotional safety and comfort in. I know I would feel that way about somebody like how I’m setting up Bri.
Next I gave Bri a more rounded belly and thicker chest fur. Again its the fact Bri is going to be Tod’s aforementioned emotional sanctuary. As such Bri needs to have as much cuddle and snuggle factor as I can dump into him. I want Bri to be irresistibly cuddly. Larger size, a body with lots of rounded shapes, a layer of fat (not obese, but pudgy) for softness, thick deeply layered pelt over a warm robust body, spiced up with soothing arms and dexterous hands for calming embraces and a loving touch, should make Bri an irresistible cuddle magnet for Tod….and the rest of you cuddle bugs out there.
Lastly I did a subtle revision to Bri’s chin, thickening it up slightly and adding a small tuft of fur to indicate that he is very robust and durable, made so by his physical labor oriented job of landscaping. Moving dirt, rocks, planting trees, building fences and retaining walls, and so forth is where he built up his underlying strength. For some reason I’ve always seen raccoons as being very durable able to take quite a bit of rough and tumble and still get up, dust themselves off, and keep going. There was a story (IRL, no joke) of a raccoon taking a 100 foot fall from the side of a high rise building and walking away from it unharmed. Bri is one durable cuss. You cannot easily put a raccoon down. They can take just about anything life can throw at them. That is a huge quality Tod will find very attractive, inspiring, and most of all calming.
Bottom line Bri’s appearance is all about being durable, robust, yet softened by a massive amount of cuddle factor and a warm caring side beneath his raccoon mischief. Bri always had these qualities about him since the day I first drew him two and a half decades ago. That’s what makes him fun and to draw and very easy to work with. Its a matter of rightfully showcasing these attributes as the central core of his character design.
