The first time I saw an actual capybara, I thought it would be great if I could ride in it! Since I learned to ride horses when I was a child, I have wondered how it would be to ride other animals. And the capybaras are pretty big (for a rodent) and round, and they seem peaceful enough to let me interact with them. So I love them!
When I wanted to paint a warrior character, I remembered the capybara, and I thought it was my opportunity to make my wish come true! I just needed to make a giant capybara, and it should work fine!
When I searched for image references, I decided that the warrior remembered South America since capybaras are from there. I searched for many and finally took some from Mapuches and Gauchos and a bit of Mongolians (because fur is always fun to draw), trying to keep things not too complex. I first chose a palette with low saturation and earthy reds and browns, which later I complemented with a greenish-blue. I added more ochre tones on the way there, and then I added some blue for the complimentary tones.
The cutout dashes of color and the dark line counterpart work well and give an appealing cartoon mood.
I hope you like the warrior and her capybara!
Beaconpancakes 