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Creating characters
17 years ago
General
Originally, this was just going to be a journal entry, but I decided to post it in the FA forums (here) to get a bit more of a general response. But in case you guys don't see it there, I'm posting here, aswell. I'm interested in what you have to say about it.
TL;DR summary: How, and for what reasons, did you create your characters?
Some backstory: I'm currently somewhat lamenting the fact that I can't seem to create for myself any characters that interest or excite me enough to draw more than once. It seems so many people in this fandom have their own characters, or at the least a fursona, which they can play with, draw, commission for, etc. All this is really cool. Yet in my (limited) experience as a mediocre artist (for want of a better word), I haven't managed to do this, myself.
Almost all of my work so far have been of random furs. I suspect part of the reason is that I simply get bored, and want to try something as different as I can by the time I'm working on the next picture (although, frequently, I'll start the next one long before I finish the last one). I'd like to have a few personal characters, though. I'd like to be able to draw a character MORE THAN ONCE for a change, and to also enjoy myself doing it. (I'd like to be able to cause drama when someone STEALS MY CHARACTER! Okay, not really...)
I have a few ideas in mind, some based on random furs I've drawn in the past. Though I'm concerned about whether I'll still be interested in them after I start drawing them more often. Or whether I'll come up with backstories for them that end up going against the situations I have in mind drawing for them. (That might not be an issue for some people, but even though it's fiction, it makes me feel guilty.)
Though I draw, I don't like calling myself an "artist", because I don't really have the artist mindset. (I have the scientist mindset---which is somewhat removed.) Characters typically don't just come to me. On the odd occasion that they do, they don't stick around for long (there's probably something anti-feng-shui about the furniture in my brain).
So I'm asking the question to get views from mindsets different to mine: how, and for what reasons, did you come up with your characters? Do you have a whole cast of characters, or just a fursona? Or not even that? Are your characters a part of your soul? Did they come out of nowhere and refuse to leave you alone? Did you think long and hard about an elaborate backstory? Do they originate from a role in a larger story? Did you just want to draw species X a few times? Are they based on people you know?
...Are they purely porn fodder?
Besides the fact that your answers may (or may not) help me, I'm genuinely curious about how other people approach the process of assembling their cast of furry characters. Where do your characters come from?
TL;DR summary: How, and for what reasons, did you create your characters?
Some backstory: I'm currently somewhat lamenting the fact that I can't seem to create for myself any characters that interest or excite me enough to draw more than once. It seems so many people in this fandom have their own characters, or at the least a fursona, which they can play with, draw, commission for, etc. All this is really cool. Yet in my (limited) experience as a mediocre artist (for want of a better word), I haven't managed to do this, myself.
Almost all of my work so far have been of random furs. I suspect part of the reason is that I simply get bored, and want to try something as different as I can by the time I'm working on the next picture (although, frequently, I'll start the next one long before I finish the last one). I'd like to have a few personal characters, though. I'd like to be able to draw a character MORE THAN ONCE for a change, and to also enjoy myself doing it. (I'd like to be able to cause drama when someone STEALS MY CHARACTER! Okay, not really...)
I have a few ideas in mind, some based on random furs I've drawn in the past. Though I'm concerned about whether I'll still be interested in them after I start drawing them more often. Or whether I'll come up with backstories for them that end up going against the situations I have in mind drawing for them. (That might not be an issue for some people, but even though it's fiction, it makes me feel guilty.)
Though I draw, I don't like calling myself an "artist", because I don't really have the artist mindset. (I have the scientist mindset---which is somewhat removed.) Characters typically don't just come to me. On the odd occasion that they do, they don't stick around for long (there's probably something anti-feng-shui about the furniture in my brain).
So I'm asking the question to get views from mindsets different to mine: how, and for what reasons, did you come up with your characters? Do you have a whole cast of characters, or just a fursona? Or not even that? Are your characters a part of your soul? Did they come out of nowhere and refuse to leave you alone? Did you think long and hard about an elaborate backstory? Do they originate from a role in a larger story? Did you just want to draw species X a few times? Are they based on people you know?
...Are they purely porn fodder?
Besides the fact that your answers may (or may not) help me, I'm genuinely curious about how other people approach the process of assembling their cast of furry characters. Where do your characters come from?
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/959035/
I didn't originally intend to become an amateur artist. I can't draw worth a damn. But then I got a used Photoshop 5 so that I could be a more efficient commissioner by understanding what was easier and what was harder. Fascination at first sight!
Then I saw a photomorph, and my high performing Asperger's brain said, "Whoopie! Look at all those parts!! Making a photomorph can be like taking a clock apart, modifying some of the parts to make it work better, and then putting it back together. Great fun!!" And I was hooked.
I created three characters for my mate who is also a scientist:
BeastInShow, an anthro Afghan hound:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/970518/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/517825/
Coyote Beautiful:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/395498/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/395490/
and Coyote Seductive:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/567028/
This has proved to be a very productive investment in bed!
To create a durable character of yourself that will hold your interest for years, start with yourself. What sort of a person are you? What sort of animal or combination of animals are exemplars of those attributes? Don't worry whether you can draw it. Create your character based on your personality, values, and attributes. Then figure out how to express it as an image.
My backstory is simply my IRL backstory: physicist / biologist / biotechnologist / psychologist / rocket scientist / rancher.
Most of my stories are strictly IRL except for a little help from Photoshop, such as my true day in the life of a furry Nevada rancher 12 part series which starts here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1016393/
Or this:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/378584/
Or this:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/403805/
Or this:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/452123/
Some are based on science with which I am familiar and the potentially furry consequences:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/495166/
Some are purely wish fullfillment fiction, such as the pole dance saga which starts here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/503937/
Your second character is likely to be a representation of your ideal partner/lover/mate.
IRL, you work with quantum entanglement. Think about the potential for an origin story where your human form becomes entangled with one or more animals... Lots of possibilities there, including time varying entanglement resulting in shapeshifting, emotional lability, tunneling through barriers, teleportation...
Very good and productive questions!