Echelons (venting, not venting)
7 years ago
I have to say that having fallen from the echelons of furry artists (if you want to call where I was echelons a decade ago), isn't really that bad. I was never a name overheard at conventions, so I suppose even calling it a fall is an exaggeration, but I wanted to be up there. I tried hard (see: Tryhard), drew a sci-fi comic and garnered a small following. Not enough porn in it I guess. I never had that seemingly-furless-shiny-as-rubber shading, so that might have something to do with it. I don't draw much anymore, and it's not really due to any of the above. Life's busy. I had to adult, and so I did. Now I'm old - and that's okay.
I remember when I first got in the fandom, and the few brave greymuzzles' (at that time) style seemed so dated. Like... black and white old-timey funny animal Cuphead looking stuff. I thought to myself, "Huh, one day that'll be me, and my stuff will look dated." TA-DA! Here we are. I think my favorite recent comment on one of my pieces was, "Oh shit! That looks like old comic book stuff." I took it as a compliment, but it certainly reminded me of 1999 me looking classic furry art and thinking the same thing. - and that's okay.
In the end, I drew some stuff and a few people liked it, and a few of them I still chat/chum with. I cherish those people, not because they like my art, but because they're genuinely interesting people. I came out of this with experiences and relationships I wouldn't trade for all the furry accolade in the world. The kids don't get me.
-and I'm okay with that.
Thanks for reading.
I remember when I first got in the fandom, and the few brave greymuzzles' (at that time) style seemed so dated. Like... black and white old-timey funny animal Cuphead looking stuff. I thought to myself, "Huh, one day that'll be me, and my stuff will look dated." TA-DA! Here we are. I think my favorite recent comment on one of my pieces was, "Oh shit! That looks like old comic book stuff." I took it as a compliment, but it certainly reminded me of 1999 me looking classic furry art and thinking the same thing. - and that's okay.
In the end, I drew some stuff and a few people liked it, and a few of them I still chat/chum with. I cherish those people, not because they like my art, but because they're genuinely interesting people. I came out of this with experiences and relationships I wouldn't trade for all the furry accolade in the world. The kids don't get me.
-and I'm okay with that.
Thanks for reading.
FA+

In all seriousness I don't know that your stuff looks dated just that having to provide for a family means you can't commit the time to your craft that some others can so you cannot produce the volume.
In short ... you did good.
I really wouldn't call that "fallen."
Of course, I'm about to be 32, so maybe I'm just turning into a greymuzzle myself.