Libbie the Spirit Oryx, 3 Forms (2025) | Download Fullsize
This is the 2025 redesign of Libbie the Spirit Oryx, a key character in my original project “Spirit Animals in Disguise“. She serves as the head teacher of the main characters. This article looks back on Libbie’s lengthy design process, highlights the various transitional versions that emerged over time, and elaborates on the final design concept through individual images.
2017: The Beginning
Libbie was originally designed as a candidate for LibreOffice’s mascot contest. LibreOffice is a free and open source office application suite. However, due to the misconduct of the event organizer, the competition was cancelled, and Libbie was unable to fulfill her mission.
Due to this sad incident and my prolonged creative slump at the time, Libbie has always held a special place in my heart, as if we were friends during tough times. I hope to incorporate her into my work, providing closure for both of us.
The original design of Libbie featured a typical chibi mascot proportion, necessitating a complete redesign for her to function as an anime character. I always envisioned Libbie as a tall, mature office lady. However, this was my weakest area; for years, my drawing style was limited, resulting in characters that either looked young or were indeed young. In 2017, many of my characters exhibited what I termed the “shorty, chunky and stocky syndrome”, though I was unaware of it at the time. Over the subsequent years, numerous redesign attempts ended in failure.
2017: Early Attempts
In fact, before creating the mascot version of Libbie, I attempted a “normal proportion” version of her. However, my limited drawing skills at that time led to unsatisfactory results. Consequently, I considered it an embarrassment and hid it deep in my hard drive. This picture was redrawn in 2025 with much better results. We will discuss that one later.
After the cancellation of the LibreOffice mascot contest, I attempted to draw a normal-proportioned Libbie again. This time, the proportions aligned more with my intention. Reviewing this piece after eight years, I found few critical anatomical mistakes. The character appears natural and relaxed, much better than I remembered. Perhaps drawing casually at that time contributed to a better result.
However, at that time, I felt I was forcing myself to draw a cheerful Libbie. The drawing’s timing was too close to the mascot contest and associated with bad memories, making me uncomfortable. My poor state of mind hindered my ability to refine and complete this artwork. For many years, I mistakenly believed this picture was poorly drawn and forced, so I removed it from my gallery—demonstrating how one’s mindset affects perception.
2018: Struggling
In the following years, my creative ability sharply declined, and my perception of anatomy was also a mess. In 2018, I tried to create a more “unrestrained” design of Libbie. However, I was in a deep creative slump, and the “shorty, chunky and stocky syndrome” was evident in this drawing. Yet, I remained unaware of the issue and even felt smug for thinking I had drawn her “tall and slender.”
However, this self-congratulation was short-lived. Firstly, the audience’s feedback was lukewarm, and I placed great importance on others’ opinions, which left me feeling frustrated. Secondly, I still hadn’t recovered from LibreOffice’s betrayal in the mascot contest. Both Libbie and I forced smiles to appear unaffected, but deep down we knew otherwise.
Libbie’s forced smile in this picture, whether due to a faked expression or lack of artistic skill, gave me extremely bad vibes. I eventually removed it from my gallery.
2019: Regroup
Unsatisfied with the “shorty, chunky and stocky syndrome” Libbie I drew in 2018, I consciously used a more realistic proportion and the then-popular Techwear style to redesign her in 2019. I can’t recall why I chose to make Libbie a botanist; perhaps it was to give her a specific occupation instead of just being an generic office worker, and her green color scheme aligns well with agricultural themes.
At that time, my art skills had somewhat recovered, but the long period of artistic block left me lacking confidence. Consequently, I was overly cautious while drawing this piece, resulting in intricate details, uninteresting compositions, and stiff expressions and poses. However, despite the painful process, this picture marked the first time since my creative slump that I achieved an acceptable level of detail with a relatively clean image, proving to myself that “I still got it.” Although the final product wasn’t seriously flawed, its stiff appearance was definitely unappealing.
My creative mindset at that time was poor. Whenever I had the chance, I harshly criticized myself in my thoughts. The “stiffness” in this picture was amplified by my negativity, so I removed it from my gallery out of embarrassment.
However, this picture has inspired new thoughts on Libbie’s character: the composed expression suits her height, and the agricultural tasks align with her color scheme. These will become core design elements of Libbie in Spirit Animals in Disguise moving forward.
2022: Overstir
Extremes often led to reverse. Over the years, I have tried repeatedly to draw Libbie as tall and slender but failed each time. Eventually, this pursuit became somewhat of an obsession. In 2022, as a form of “revenge,” I challenged myself to create an extremely tall version of Libbie using a 7-head ratio proportion.
At that time, my art theory foundation had improved significantly compared to years ago, but a lack of practice left me struggling to express myself confidently. I focused on ensuring the character’s body was longer than seven heads by strictly adhering to the reference scale, causing everything else to suffer. Aware of this, I only shared the picture with one or two close friends privately. Over time, my dislike for it grew due to its forced nature, and it was never released. However, my mindset was better then; I didn’t blame myself for incompetence but viewed the challenge as silly and pointless.
When I wrote this article in 2025, I had an even more relaxed mindset, so I felt little mental burden in sharing this unsuccessful attempt. The original drawing was quite rough, prompting me to spend about ten minutes on a simple clean-up. Since the clean-up came after the finalization of Libbie’s 2025 design, the improved art skill—especially the quick yet effective reshaping of her skull—greatly enhanced the original sketch, making it no longer an accurate reflection of my abilities in 2022.
This tall design stemmed more from obsession than practicality. The Arabian oryx is not slender; it is one of the heaviest antelope species. Additionally, Libbie’s height of over 2 meters makes it difficult to frame her with other characters. Consequently, this design was discarded without hesitation. However, as an experiment in large head-to-body ratios, it provided me a glimpse into drawing more diverse figures.
2024: Not There Yet
By 2023, my art skills had largely recovered from the aforementioned creative slump and even improved. The design process of Sachi the Spirit Fox inspired me to establish the concept framework for Spirit Animals in Disguise. Using this framework, I created Leiting, Qiuye, and Mingzhu as the main characters. Libbie was chosen as the head teacher of an experimental class for Ecology Education where these kids study, allowing her to showcase her botany expertise.
Spirit animal characters in Spirit Animals in Disguise have three forms: anthro, human, and animal. In 2024, I created the first version of Libbie’s three forms, successfully capturing her personality and desired body proportions. While the underlying concept remains unchanged compared to the final 2025 version, the execution quality differs.
Above is Libbie’s 2024 anthro form. The mint leaves logo (originally a four-leaf clover) has been included. As “Spirit Animal in Disguise” is a fantasy slice-of-life project, cyber elements from her original design have been removed. Her inner hair remains green, and her hairstyle has shifted to more realistic locks. Her hands and upper arms are black with no hooved fingertips, and she wears white gloves.
Considering her role as a primary school teacher, the dress length has been increased for modesty; the coat is now a standard laboratory coat without the unique stand-up collar design. For comfort during long periods of standing or walking, I designed flats for her footwear.
Above is Libbie’s 2024 human form. This may be my first proper adult female human drawing. Aside from not wearing the white coat in her anthro form, the concept remains largely unchanged. Due to my inexperience with this type of character, I was overly cautious during the drawing process. While Libbie’s facial and body proportions are well-executed, her costumes and posture feel stiff, which is why I decided not to release it publicly back then.
The above is Libbie’s 2024 animal form. Compared to the anthro and human forms, the animal form posed more challenges. While I had more experience with human anatomy, my experience with feral animals was limited—mainly drawing Sachi the Spirit Fox, Leiting the Spirit Loong, Qiuye the Spirit Dhole, and Mingzhu the Spirit Shark. Consequently, Libbie’s 2024 animal form appears somewhat off, featuring a blocky head shape and stocky snout. This may stem from my incorrect belief that Arabian oryx has a bull-like body shape. It turns out that beliefs can influence perception; despite studying many photos of Arabian oryx, I misinterpreted what I saw.
When I completed Libbie’s 2024 design, I felt quite satisfied. Every time I finish a drawing, I usually feel confident about the result. However, after sharing it with a few acquaintances, one friend who likes Libbie suggested that the new version had “its edges smoothed out to fit the work,” while another remarked that the “clothing was a bit ordinary.”
At the same time, I sketched draft designs for a few characters like Tonyn the Spirit Rat. They occasionally appears in my profile pictures and website thumbnails, but full images have never been made public; only a few close friends have seen them. While everyone showed genuine interest in these characters, I sensed uncertainty about certain design aspects. This was concerning because audience intuitions often highlight what artists may overlook. People might refrain from commenting out of politeness or unfamiliarity with the creative process, making it hard for them to express their thoughts.
To address my concerns, I decided to hold off on releasing the new designs for now. While I felt confident in my art theory knowledge to draw proper anime furries, I needed more practice to make my drawings come alive. My goal was to enhance this aspect and better showcase Libbie’s personality while ensuring all her three forms maintain the same quality level.
2025: Feeling the Flow
In early 2025, I redrew a series of old pictures that I once regarded as major failures and removed from my gallery out of embarrassment. During this process, I focused on “concept clarity” and “visual appeal,” striving to refine my intuition through quick iterations of large color blocks.
Libbie’s original design from 2017 was redrawn during this period. I maintained her overall look while refining her facial features and body proportions to enhance the “elegant and composed” impression in the 2024 version. My goal was to preserve her playful and cute nature without the forced smiles and uncomfortable pose of the 2017 design. I was pleased with the 2025 redraw, which captures a subtle elegance while retaining her cuteness, marking it as a successful attempt.
However, shortly after that, family happenings disrupted my creative plans. For the next few months, I was busy with family and work responsibilities. I could not draw as often but focus more on writing for my projects. This continued throughout the summer vacation. However, working on the writing helped me clarify what I want for my characters.
Meanwhile, as I redrew most of my past failures, it was finally time to work on Libbie’s 2018 design with the “shorty, chunky and stocky syndrome.” However, this old picture proved difficult in every aspect. After adjusting the proportions of Libbie’s face and body, I realized that the overall appearance remained stiff and unappealing, making it unlikely to become a nice picture.
I realized I could now draw almost anything with decent results. Instead of fixing the old, why not create something new from scratch? It was a liberating moment when I finally decided to do just that.
The above is the cleaned version of the unfinished 2018 Libbie redraw. The cleanup was done to make the sketch more presentable, but since it was done after completing Libbie’s 2025 design, my improved art skills significantly altered the original state. Reviewing my time-lapse recording shows that it mainly consisted of rough color blocks below Libbie’s chest before I cleaned it up.
However, this unfinished attempt was not wasted. Through iterations of color blocks, I gained valuable experience and inspiration, establishing new objectives to pursue next:
- Inspiration: The axial rotation of the thigh dictates knee direction and the lines below it.
- Objective: Accurately construct animal snouts based on skull anatomy.
- Objective: Understand high heels, rather than making assumptions.
- Objective: More dynamic poses and compositions.
- Objective: Define the bone points; rather than rely solely on muscles present the body.
- Objective: Draw with visual clarity, especially the character’s personality
- Objective: Record time-lapse when drawing (starting from nearly finishing the artwork above).
2025: Final Result
I started working on Libbie’s 2025 anthro form at the end of May, using the unfinished 2018 redraw sketch as a base. Progress was slow due to various distractions. The first time-lapse screenshot was taken in mid-August, when the color blocking stage was nearly complete. The composition remained mostly unchanged afterward. Libbie’s legs and pose reflected my intentions from the unfinished sketch, while everything else, including the color scheme, was completely redone. I also worked on Libbie’s human and animal forms simultaneously to ensure consistency across all three forms.
Libbie’s 2025 anthro form shows improved design clarity compared to the 2024 version. The signature features of the Aranbian oryx are now more recognizable, including long pointed horns, a prominent snout, striking body colors, and hooved fingertips.
Secondly, Libbie’s hair color and style have been updated. Her inner hair has changed from green to black, making it easier to match with various outfits and creating a more striking contrast against her white body.
Then came the adjustment of Libbie’s costume. In the 2024 version, I chose flat shoes and a regular coat for comfort and to maintain a conventional look as a primary school teacher. However, when I consulted women in real life, nearly all said they would prioritize beauty over comfort without hesitation. While Libbie isn’t short even in flats, it negatively affects her overall proportion; high heels just suit her better. Ultimately, I opted for a compromise: a one-piece dress with a china collar and no side splits, paired with shorter block-heeled high heels.
Finally, I gave Libbie a more dynamic pose by moving her gesturing hand to the front, enhancing depth through overlapping body parts.
Libbie’s 2025 human form retains most concepts from her anthro version. Without horns or tails, I enhanced the dynamics with her flowing black hair instead. Her costume features tight sleeves to convey a capable and professional demeanor, fitting for a teacher. The clothes are in a light cool gray tone instead of bright white to avoid competing with her light-toned face.
To achieve the best results for all three of Libbie’s forms, I referenced extensive materials, particularly those about her animal form. After careful observation, I realized I had misinterpreted many details of the Arabian oryx in the 2024 version.
Because photos of Arabian oryx often lack a human figure for scale, I mistakenly thought they were large animals like the Golden takin. Consequently, I initially designed Libbie’s 2024 animal form to be stocky and square—almost cow-like. However, after further research, I found that while the Arabian oryx is one of the largest antelopes (100 kg/220 lb compared to gazelles at 20 kg/44 lb), it is still lightweight next to donkey (300 kg/660 lb) and bison (800 kg/1760 lb). Although Libbie is meant to be an unusually large Arabian oryx (120 kg/264 lb, similar in size to the scimitar oryx), her design should remain goat-like rather than cow-like.
The head of Libbie’s 2025 animal form is more tapered towards the mouth, and her face shape appears distinctly feminine. Her body shape blends that of a goat and a horse. Since she also works in the farm, I highlighted her bone structure and muscles to convey both agility and strength.
Libbie loves eating mint leaves, so she designed her clothing ornaments based on the “mint leaf” symbol. The mint leaf pattern on her chest in animal form resembles an oryx head. She wears four spirit bands in her human form—two smart bands and two traditional ones for redundancy. In her anthro and animal forms, these bands transform into ornaments around her horns. The pantyhose in both her anthro and human forms reflects the dark leg colors of the Arabian oryx.
The New Art Style
Old friends may notice that the 2025 version appears cleaner and more defined than the 2024 one. I used to be lazy about detailing, resulting in fuzzy artworks like this redraw of Milla. I often justified my laziness by claiming that roughness added a human touch and made it less mechanical. There was some truth to this, using vector tools for line art could indeed make characters look stiff.
However, there is a well-known furry artist with a similar style to mine (for certain reasons, I can’t introduce them here). They use an extremely simplistic approach with sharp, vector-like lines that still feel alive; flat shading in a single color that maintains a sense of transparency. Their work left a strong impression on me.
This artist made me realize that I was avoiding the challenge of drawing accurate shapes, relying on fuzziness to skip details I lacked confidence in. Although my art skill improved over time, I still struggle with accuracy when it due to laziness and lack of confidence. Continuing to draw with fuzziness prevents me from truly observing and controlling what I draw, which worries me as it may hinder my observational skills—the core ability of an artist. Therefore, I am determined to draw with as much clarity as possible this time.
You may have noticed that every piece following the fuzzy redraw of Milla showed greater clarity. In Libbie’s 2025 design, I used even thinner lines, demanding more accuracy. Initially I worried about my ability handling such precision, I soon realized that careful observation and meticulous shape adjustments can yield a clean picture without stiffness. Accurate shapes, even with minimal details, allow thinner lines to be expressive, resulting in better artworks than my previous approach.
In terms of cost, after overcoming my initial laziness and fear of failure, I quickly adapted to the new approach. Libbie’s 2025 design took significantly less time to complete than the 2024 one while being more visually appealing and enjoyable to work on. Perhaps this new method is what I was meant to adopt all along. I will continue using it in my future projects and strive to develop it further.
Conclusion
After completing Libbie’s 2025 design, my long effort to repurpose her for my project has finally come to fruition. This new design fulfills everything I envisioned when creating Libbie in 2017 and meets my current standards. In the future, I plan to redesign her farming attire based on the 2019 version and illustrate her operating agricultural machinery to further develop her character.
I’m considering editing this article’s content and the drawing process time-lapses into a single video. However, I have zero video-editing experience, and the anthro form time-lapse only covers the latter part, so I haven’t decided how to approach this yet.
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