I am considering commissioning you to draw a new species I am making, but it might not be this month or even in May. I first have to finish up the character design (there will be two, as one design is a more feral variety while the other is the same species after several millennia of evolution) and would probably need to draw some (very) rough 2D sketches for various body parts like the legs and wings as well as stuff like clothing...

Gah. In short, there is interest, but the character is not yet ready, so expect something in the future. Until then, I could provide in words what I already have for the design if you want to get an idea of how complex it would be.

Lastly, I cannot say this enough, but you are awesome!

It would be an honor to draw your new species! I look forward to it in the future if you decide to do so. :)
I'd enjoy reading your written description if you'd like to share it with me! ^^

You are awesome, Bulbachu, for being so very kind. ^^

What I have so far from my notes on the creature (which I've decided to call a Flurig) is this:
The creature is 4 feet tall/long and has four wings. One pair is broad and about as wide across as the body is long, covered in a very thin layer of fur. These wings are not very limber, limited mostly to providing upwards thrust. The other pair of wings is slightly up the back and in a bit more than the other pair and the wings are much smaller. Right now, I'm thinking roughly ovular in shape, about a foot in length and four inches wide. They are covered in hundreds of thousands of tiny scales, making them feel soft like skin with the texture of leather, and are thin enough to be slightly translucent. There is a high level of control over these wings, capable of rotating up to 60 degrees in either direction and individually controlled, allowing for near-perfect flight control.

The legs of the creature are relatively short and bent, like a rabbit standing up. The feet are also long, somewhat broad, and flat. There are three toes on each foot, with large, thick claws curved like hooks on each, plus a similar claw protruding from the creature's heel. Its fingers also have these claws, though they are a bit smaller, but the claws are rather dull, making them poor weapons. Instead, they are mostly used for climbing, which the creature is excellent at. The shape of the creature's feet makes walking very awkward and swimming nearly impossible, but it has powerful legs that allow it to jump around 7 feet into the air, making taking off possible from anywhere with a small open area. If it has to travel short distances, it will often jump into the air and glide rather than walk.

The last part I thought about is the tail. It is broad at the base and roughly 2 feet long (like an otter's, but a bit longer compared to body length) with a hollow bone sphere of around 2 inches in diameter at the tip, covered by a thin layer of flesh and skin. Protruding from this sphere are around 100 spikes of fur, about 3 inches long and .4 inches in diameter. These spikes, when limp, are very soft and flexible, looking and acting akin to a tassel. However, when the creature is threatened, the sphere on its tail releases a chemical that makes the fur spikes rigid and considerably harder. Its tail effectively becomes a mace, sturdy enough to smash rocks without injury.

The face includes relatively large roughly circular eyes that have a thin soft lens-like cover in between the eyes and the eyelids (kind of like a more rigid contact lens) that prevents their eyes from drying out or being blinded by airborne sediment while flying. The muzzle is short, protruding only about an inch from the face and the nose is small (I guess you could look at something like a cat or rabbit for a basic idea). Ears are on either side of the head towards the top and are floppy (I'd say look at a labrador for this, but with slightly proportionally smaller ears).

I still need to work out the design for the upper front portion of the body as well as the arms. The description above is a bit messy, coming from my notes, and is for the older version of the species. They are social and omnivorous, but mostly eat fruit. For the evolved version, the design is very similar. The changes are that the bone sphere at the end of the tail is gone, the claws are small dull nubs, and the feet are a bit smaller and legs a bit longer and thinner, allowing for a bit more mobility in walking and swimming. To make up for the loss of these natural armaments, each Flurig is both with a random elemental attunement. This attunement makes them sensitive to that element and allows slight manipulation of it. The attunement trait won out over physical armaments because a planet-wide natural disaster happened at one point during the evolutionary process, making most environments inhospitable. Simply adapting was not enough, so they needed to also make the environment adapt to them.

The older version is a bit more feral and does not wear clothing or use tools. The evolved version of the species lives in small communities in balance with nature (for instance, in a forest, the houses would be inside of large trees that are still alive. Many plant-attuned Flurig come together to focus their efforts on a tree and cause it to grow much more quickly and into the desired shape). All clothing is unisex, and all members of the community are equals, though particularly talented or elderly Flurig have gained a certain higher level of respect. I'll give an example of a uniform a Flurig might wear as an ambassador, though, using an excerpt from a concept short story (note that this example is for a Vitir or "life" attuned Flurig. Vitir and plant attuned Flurig use small vines to tie their clothing while a ground attuned Flurig would use clay buttons that they could easily change the shape of):

His uniform was a vibrant green with cyan accents and tiny vines in place of buttons or clasps. Vitir being his element, he could manipulate these vines into secure cords or untie them in only a few seconds. The bottom portion of the uniform went from a bit below his knees to the lower part of his belly, vines tying it closed and securing it around his tail. These functioned and appeared much like a pair of shorts, though with a good deal more movement allowed so that one could comfortably move around on two legs or four. The top part of the uniform was a shirt that was open in the back in a large oval for the wings to have full mobility. The front was seamless, but ornately pattered with cyan thread, stopping a few inches below the neck. The shoulders were mostly bare but for the last three inches, leading into long loose sleeves ending around three-fourths down the arms. Lastly, a cap was provided. It had a circular shape and was around two inches deep, and a brim around an inch and a half long protruded from around 1/5 of the cap's circumference. It was just the perfect depth to rest comfortably atop a Flurig's floppy ears.

A bit more detail can be provided on the uniform, but something like that I could probably draw a very rough front and back 2D design. Still a lot of details to work out in general, but the idea is coming together. Sorry for so much writing.

Thanks for writing out your description! I enjoyed reading it. :) They sound like rabbit-like creatures equipped with flight, very cool. I particularly enjoyed the section where you describe them hopping into the air and gliding, that gave me a nice mental image. ^^ I also love the idea of developing them from two evolutionary point of views, I think that's a fascinating idea with lots of story potential! Same with the idea of needing to adapt the environment to themselves.

I look forward to seeing your sketches! ^^ I possibly missed it in your description, but have you thought about what color or colorings Flurigs tend to be? ^^

The more feral version would tend to be in the range of light blues and greens to tan or brown, depending on what the environment is like. The fur would have to blend it with the sky, trees, or rock/dirt to increase survival chances. The evolved version, with a full community structure, could have fur of any natural color, as living in a community reduces the need for camouflage and allows for different colors to persist in the population when they would otherwise have died out. Each Flurig has a solid base color. However, there is a recessive gene which causes some of them to have a secondary fur color. Rather than mixing with the base color, this secondary color is solid and evenly blended (for instance, blue and green base colors would not cause the Flurig to have aquamarine fur, but a blend of solid blue and solid green). In addition, this secondary color will only comprise up to 1/3 of the fur, so the base color would be the most apparent. Lastly, the secondary color will only fall within a range of 60 degrees on the color wheel from the base color. Black, white, and brown fur (and in between like tan and gray) cannot have a secondary color, even if the Flurig has two recessive genes. Eye color is also linked to fur color, but in the sense that it will either be the same as the base fur color or be 120 shifted on the color wheel. So a basic blue furred Flurig could have blue, green, or yellow eyes.

Nice, thanks for sharing! Paints a clear mental picture.
I admire the considerable amount of thought and care you've put toward your species :)

I also have worked out what the elemental attunements are as well as what the planet will be like. Also in place is a system for dividing the planet into zones based on geography as points of reference for living location, economy bases, house/building design and material, and trade and communication routes. In addition, I've defined the whole community structure and interpersonal relations, including how families are organized and children raised, occupations, naming conventions (each Flurig has only one name, but certain titles of respect act as surnames), and technology. There are still many things to work on, but most aspects of basic society and interaction are decided. If you want to hear more about any aspect (listed above or otherwise), I'd be happy to go into detail.

The idea started out as the product of a fit of boredom and evolved from there as a character mold to use for roleplays, but now I am hoping that I can put enough structure in place and get enough character sketches/drawings to make it a species that other people can use for stories, roleplays, and artwork. Perhaps a bit ambitious, but I won't get anywhere without trying.

Details on price for the commission will also have to be worked out, such as whether the feral and evolved versions of the Flurig constitute different characters or two parts of the same one, but there's no rush for that, especially as the species is still in development. I'm on a college budget, but I will likely be getting a considerable amount of birthday money soon, so that should not be an issue. I think your prices are quite reasonable, especially considering the quality of work.

I'd enjoy hearing more about the elemental attunement system and the social/community structure you have worked out. ^^
It sounds like a cool world you've been building! I hope you will have many members of your open species in the future, you sound off to a promising start to have so many aspects developed or in development. ^^

Yes, it'll be easier to discuss prices when you have a couple of sketches. :) Thanks for your nice words!

Each Flurig has a random element that they are sensitive to and are able to manipulate to some small degree. This element develops at around the age of 5 and the attunements of the parents have no effect on what the child's element is. Using a plant attunement as an example for the level of power: for sensing, a plant attuned could have his or her eyes closed and be able to sense all plants within about a 150 foot range. They can also hold a leaf and immediately know what kind of plant it is, where it came from, and the health of the plant. For growing, a plant attuned could, over the course of a day, cause short grass to sprout in a patch of bare dirt, even without seeds, or cause a seed to grow, which can be maybe half a day for a flower bulb or close to a year for a sapling. For manipulating, a plant attuned with frequent contact with a living plant can cause it to grow in a certain way. For instance, houses in forests are made inside of living trees by a dozen or so plant attuned coming together and slowly shaping a home on the inside.

There are five base elements - air, land, sea, energy, and life - and each base element has an equal chance of appearing in a Flurig (though each has only a single attunement). Each base element is split into two sub-elements, and these sub-elements are the actual attunements. Air is split into wind and lightning, land is split into rock and sand, sea is split into water and ice, energy is split into fire and light, and life is split into plant and vitir (health). Approximately 90% of Flurig with any given base element will be attuned to the one listed first in the pair, making lightning, sand, ice, light, and vitir rare attunements.

For community structure and child upbringing, everybody is seen as equal. Until their attunement develops at around the age of 5, Flurig will live with their biological parents. From then until the age of 16, the Flurig will spend several weeks at a time living with different adults of their community who have the same base element, cycling through all of them to get an understanding of how to use their attunement and what can be done with it. When he or she turns 16, a Flurig will pick a role he or she wants to hold, which is basically an occupation. No matter what the role is, a Flurig always receives the same pay, and businesses don't have their own wealth but instead put any profits in a community pool, which encourages the Flurig to choose a role that they will enjoy the most instead of one that pays well. A Flurig can change his or her role to another one at any time, but this seldom happens.

Until the age of 26, the Flurig will continue living with various members of the community, but for longer periods and only with Flurig who have roles related to what the Flurig wants to be. For example, a vitir attuned that wants to be a healer would live with adult Flurig that are healers, herbalists, gardeners, animal herders, and other similar roles. At the age of 26, a Flurig's maturity is evaluated. If the Flurig has a positive evaluation, he or she officially becomes an adult and can live in his or her own residence. Otherwise, the Flurig is re-evaluated every 40 days until becoming an adult. Most Flurig do not pass on the first evaluation, but 85% pass by the third and none has ever taken more than 2 years to pass. A Flurig's lifespan averages around 150 years, but some can live as long as 250, especially vitir attuned.

There is no official marriage in Flurig society. Instead, two Flurig who love each other very much will simply live together and eventually mate. If they stop loving one another, they will simply move out. The society is so social and friendly, and the Flurig so open with one another, that there are no negative feelings left behind from the split. Such an occurrence is very rare (around .1%) because Flurig never hide their feelings or lie to one another, and in that way are very truthful with themselves.

There are very few titles of respect. One type is used in relationships formed on mutual respect, which is pretty much any relationship between adults that are not part of the same community and are not often in contact for stuff like trade. This will usually mean something along the lines of temporary travel companions, ambassadors, or family of frequent trade partners. This title goes before the name and corresponds to the element of the Flurig. Iir is wind, Vuula is lightning, Dego is rock, Toor is sand, Guar is water, Fiel is ice, Fuer is fire, Luoum is light, Vertieae is plant, and Aelya is vitir. The other title of respect is a very high honor and is usually only used for the most experienced elderly, the brightest minds, or the greatest heroes. This title is -sun and is attached to the end of the name. An example of both titles for a vitir Flurig named Lumanim would be Aelya Lumanim-sun.

I enjoyed reading your description! The elemental/attunement system has great potential for a variety of unique characters. Their societal structure also sounds peaceful and harmonious, a nice world to create a character in. ^^ Thank you again for sharing. :)

I tend to think a lot about these things, especially as it takes forever for me to fall asleep and I have a 3 hour daily commute to the university and back. If I could readily use my laptop then, I'd forget a lot less that I think about, but enough sticks. I still need to work out how research is conducted. Instead of technology going along the lines of mechanics and electronics, the Flurig technology comes in the form of genetic modification of plants. For instance, instead of light bulbs, they have ivy plants with glowing pods on them.

So cool! You must have a ton of pages written, either on paper or on your hard drive!

Well, not too much in the form of pure descriptions and outlines. I tend to develop things using roleplays or short stories to see how well I can write about it, because some things make sense when forming them but are very difficult to explain or work in in practice. In the form of condensed information, there is not much more than what is already written here, but I do have several characters of the species with varying levels of detail concerning background, personality, attunement, etc.

Hi! I was wondering how much a waist up of my character and my four team pokemon would be? :)

I have a male delphox named Magmus, a male Charizard named Solare, a male Vaporeon named Aquais, and a female pikachu named sunglow :)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12498293/ my pokemon and me

My reference sheet: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11307965/ (NSFW!)

I really need some good art of them, I love em' to bits!

I can pay 1/2 up front and 1/2 upon completion ^^

Hi! What a cute team and trainer! ^^

Would you like the pokemon to be full body? If so, Magmus, Solare, Aquais, and Sunglow would be $20 each, and a waist-up of Nicole (I love her reference sheet! Such striking eyes) would normally be $35, but your design is not too complex, so I could give a discount and have her be $25 ^^ The total would then be $105.

If you didn't want the pokemon to be full body, and instead be more half bodies similar to the first image you linked, then the half body pokemon would be $10 each. So as an example, if you wanted all of the pokemon to be half body, the total would be $65, but if you wanted two of them to be half body and two to be full body, the total would then be $85, etc. for any combination you wanted. ^^

Let me know if that works for you, or if you have any questions! :)