A bunch of Ren sketches

Using the knowledge I've been gathering on facial structure from one of the commercial art programs, as well as the fine arts classes I've studied in most of the time, I've been doing a ton of experimenting. You see, there's a certain trap that almost every anime/manga artist falls into. This is a trap that's commonly called "Same-Face", as in every single character someone makes just look the exact same as the other within the facial area. I've fallen victim to this for quite some time, and I've been formulating ways to give the facial features of my characters some more variety.

In Ren's and Jamal's case, I've made their lips much more defined than the rest of the cast not only to give them a specific indication of their ethnicity, but also because they're different from everyone else. So here's I've done a bunch of doodles as a way to experiment with lip structure, among other things, to find ways to apply it to my style. Also, since she's clearly the character among my small cast of characters with the darkest skintone, I've tried my best to give her skin a neutral gray to see how it would turn out.

Overall, I'm absolutely loving the result. In fact........ she's totally hot now Yes, I'm a shallow shallow person for saying that about my own character! But Egoraptor puts it best when he says, "GOD, THESE ***KING LIPS!! "