1680x1050pixels for all you mac lovers out there...

I'm trying to go more fine art with the furry thing. Maybe try to play my graphic designer roots into a sort of Superflat/Stuckist piece. But the last thing I want it to do is to try to define the 'furry' thing, so let's not talk Maximalism. Think furry art in place of anime art, and you get the contemporary movement idea.

At present, I have a few more in mind -- but this is a start. However, it feels like it's missing something...

Yes, DJs are mostly stealing other people's music. Yes, they don't quite deserve the admiration that some people give them. Yes, I understand why some hate the acid-jazz/dance/house/club/techn/etc music scene.

You're missing the point -- the music has been given a life beyond the artist. The music has become living -- able to evolve, adapt, breed new music, and even die. That's fantastic.

Still, those DJs are only predators of existing music.

Modern US media has termed older women looking for men as "cougars"... never mind that a female cougar is called a cougaress or a queen...
Anyway, I plan to follow up this image with a similar illustration of the male equivalent, which the media seems to have forgotten about: the horny old goat.

Desktop -- 1680x1050 pixels

Another possible t-shirt design -- four spot colors.

There are people who like the functionality of a decent firearm. Then there are the people who have such little faith in humanity, that they live in a kind of fear that can only be tempered by convincing themselves a firearm will settle their nightmares.

For the latter, the firearm is their best friend. For the former, a good point-man is their best friend.

Either way, I just find people who feel their firearms represent the level of their courage to be very humorous.

“I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I'm not afraid of falling into my inkpot.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882

Black ink -- it's long lasting. It's bold. It's a reflection of confidence. It's what I use to draw. It makes ideas stand out. It creates high contrast. It makes both mistakes and reflections harder to remove or hide. It's the same as not holding back.

It says you are not afraid to make your mark.

If you use pencil to write your thoughts or sketch your ideas -- put it away for a while and use black ink. Maybe wait and see what effect it has on you.

Old Gods

I was reading up on the legend of King Arthur, and was caught by the story of Owein... While on mission in northern woodlands, he ran into what the stories only describe as an 'old god' that 'stood on one leg' and had antlers that 'brushed against the tree branches'... So I decided to draw it.

Small note: I had such difficulty with this illustration, I actually broke down and traces a photograph (*gasp!*)... But the results of that tracing were so horrible, I started over and got this final piece -- which is much improved from the tracing.

Shake it

Revision of an older piece I took down. Something with more club appeal, more risky colors.

Late Night

An older piece... tweaked, re-colored, and reposted.

I'm getting old -- I realize these days, sometimes a man just has to sleep, offers of love be damned. Don't take it personal: when a man has had such a long and hard day, he knows he will not be able to satisfy anyway.

Room with a View

...tweaked, flipped, and re-colored for personal reasons.

If you have an exhibitionist within you, get a high-rise apartment/condo with a large window :)

Lines Are Attacking

On the suggestion of a friend, I went back to my exaggerated drawing style for a bit. The result somehow wound up being a little self depreciating humor design: I've been using manga action lines too much in my design layouts. After serving as a crutch for my bland backgrounds for so long, these lines have become homogenized and overly commercialized. And now they're pissed...

Arching

A woman's hips are not nearly so alluring unless they are moving. But, with the arch of the female back, there is a quality that leads the eyes and the mind to follow the curves to the hips, creating the illusion of movement.

IE- arching back = sexy.

Rat-TA!

Rats wrestle in amusing ways for all kinds of reasons. But my favorite thing to see a is when a rat hops and back/side-kicks a fellow rat (usually to get that rat off their backs). It actually looks graceful in a Jim Henson/muppet sort of way...

gluefactory-2

Complimentary piece to go along with the female figure illustration, titled: gluefactory.

Graceful... at least, I think that's what this says.

Modeled after Jean-Gabriel Domergue's poster: L'Ete-a-Monte-Carlo
(I'm a fan of the design of that time-period in advertising)
Fantasies are healthy -- when taken in moderation, they enhance our lives. Though, they are not meant to replace our lives. That would be hollow, and ultimately unrewarding as our real lives will pass us by. In other words - it's a nice place to visit, but you shouldn't live there.

Passion...
(because nothing says 'passion' like a flaming anthro monkey, that's why)

Some of the most patient people you'll meet are as they are because they carry an extreme personal price for losing their temper. Some think less of such patient people. But the reality is that they know more about the cost of their frustrations than those around them.

I hated this illustration for a long time; I might have thrown it away. But... when you start to hate an illustration, that's actually when it starts talking to you. If you listen to it, you can learn to fix it. If you do that enough times, you'll learn how to illustrate excellent compositions from the start. Props to my wife Leona for suggesting warm and cool greys.

Determination...

Alcelaphus buselaphus -- AKA, Hartebeest. Strong and fast enough, awkward appearing yet solid build, unique markings, herbivore, watchful, non-aggressive, vigorous defenders, sticks to a small herd... I'm not much for role-playing, and when people see me, they see what they want -- but in this case, I'd say the Red Hartebeest makes a perfect avatar for me. But still, I like the flexibility only a fake manitou could have.

A scapegoat was an animal that was driven off into the forest during Yom Kippur ceremonies. Today, the word refers to individuals who are blamed for society's problems, usually as a way of distracting attention from the real causes of those problems. The amusing thing is, making a person a scapegoat - means creating a false legend: making them an enemy without any real understanding of who the enemy is. -- For the scapegoat, this situation, this misunderstanding - can be an ideal...

Commission. Drawing finalized and inked while at Midwest Furfest. Design and coloring only recently finished (that should give you a clue how slow I work).

I was inspired by the art of Ivan Bilibin's series: Stories - Vasilia the Beautiful...
Link: http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/bilibin.htm
It sparked the series of seasons to follow...

Finding friends is easy... finding enemies - that's all too easy.

Random illustration. I started the pose, and felt I had to finish it since I normally don't treat figure sketches this way when I draw them; it was just too interesting. Let's just call this a gift to Chris Sawyer shall we?

People are no more automatically domesticated than any other animal out there. We only possess the ability be learn. If we lack the ability to learn to control our aggression, it is a mistake to believe our aggression will control others. Do not think for a second that anyone will take violence against them as a form of critical thinking. Do not believe that violence used against those you care about will result in a better relationship.

Collaboration piece with Ashryn: I started the sketch, Ashryn finished the sketch, inked it, I converted it into vectors - then colored it in Adobe Illustrator. This was a while ago - I feel Ashryn has surpassed my skill in Adobe Illustrator since then.

Humans are just capable animals. All the animal masks in the world only help to reveal that humanity is the largest mask of all.