they look awesome

Aw, they look so cute!

Love these!!! Watched the stream of the female Qitari baby and a couldn't help but notice they left out a tiny section of the far front leg! :3 Now every time I look at it I notice it

I think that the revamp for the Nixi could be bigger. I get not wanting to change it too much, but so far this doesn't really feel like a revamp to me, but just an update. So I'd suggest a more bold alteration (at the very least new poses), cause this revamp is the opportunity to do something exciting and new with the Nixi, but so far it's kinda banal.


Failing a more adventurous redraw, here are some suggestions for the current art.

Adult Male:
The front feet are too close together, making him look like he's going to tip over. His also feels too stiff for the slightly smirking look on his face (which is cute <3). A slight turn of his head towards us and a wider stance to the front paws would fix this.

Adult Female:
The way she's standing reminds me of a model posing, not just to look pretty, but rather the shape of her is too human (which sort of gives me the creeps); I think this because her back legs are not enough apart; they need to be in a more V-shape. Her head is also turned at a pretty sharp angle, so it looks kind of unnatural and painful. Decreasing the angle a bit would help with this. The tail is also a bit big towards the end, I think it would look better if it were less wide towards the end.

Baby Male:
He feels unbalanced like the adult male. His front right leg should be pointed at us, so that his front legs make a V-shape; it'll make him look more stable. With his leg moved over his head can be lowered a bit more, which would serve to make him look even more playful (a good pose for any canid <3). His tail seems quite big for his body though, and would look more natural, if shortened.

Baby Female:
Just like with the two males her front paws are too close together. Her stance would benefit from being a bit broader and perhaps shifting the right foreleg forward a touch. The head here is also turned at too sharp an angle; her whole body would need to be turned more towards us for it to look natural. So I'd recommend turning her face more forward instead of so far to her left.


The shape of the paws and snouts on all of them are done beautifully, though. ^^


Hopefully, these suggestions help and makes sense (and hopefully are not too harshly put, cause I've rewritten this about 10 times to make it as constructive as I possibly can).

Someone else commented that the female's tail was too "small". I think it is just shorter than the others. A bit more length would balance it better with the other lines.

I'm not an artist so feel free to ignore this next comment (I feel the previous one is truly true).

The female puppy's front distant leg is bothering me a bit, but I can't figure out why. Also the ruff between the male puppies ears seems like it should end closer to the point of his head rather than stretching all the way across.

Overall I really love these linearts. They look fantastic and I think it is wonderful that you are putting them out for polite critique so that any 'issues' can be discussed. It's got to be hard for all the artists involved to have their lines nit-picked. Props to all of you.


(Also can't wait for Morokko revamp, not because I like them, but because the current lineart is really dull and I hope you can bring the wonderfulness of real bears into them. They could be epic and I'm hopeful with how good the revamps so far have been.)

How cute!! Normally I'd say they were too similar to what they were before (like the female Vorpa) but I've always been rather fond of Nixis, and didn't think they needed TOO much of an update.

Also, I have a question. What other species are getting redrawn? I'm assuming it's safe to say that Luffoxes and Griffis and such will be left as is, but are there others getting fixed up? The Lupora, Morkko, and Nytekyrie come to mind for me, since the sizes have always seemed weird to me. In comparison to other pets the proportions are just... strange. That being said, I have pets of both species I love and will loves regardless of an update or not. I was just curious :)

A lot of people have made good points, which I reiterate here to show that yet another person noticed the exact same things.

1. Fox goes floof. The extra fluffy-furriness is most wonderful, as are the longer tails. We all know that Zolnixi are vulpines; they can even have extra tails. I am fortunate enough to have actually hugged a fox once (rescued from a fur farm). Foxes are fluffy-puffy critters! This alone would be terrific.

2. It's great that you retained the little smiles. These make them look like they are, or at least might be, up to mischief, which is a great look for them. I am not sure that the todd's smile needs to be longer; perhaps if it just curved a bit less, so that it's a hint of a mischievous smile? He would look even more sly then. (Zolnixi todds are among the few males who smile.)

3. I am more grateful than I can say that the vixen's neck no longer looks twisted around. As other people have mentioned regarding the Sylvorpa, I would truly prefer it if the female looked forward. During the Qitari revamp, the female's position was altered such that she no longer looked backward, and it was the one greatest improvement in that redraw, IMO. It isn't just that I, like many others, like to pair my pets up in stables and have them "looking at each other," though that is true. But in a battle, it is nicest to see my pets facing the enemy. Pets with their heads turned away look almost...cowardly. And usually, it's the female stance that is "cowardly," which IMO is not cool. Compare: in the Aeridini, Bulbori, Draeyl, Faelora, Lighira, Sylvorpa, and Zolnixi, the female is turning her head away from the direction she's supposed to be facing. Only in the Griffi, Ryori, and Luffox is this reversed. I will just go on the record as stating I prefer my pets "straightforward."

4. Several people mentioned the line of the todd's back, even after the smoothing. His hindquarters do look like those of a Corgi. Nothing wrong with Corgis, but the structure clashes with the rest of the animal. True, Zolnixi aren't foxes, but they are similar. I think the problem is that a fox has a hip that is higher than the base of his tail. Not much higher--just a bit. You can see that the hip is higher than the base of the tail in the Zolnixi vixen and in these pictures of foxes:




Even though each fox is being wary, and therefore arching its back just a little, one can see that the tail attaches a little lower than the point of the hip. The current version of the male Zolnixi also has a hip that is distinctly higher than the base of his tail is, so I advocate making the point of the redrawn male's hip just as clear.

5. Some people have mentioned the male Zolnixi's ears. It's great that all the Zolnixi have large, mobile ears, but there does seem to be something about the redrawn todd's ears that make him look as though he's cocking his head a bit to the left, away from the viewer. I don't think that is the artist's intention, but I am also not sure what would correct the impression.

6. Finally, I agree that more pointy faces would look great, but a Zolnixi is not a fox. Foxes don't have much of a stop, but the stop makes the Zolnixi look more intelligent. Maybe keep the stop but make just the muzzle a bit longer and more pointy?

Boy, what a long post! I bet 50 people have commented while I composed it. You'd never guess that Nixies are my favorites... :D

I think that for right now, just the original 6 are being redone. Qitari, Draeyl, Vulnyx, and soon Sylvorpa are done. Er- well, actually, I might have seen something about the Morkko being redone too. The original 6 are for sure, though, because the art didn't really match what they had in mind when the site started, especially the Vulnyx design. The original was very slim and cat-like, when the admins wanted a more powerful and "big cat" kind of thing.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=22276&page=6#58 Author: Yumi123 Time Posted: 2/6/2015 at 11:30 PM I think that for right now, just the original 6 are being redone. Qitari, Draeyl, Vulnyx, and soon Sylvorpa are done. Er- well, actually, I might have seen something about the Morkko being redone too. The original 6 are for sure, though, because the art didn't really match what they had in mind when the site started, especially the Vulnyx design. The original was very slim and cat-like, when the admins wanted a more powerful and "big cat" kind of thing.

Oh, I knew about the Vulnyx part. Frankly I was thrilled with the redesign since I had always figured they weren't supposed to look so domestic, and it really made my starter gorgeous. And I just had no idea what the original six species or anything were, I joined just after the Ryori was released, so all species before that are lumped together for me, lol. I was just curious.

But I am really excited for the Vorpa redraw, and may or may not be buying up Nixis now XD

puppyyyyyyyyyy