Not really sure what I can do with that.
I really, truly love all the weird and wonderful CS designs with fantastical features, but when I try to design one myself, I find myself trying too hard to make it make realistic sense. Like, I adore Ice Cream Cows, but when I try to design a creature like that, I just think "how the heck does this genetically work? wouldn't it be horribly messy?" Does anyone have any tips for letting go of that mindset? Getting more into the whimsical? Or, alternatively, making a species which looks whimsical but DOES make realistic sense?
If it helps, here are some of my sketches: https://www.deviantart.com/chels-adopts I intend to make them a little higher-quality than MS Paint once I've settled on the basic look.
Going through other people's species and picking out specific examples which appeal and which I can picture applying to my guys, and I'm ending up with a sort of androgynous punky-grungy look for a modern setting, will adapt and explore what they'd be like in another milieu. The original inspiration was sort of generic medieval/folklorish but I want to try out other takes on the theme.
Okay, food theme's too cutesy for what I want here, which is a pain because it's at least a really easy way to get nice-looking colour schemes. Now I have to work harder for those >:(
Here are some concept designs, with animal face, human face, and a human design in the same style for comparison - if I do go with human faces I still want them to be a bit otherworldly/stylised.
I think they need some kind of marking/quirk around the belly area to balance them out a bit. ETA: I'm kind of leaning towards the animal look, but I had the idea of their "ruler" class being able to pass for human and if they're humanoid they can cross over with a lot more other species... Shapeshifters? Regional variation?
They aren't very distinctive yet, just regular anthros with weird feet. I do have the caste system but when one only sees one individual member of the species that isn't visible. Problem when a species is based strongly on a particular real creature, I guess? I need a way to improve that. Okay, time to do some research, I guess. What should I be looking out for in other species? I can see "oh they have X feature" easily enough but I think I need to practice seeing how it relates to the species concept as described by Camphorous.
Maybe if I have them stand like raptors too that'd be a slight improvement (like, leaning forward and balancing with the tail).
Since the three faces that you've proposed have exactly the same eye/nose/mouth placement, they look exactly the same. I can see why this would be somewhat more difficult with limited art capabilities. I don't have a tablet hooked up right now, but maybe there's a way to upload photos from my sketchbook.
The first thing I'm picking up from your sketch is that they have really short small bodies and very long gangly limbs with little tiny delicate hands and feet, which is the opposite of what I would expect from a polecat type creature. The model you currently have is best suited for running on an open plain. Their balance wouldn't be that good, but they could move very efficiently through tall grass. Since you've said that your creatures live underground and have a digging claw, it makes more sense for them to have longer bodies, with short limbs and sturdy joints.
I like your idea of the royals being more humanoid and the lower castes being more animal. From a division of labor standpoint, it would make sense for some of them to be able to secure resources from humans through trickery and the rest being assigned to other tasks.
How about incorporating the body shape and head shape into the caste system? The royals would be able to pass for human children. They'd be cute, with the big round eyes and flat faces that you currently have in your mock-up, but thick child-like bodies, a pouchy stomach, and thicker limbs. Your guardian caste would be much larger, with a long stoat-like body, short powerful animal limbs, and a full-on wolverine head; very tough looking and completely incapable of wearing clothes or passing for human.
As for the raptor idea, I do not recommend. If they stand like raptors, their hips will be built like raptors, which means they will no longer able blend into human society or use tools. Raptors are built for running and attacking with the head. Multiple evolutionary lines of predators with that body stance became head focused and lost use of the front limbs entirely (carnesaurs, tyranosaurs, terror birds, etc.) From a purely biomechanics standpoint, if you tilt the spine horizontal, you lose shoulder mobility. The weight goes back, and the muscles wrapped around the waist don't have any way to counterbalance the force of movements in the torso. Without that stabilization, trying to do things like open a jar would throw the animal completely off balance.
Okay, then I need to stop trying to modify a base and draw freehand. Which I suck at :( I can add features to a base with no problem but drawing the body is a nightmare. Eh. I need the practice.
I wasn't picturing totally horizontal bodies like a full-on dinosaur, just a tendency to lean forward a bit. Sort of stooped?
I have the problem here that I feel the concept intensely but I can't translate it into visuals.
Would it be more helpful if I linked to visuals of some of the influences going into the appearance and characterisation ideas I have? Here are some: https://pm1.narvii.com/6262/0b76792241900179ca81e2e3271aae1e4bd4b1b6_hq.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xVTS00Rug0
https://twitter.com/Camphorous/status/1097317830763065345?s=09
See if this works.
At the bottom, the three different types. The most humanlike is the most neotinic.
https://twitter.com/Camphorous/status/1097325637956644865?s=09
The guardian type.
I do think that one needs to be able to draw to effectively design characters, even when using a base. If you can't translate an image out of the original stylization, you won't understand what you're looking at, so you won't have any control over your edits.
Okay, I can work with this. I don't think I want the "rulers" to look like kids, though, because I had the idea of them being sort of like mole rats and the "queens" being the breeders. My fault for not bringing that up. I think I've been picturing it all with a more cartoony look than you have because my drawing is more cartoony by nature, which isn't good for adopts because they have to look good in different people's styles. Now at least I have a better grasp of what needs adjusting.
Let me pose a different question.
Why should the breeders be humanlike?
Breeders usually stay underground in the nest, where it's safe. They wouldn't go out among humans, so there's no reason to look like humans. Wouldn't it make more sense for your scouts to look like humans and your royals to be more animal?