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Description
The technical drawing is the most important part of the process. It basically shows how your mascot will be built before you start it. The best thing to do, like I did, is to draw a human figure and ink it (so erasing won't harm it). Then you draw your character around it. There are a few things to consider when doing these drawings: vision, form, doabitlity, and human stress.

Vision is basically how the wearer will see. They need to be able to see out without other people being able to look in. They probably won't be able to see their feet, but they need to be able to see clearly in front of them. If they'll be doing a certain activity, they may need some peripheral vision. In the standard walkaround (sport/school mascot), the vision screen is in the muzzle or open mouth. Some smaller heads are peered out of through the eyes. If you saw my Dixon fursuit, it's hard to tell where it is. Actually, the screen is Dixon's ferret "mask." It's stretched nylon. Bernard's screen is going to be in his mouth.

Form is the look of the character. If you put a suit of faux fur on a person, it's going to look like just that: a person. To get the animal feel, you add a foam form and various padded places throughout the suit. You can see how I've drawn padding near the bottom. You also need to know how your head (the most complex part) will be built. The ideal thing to do would be to get a block of foam and carve away, but I don't have that. Instead, I cut strips (upper right) and glue them together in a rough shape of the head. Then I glue more foam on top and carve until I get the right shape. The antlers need to be light, so I'm going to make those out of wire and plastic mesh.

Doability is saying, "Is this physically possible?" I couldn't have the antlers made of sculped clay. They'd fall right off. You need to think about what's right and what's wrong with your design.

Human stress is the most important. You need to have a design that will be easy on the wearer. The head needs good ventilation to avoid heat stress. The hands and feet need to be comfortable to avoid pulling a muscle or something. Be mindful of these things.

Next up: Materials [link]

Description
The technical drawing is the most important part of the process. It basically shows how your mascot will be built before you start it. The best thing to do, like I did, is to draw a human figure and ink it (so erasing won't harm it). Then you draw your character around it. There are a few things to consider when doing these drawings: vision, form, doabitlity, and human stress.

Vision is basically how the wearer will see. They need to be able to see out without other people being able to look in. They probably won't be able to see their feet, but they need to be able to see clearly in front of them. If they'll be doing a certain activity, they may need some peripheral vision. In the standard walkaround (sport/school mascot), the vision screen is in the muzzle or open mouth. Some smaller heads are peered out of through the eyes. If you saw my Dixon fursuit, it's hard to tell where it is. Actually, the screen is Dixon's ferret "mask." It's stretched nylon. Bernard's screen is going to be in his mouth.

Form is the look of the character. If you put a suit of faux fur on a person, it's going to look like just that: a person. To get the animal feel, you add a foam form and various padded places throughout the suit. You can see how I've drawn padding near the bottom. You also need to know how your head (the most complex part) will be built. The ideal thing to do would be to get a block of foam and carve away, but I don't have that. Instead, I cut strips (upper right) and glue them together in a rough shape of the head. Then I glue more foam on top and carve until I get the right shape. The antlers need to be light, so I'm going to make those out of wire and plastic mesh.

Doability is saying, "Is this physically possible?" I couldn't have the antlers made of sculped clay. They'd fall right off. You need to think about what's right and what's wrong with your design.

Human stress is the most important. You need to have a design that will be easy on the wearer. The head needs good ventilation to avoid heat stress. The hands and feet need to be comfortable to avoid pulling a muscle or something. Be mindful of these things.

Next up: Materials [link]