How did you find the furry scene?

Oh, that's definitely going to be in the separate journal. Thank you for a nice question!

^.^ no worries!

Have you traveled to a furry convention?

No, I live in St.Petersburg, Russia and visiting conventions is quite problematic for me (and too expensive, too) so I haven't.
But I do cosplay, so I attend cosplay fests in my city.

*wiggles her fingers hello...

I love having you here because when the other artists are all going patreon you're still posting - and you are so very good at what you do. Now tell me what you look like naked! (kidding!!!! kidding!!!! I would never ask something like that but thought it would make you smile.)

V.

Hello, Vixyy!
You definitely made me chuckle :D

With the fact that I mostly do commissioned stuff I don't see me going to Patreon. Moreover, I don't post regularly, sometimes too often, sometimes too rarely so I won't last there D: I would love to have a page one day, but not for just posting the same (plus awkward line sketches), but for making some interesting tutorials.

I don't want all my stuff to get monetized. It would be ungrateful.

I like your attitude. You could always begin a web page for your art. That would reach out more to the world I think. I would suggest WIX as it's very easy and not expensive. Look at mine and you'll see what I mean. vixyyfox.com

*hugs...

V.

Thank you so much!
What a lovely page you have! <:0

ty ty ty

V.

Oh, goodness. I'm not good at the social stuff either. XD And I tend to skip the small talk and go to the deep questions which might not be the best idea. So let's see...um...what's your favorite type of piece to work on (ref sheets, head shots, full illustrations, or something else I can't think of)?

I'm good at small talks, but very bad in telling about my life xD
I love illustrations, because you can create a potentially deep and interesting scene. Portraits can show some backstory too, so the refsheets are my least favourite. But at the same time portraits take far less time, so they're good if you take a break.
And also, a lot of thing depend on the character :D That's just inevitable.

What program and tablet do you use to create? Did you make any special brushes?

Adobe Photoshop for life <3
I use CS6 version with Wacom Bamboo pen&touch M, a very old model but I love it. Program doesn't matter too much (neither do brushes), but you should find the one you're most comfortable working with.
I have a lot of packs combined (from different artists) and I've definitely created some brushes myself 'cause it makes painting much easier. I highly recommend Maxim Verehin's brush pack and John Silva's smudge pack.

I will definitely check those packs out. Thanks.

You're welcome!

Привет! Are you excited for the world cup?

Добрый вечер!
I just simply hate it.
Russia could not and cannot afford the world cup, we have an extreme cause of crisis in the country. But we've spent billions of millions of rubles just because we're showing off. Cities and especially small towns are in a very bad condition, people are not allowed to walk in the city centers, they're sending out all homeless people and shooting stray dogs and cats. Trains and buses are terribly expensive (as well as apartments and hotels), 60% are simply canceled. This's a catastrophe for normal people.

Sorry, that must be a horrible answer to your question :C But it's the truth.

Has been Putin's administration so horrible?

If I tell you I'm going to prison.

And there's only, like, 30% of the joke in that sentence.

Looks that everywhere is fucked up. I'm from Mexico and the "free world" and liberals are destroying the country selling our wealth to capitalist superpowers very cheap. You can see here a lot of lack of culture, corruption, violence, drugs, mediocrity and enforced disappearances of critics of the government. At least you're one of the world scene protagonists and universities with high prestige, so I think there's no place for mediocrity there.

>>> You can see here a lot of lack of culture, corruption, violence, drugs, mediocrity and enforced disappearances of critics of the government.
You sure you aren't describing Russia now?

Also, our universities don't stand a chance against European and American ones, they just don't count when moving to other countries to work. You have to re-certify.

Hmm, to me is very sad to read it, I had huge hopes in Russia and Russian people, nevertheless I'm sceptical about mediocrity and lack of culture, I knew Russian universities have very high standards and level and come on, lack of culture there? You're Europeans and you've Bolshoi ballet, The Hermitage museum, Mariinski theatre, Tetriakov gallery, Tchaikovsky, Malevich, Korsakov, Shostakovich Kandinsky and another very important people in the field of art.

Is it safe to ask: if you think things will change for the better only after Putin is gone?

I really love your artwork! It’s always a treat to see what you create :) Thank you for taking the time to do what you love!

Yes. Definitely.

But he'll be gone after revolution only. We have 6+ years of his reign (we had election this spring and it was totally fake) and he will definitely leave a successor and will rule the country hiding behind his name.

Thank you so much! It's very important for me

And what's exactly the crisis that Putin has done?

Well, everything we have we've got thanks to him. Very high prices with very low salaries, low life, poor medical help, poor education level. Our cities are okay, but smaller towns are in a very very bad condition. He's been reigning for 18 years.

I do know about the fake election. There are many people who agree with you. If Putin goes suddenly, do you think Russia will split into at least one new country? I hope the best for you in your difficult circumstances!

You’re very welcome!

The election was one big nasty circus.

I don't think so, but maybe it's the way. The country is too big, yes, and the government should be much stronger.

Unfortunately I know about how bad the economic situation in Russia is too. Although I think the Russian government is too powerful and only enables people like Putin to step in and take that power. Power like that needs to be decentralized to help manage specific areas efficiently, and there needs to be actual rule of law, or else any power will reign over you. Russia needs a free market system of economics to help its economy. This will help manage your large country. But no major reforms that will likely happen soon.

The Far Eastern Districts and Siberia could become independent? A lot of resources are taken away from Siberia. Not in the near future, but is there any Siberian Regionalism? I remember a story where people were not allowed to identify as Siberian, but only as Russian or Russian-Siberian. There are many ethnic groups too. Chechens, Kalmyks, Tuva, etc... I think only a very powerful government like Putin can hold all of that together by force. Sorry for the long reply!

He IS the government. He's created a very strong group of friends around him to control every little aspect of our lives. He doesn't need any election, he will take the 'throne' by himself and his friends will do everything to show us and other countries that it's Russian people who chose him.

I don't know much about that, but I think that to separate from Russia you need to have a very strong and independent leader. But all region leaders are chosen by Putin and his crew, so that won't probably happen.

We don't have a strong opposition because anything opposing Putin's leadership is banned. Protesting people get beaten and sometimes go to jail.
Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYgk2YIKOqk Putin's unofficial force Cossacks beat people on a peaceful protest meeting called 'He's not our tsar'. That's just one of many examples of the lawlessness of the country.

I agree to all of that. I just hope it gets better for you and everyone else in Russia. I appreciate your insight, and the time you took to explain things to me! Thank you! Stay safe and take care, Wolnir, you're a good person who creates beautiful art.

Thank you very much.

Favorite Russian Cartoon?

I'll be expecting  Wolnir's answer.

Answered! :)

Ohhh, tough question.
I love old Soviet Russian Cartoons - Well, Just You Wait! , Winnie-the-Pooh, Three from Prostokvashino, Little Boy and Karlsson, Hedgehog in the Fog and all the other from my childhood (at the same time I love old Disney as I've been watching it all my life).

Nowadays Russian animation's in crisis just like the country, and there's not much going on.
However, Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmey is good. Sadly, I don't think I can name anything else (except child cartoons). Old stuff wins! I think we mostly watch USSR animation even today.

Don't you like Маша и медведь?

Nope. I can appreciate the efforts they put in it, but I don't. I think the design and animation are good though.

How do you like where you live, regarding the environment?

It's pretty good in here, I mean our neighborhood. But sadly we don't have much green patches, I wish we had a park or something. At least an alley, because it's just one giant condo. But I live very close to the subway station, so there's no problem in going anywhere I want in the city.

Also, I love St.Petersburg, I moved here because of that and it never stops mesmerizing me.

If you're asking about the country and the current government - I've answered just above.

I wasn't sure how to answer your question

You're not the only one who likes being close to something, but likes greenery more than cement.

I guess :)

I grew up watching a lot of Russian animation, for example Snezhnaya koroleva, Dikiye lebedi, Alenkiy tsvetochek, and many others... Do you have a favorite as far as Russian animation goes?

I've written above that I love old Soviet Russian Cartoons - Well, Just You Wait! , Winnie-the-Pooh, Three from Prostokvashino, Little Boy and Karlsson, Hedgehog in the Fog etc. and I highly suggest you watching them! :) :)
My favourite one - bahhh, so hard to choose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Dog this one is amazing (Ukrainian, not Russian, still USSR).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mitten_(film) - it's so sad T____T
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheburashka_(film) - it's very-very sweet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_M.....e_Third_Planet - retro futurism! :D

How did that happen that you watched Russian cartoons?

Oh dang, going to have to check all of these out! <3 Thank you!

And I'm not entirely sure why, but a lot of Soviet Russian cartoons were shown on TV here when I was growing up. Many were dubbed in Icelandic, others were in Russian with Icelandic subtitles, if I remember correctly. I was and still am in so much awe of the smooth, silky animation... ;___;

Definitely going to be watching more. I've decided to try to learn a bit of Russian, so it ought to help!

You're very welcome!

Aww, that's so cool!
Oh, how did you decide to learn Russian?

Hey Wolnir, hope things have been well!

If you could pick one art piece, either yours or someone else’s, which one would you consider your top favorite?

Hello, Hunter. Yes, and I hope you're doing great as well! ^_^

No way I'm gonna answer this one! :D :D I love a lot of different art - both traditional and digital and don't see much difference how it was made. I'm gonna say, that one of my most favorite artists is https://www.artstation.com/nicponim because the atmosphere and the style and the emotions... He's so good, god, he's so good.

That doesn't count as an answer, does it? How would you pick one piece?

haha that's ok, counts enough for me as it was a hard question I know (someone asked me the same thing in a Q&A so I figured I'd try it). And wow! I just checked out their gallery, you're right they are good!

Ah, I see :D Well, I definitely have several favorite artists, but he's one of the best for me.

Wolves are better or foxes? Why choose a Wolf as a sona?

Wolves. I grew up reading a lot about them (mostly fantasy) and I just think I have the same nature - I'm antisocial, but I definitely have my very small pack of close friends. I'm calm, but you don't want to mess with me. I love forests, I love my friends, I don't like strangers and people in general.

However, I like both wolves and foxes, I, in fact, love all canines. Wolves seem closer.

I don't have a sona, I have a character, who's not me as well as I'm not him, but we're very much alike. He's a werewolf, has only human and feral forms. ;)

That's actually pretty neat :0

I've loved your work for quite a while. I'm wondering how you learned English so well. You write it better than some native speakers.

Awww, thank you so much!
That's going to the journal, if you don't mind. I'll answer there, it's a very nice question.

Do you run across antique items there? I do antiques in America but am not acquainted with what is available over there.

Do you mean USSR stuff (we definitely have stores with these items in every smaller town) or something really ancient?

Both. I buy/sell/trade antiques and have done so since I was 8 years old. I'm 63 now. I think my oldest item, that isn't American Indian artifact, is a Pitkin flask that dates to about 1640. I don't have much in the 18th century except a ship foundry bellows that dates to the Revolutionary War. I have lots of stuff from the 19th and 20th centuries though. I specialize in glass, cut glass, pottery, porcelain, bottles, toys, marbles, advertising, paper goods, and Christmas ornaments. I don't do much with militaria, guns, knives, jewelry, and oriental items. I was just curious what kind of stuff you had around there. I do appraisal work for the local public television station when they hold antique appraisal fairs, and have worked with them about 12 years.

Oh, a Q&A! ^.^

What's your favorite food? And do you like spicy food? :D

HMMMMM
That's so hard to answer ;_;

I LIEK FOOD. All of it!
I love chocolate, peaches, cherry, Korean food and Thai food ^^ Spicy food is fine, but, you know, tastefully spicy :P

When you make art are you more focused on the background or on the characters?

On the characters, I think, that's the point of people's commissions. But sometimes focus goes to the background :) I think I should do more environment pictures, they're so cool!

Nice idea.
Which games on E3 this year caught your attention the most?

THE LAST OF US 2!! I did my waiting. Four years of it, in Azkaban!!

Death Stranding look very promising. I also really liked Days Gone (though they didn't announce much this time except the release date). Resident Evil's worth trying, Control seems fine. All Sony material is awesome.
For the PC games - I'll try Cyberpunk 2077 as I love their Witcher series, but I didn't like the trailer that much. I think that's it, although you must know I played Division a lot, but I don't like this game and I'm not hyped for the second part.

What about you?

I'm waiting for Devil May Cry 5, Kingdom Hearts 3 (had to wait so damn long ). I was totally caught off guard with Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition announcement. I never had the chance to play the original version on xbox360 (some content was cut in that version btw and ps3 complete version never left Japan). Oh, it's also cool that they announced Nioh 2. ^^ I'd probably react to that Elder Scrolls VI announcement but there was nothing to react to, unfortunately.

Hi! How many years have you been making art? :3

Hello!

Oh, that's a good question!
I'll try to compile interesting questions in a journal, I want this one to be there. Thank you!

In a couple of words - digital art - since 2007-2008.

У меня-вот, серьёзный вопрос, решающий судьбу человечества!

Почему Наташи такие милые и такие вредные, но им всёравно хочется дарить печеньки, даже если они их не любят?

:PbPb