Character Underbellies

[Wizardmymom]

Has anyone noticed...

That almost all characters have LIGHTER underbellies?
I noticed then when I was drawing IRL, making (as usual) my cat's underbelly darker.
I planned on that charrie being in FH, and I was wondering...
"How comes there are no darker underbellies?"

It's always lighter.
I guess because most people make their charries like this:



And not GOOD like this:



I'm not really sure, but just wondering.
Have any of you noticed this?

[Paitai]

Well to be honest, I hate having a dark underbelly.. I think it doesn't look right x'D

[Wizardmymom]

Hmm... I used to agree, to be honest.
Just when I draw, all my drawings have DARKER underbellies.

And I think darker underbellies start looking bad at the muzzle.
Looksmorelikethecharrieistryingtogrowamoostachelolno.

[Paitai]

x'D I know right?
I don't know why I don't like them but.. They look okay on drawings and everything else, but in FH they just look strange looking.
I mean there are nice looking ones out there but -3-

[/color]

[unnbrellas]

Its the muzzle. Otherwise I think it looks OK. But when its a huge diffence its worse. If its darker by like 5 then it looks pretty good.

[Killian]

I used to have darker underbellies, until I started seeing too many grey wolves with jet black underbellies. Now if I do go darker it's on lighter grey or brown characters. My mean character is dark grey so I went lighter underneath.

(I hate it when people go jet black and you can see the white lines on the texture.)

[Smilodoncat]

It is because lighter underbellies are more natural looking. We almost subconsciously want to make characters with lighter underbellies because of this.
For many animals (such as Great White Sharks, orcas, and penguins) a lighter underbelly is a form of camouflage. When looking at them from above, the dark color blends in with the dark ocean floor. When looked at from below, the light underbelly blends in with the sky above.
This trait seems to still be present in land animals, for whatever the reason. In nature, it's much more common to see an animal with a lighter underbelly than a dark one.

That said, characters with dark underbellies can still look good if you make them correctly. I have a few characters like that myself.

[Jango_Fett]

I prefer Lighter underbellies, because I am mainly on my lions or cats, my canines have light underbellies too.

I use that because I think its more REALISTIC to me, My opinion on it anyways.

[IcexWolf1]

I don't really care for darker underbellies. It makes the character look... silly. It isn't realistic, either. I've never seen an animal in real life with a darker underbelly. Apart from birds, but no one really plays as birds on here very often. :/

[darkknight]

I usually have characters that have both a lighter or darker underbelly. Depending on what environment the character will be in or whether or not I'd like to try something different, plays into how the overall pelt will appear.