这是我参加了开发的独立游戏自由星球 2 代 (Freedom Planet 2) 的主角之一，猎犬美兰的一张 2016 年的旧图在 2025 年的重绘。美兰正在使用便携式电台在丛林深处进行广播。

图 2 是 2016 年的旧图，原本是专门为美兰的配音演员 Aimee Smith 绘制的。当时她正以配音演员的职业出道，这张图送给她作为可以签售的海报。

图 3 是 2016 版的原始草图。一开始我并没有打算绘制背景，但因为当时我已经有很多年没有认真绘制背景了，可能是出于想要证明自己还能画出复杂背景，所以才硬是将构图改成了带有背景的形式，在整体的概念上和我之前的一张旧图如出一辙 (考虑到那张图背后的故事，这并不是一个好的征兆)。

2016 版旧图刚刚画完的时候，我其实是有点沾沾自喜的，因为对当时的我来说，能画出具有森林氛围感的画面的确是一次突破，然而发出来时候反响却一般般，对当时非常在意作品评价的我来说落差很大。

我日后逐渐察觉并总结出这张图的主要问题：

1）人体结构错误，没有头部的人体结构意识，眼睛过大且眼间距过宽，人物四肢粗短，且胸部和臀部的体积太大。这些都是我在 2012-2022 的低潮期绘制的人物的最显著的问题。

2）背景色系单调 (影调全在绿色系上)，各种植物的排列随意且凌乱，画面没有空气感，背景缺乏深度，尽管画面复杂，实际的视觉观感依然扁平。

3）大量随意的细节，胸前的三耳结的结构错误，桌面边界不清，盆栽主干分支不合理，麦克风浮空 (虽然我的想法是把它架在盆栽上，但显然这么细的枝条支撑不住)，麦克风线的走线凌乱，衣服的皱褶不合理等。

最终在我的自我认知中，2016 版的旧图成了我的一次重大创作失败。我后来将它从自己的作品集中移除，但它一直是我的一个心病。2025 年我在整理旧作品时又发现了它，而这时美兰的那张变形的脸蛋实在是让我如坐针毡，于是我决定至少把她的脸给改到能够见人，让我能把这张图不羞耻地重新发出来。

但和之前的几张 2025 年的重绘图一样，脸蛋一改好，整个画面的其他部分就显得不平衡了，于是改着改着就把整张图给彻底重画了。

我在 2025 版的重绘过程中重点关注了以下方面：

1）人体。这个其实是最容易的，因为我在 2025 年时的人体基础已经足够让我轻易画出好看的脸蛋和比较流畅的体态了。我还将原始草图中的黑色肉垫给加了回去，提升手掌的造型细节。

2）物体构造。首先是美兰的胸前的三耳结，这次我调查发现中国结中的确有一种“三耳酢浆草结”，并按照正确的结构重画。麦克风增加了支架，电台增加了结构细节和天线，桌面的边界和结构都进行了强调，增加了一个背包，全部一起进一步明确作品主题。植物的分布更有条理，类似的植物靠近放置。

3）色彩。最初先是强化了黄色和橙色的纯度，让人物更加突出。后来又增加了天空，引入了蓝色的天空光以带来空气透视，明确背景的山势和距离，并在盆栽上加入蓝色小花呼应天空的蓝色。缩小了树冠的叶子，让它们显得靠后。

整个重绘过程并没有计划，画到哪里觉得不对劲就改哪里。我虽然知道这并不好，但作为一种练习就像是自己批改自己的作业一样，我觉得还有很有趣的，而且还训练了自己的观察意识。

最重要的是，2025 版的绘制过程中我的心态更加单纯，不去想这张图能做什么，纯粹是想把它画好看，这个心态的变化肯定对创作有很大帮助。我对于新版的效果感到满意，长期困扰我，成为了我心目中创作失败象征的“森林系列”在这里就算是翻篇了。

This is a 2025 redraw of an old picture I created in 2016. It features Milla Basset the Hound, one of the playable characters from Freedom Planet 2, an indie game I helped develop. Milla is using a portable radio station to broadcast deep in the forest.

Picture 2 is an old version from 2016, originally created for Aimee Smith, the voice actress of Milla. At that time, she was just starting her career as a voice actress, and this picture was a gift to her as a poster for autographing.

Picture 3 is the original sketch of the 2016 version. Initially, I didn’t plan to include a background, but after years without drawing one in detail, I felt compelled to prove I could still do it and changed the composition accordingly. The overall concept was almost identical to an old piece of mine, which considering its backstory, was not a good sign.

When I finished the 2016 version, I felt quite smug about it because creating a convincing forest atmosphere was a breakthrough for me. However, when I posted it, the response was lukewarm. For someone who cared deeply about how my work was received at that time, this was a significant letdown.

I would gradually became aware of and summarized the main problems of this picture in the days to come:

1) Bad anatomy. The main issue with my characters from 2012 to 2022 was poor anatomical awareness, including an unclear head structure, oversized eyes with too much space between them, and a stocky body with disproportionately large chest and hip volumes.

2) Monotonous shading (all tones are in the green range), different plants are randomly scattered, lack of atmospheric perspective and depth, and despite the complexity of the picture, the actual visual perception remains flat.

3) Messy details. The structure of the three-ear knot on Milla’s chest is incorrect, the boundary of the table is unclear, the main trunk and branches of the potted plant are incorrect, the microphone is floating (it was intended to be placed on the plant, but such a thin branch can’t support it), the microphone cable wiring is too random, and the clothing wrinkles are incorrect, etc.

Ultimately, I consider the 2016 version to be a major creative failure. I later removed it from my gallery, but it has always been a painful memory. In 2025, while sorting through my old works, I found it again and was disturbed by Milla’s distorted face. So, I decided to modify her face to make it presentable, allowing me to post this picture again without feeling ashamed.

But like other 2025 redraws, improving the face made the rest of the picture feel off. One small fix after another, the entire picture was completely redrawn.

During the redrawing process of the 2025 version, I focused on the following aspects:

1) Anatomy. This is actually the easiest part because by 2025, my anatomy foundation became solid enough to allow me to draw good-looking faces and relatively bodies with ease. I also reintroduced the black pawpads from the original sketch to add detail to Milla’s hands.

2) Structures of various objects. I learned about the “Three-Leaf Clover Knot” in Chinese knots and redrew Milla’s chest knot accordingly. The microphone now has a stand, the radio features more details and an antenna, the table has a defined boundary, and a backpack was added. These changes clarified the picture’s theme further. The arrangement of plants is now more organized, with similar ones grouped together.

3) Colors. Initially, the saturation of yellow and orange was increased to enhance the character’s prominence. Later, a blue sky was added for atmospheric perspective, clearly defining the distant mountainous background. Blue flowers were included in the potted plants to echo with the sky’s color. The leaves on the tree crowns were reduced in size to create a sense of depth.

The redrawing process was spontaneous. Whenever I sensed something was off, I made immediate changes. Although this wasn’t the ideal method, it felt like self-correcting my homework and helped sharpen my observational skills.

Most importantly, during the redraw of the 2025 version, my mindset was much more focused. I didn’t consider what this picture could bring me; I simply aimed to make it look good. This mind shift must have been a significant positive change. I am pleased with the final result of the new version. The “Forest Series,” which had long troubled me and symbolized my creative failure, can now be regarded as “case closed”.