FA+
Shop
Reflections on the past few months
7 years ago
This year started on an high note and was setting up to be awesome. Too bad it only lasted until to January the 9th when I fell from a horse and broke my drawing shoulder. It took a couple months to recover and such drawing hiatus combined with a number of relationship problems and other health issues that emerged in the meanwhile caused an avalanche of missed personal goals and deadlines. It's a miracle I managed to get the work done in time for the book I and aurllew had been planning for this year's Eurofurence. Other than that things have been rough. I scrambled to complete the needed paintings for the EF art show and local exhibits, and I still have an inexcusable number of commissions waiting in queue since months. I'm very sorry for that. I've never been super productive when it comes to finished works but these last months have easily been my least productive semester ever.
Among health issues the most worrisome one is pain in both wrists, which apparently isn't due to tendinitis but to a malformation of the wrist bones which had never issued symptoms before and is beginning to cause problems with age. It results in slight chronic pain and random bursts of inflammation. It does't prevent me from drawing or painting, but it's annoying for many everyday tasks, forces me to limit use of keyboards, and since I'm already prone to insomnia it messes up my sleeping hours which is about the worst thing which can happen for my ability to focus. There is basically no cure for it except very complex surgery which isn't even guaranteed to fix the problem. So I can only hope it doesn't get too bad. I've been dealing with it for a year and a half now and only lately it has been this much annoying, possibly because of the hot season.
Anyway the hiatus also brought some much needed reflections on my artistic goals. I have grown deeply unsatisfied by some aspects of my art and I feel I need to take a different approach to it. Looking back at my works of the last couple years it feels I've been playing it too safe subject wise and stagnating technique wise... I could write a long rambling list of everything that is wrong with my art at the moment but it's probably better to just write any technical reflections in the newer works' descriptions. The change in approach will be gradual but it already directed some of the paintings I've prepared for EF and will hopefully become more apparent later this year.
I'd still love to reprise my Furry Art Archaeology blog as I still consider the topic an important one. These days there is a staggering amount of great furry art produced, and yet I often thirst for some very specific nuances of naive furry art, to the point I try to let some of that feeling emerge in my own art. With my wrists in this condition though I fear extensive writing will have to wait indefinitely as art gets the priority.
I haven't even been much in the mood of sharing the new stuff in the last few months, although now I feel a bit more social again and I'll be taking care of that.
Well, end of the ramblings. In difficult times I feel lucky to have this wonderful community giving me inspiration and motivation. I hope to completely get past this slump soon.
Among health issues the most worrisome one is pain in both wrists, which apparently isn't due to tendinitis but to a malformation of the wrist bones which had never issued symptoms before and is beginning to cause problems with age. It results in slight chronic pain and random bursts of inflammation. It does't prevent me from drawing or painting, but it's annoying for many everyday tasks, forces me to limit use of keyboards, and since I'm already prone to insomnia it messes up my sleeping hours which is about the worst thing which can happen for my ability to focus. There is basically no cure for it except very complex surgery which isn't even guaranteed to fix the problem. So I can only hope it doesn't get too bad. I've been dealing with it for a year and a half now and only lately it has been this much annoying, possibly because of the hot season.
Anyway the hiatus also brought some much needed reflections on my artistic goals. I have grown deeply unsatisfied by some aspects of my art and I feel I need to take a different approach to it. Looking back at my works of the last couple years it feels I've been playing it too safe subject wise and stagnating technique wise... I could write a long rambling list of everything that is wrong with my art at the moment but it's probably better to just write any technical reflections in the newer works' descriptions. The change in approach will be gradual but it already directed some of the paintings I've prepared for EF and will hopefully become more apparent later this year.
I'd still love to reprise my Furry Art Archaeology blog as I still consider the topic an important one. These days there is a staggering amount of great furry art produced, and yet I often thirst for some very specific nuances of naive furry art, to the point I try to let some of that feeling emerge in my own art. With my wrists in this condition though I fear extensive writing will have to wait indefinitely as art gets the priority.
I haven't even been much in the mood of sharing the new stuff in the last few months, although now I feel a bit more social again and I'll be taking care of that.
Well, end of the ramblings. In difficult times I feel lucky to have this wonderful community giving me inspiration and motivation. I hope to completely get past this slump soon.
As for your remarks on the blog, I do somewhat agree that conceptually, things have been very stagnant. The anthropomorphics culture isn't driven by the animals as much, but rather by the visuals, and the 'naive furry art' often tends to entail fresh approaches to applying anthropomorphics that aren't always biased towards the perfect human form. I have a friend that has been talking about wrist problems and he says that part of what he has done is located an adequate text to speech software that allows him to engage in various social things without creating as much strain on his wrists. Perhaps that's an approach to times like these where you have to engage socially, even if it means proofreading time instead of getting it out perfectly the first time around.
I do miss your creative approaches showing up in my inbox. I watch very few people on FA these days because of the differences in philosophy, but I do enjoy what you bring to the table, both in technique/media, and in concept.
Nowadays I'm watching a number of artists both here and on DA who have clearly developed their imagination independent of typical furry fandom art. They are often from Russia or smaller European countries, which I suspect is not a chance since they'd have been less exposed to Disney/WB influence and to styles derived from these. Their work is a great counterpoint to the more typical furry art I also like and a reminder that vastly different ways of envisioning anthros are possible.
Sadly, I tend to avoid audio communication with the internet, and I couldn't clearly state why that is. I end up opting for text, possibly due to the speed of consumption combined with difficulties in understanding such things. If an article I find is video-only, with no transcription or adequate summary, I ignore the entire article for the most part. Not universally, but especially with hobby interests.
I feel similarly on noticing that foreign artists tend to have that vibe that I am more-so looking for. Philippines or Japan or Brazil. There's no desire to conform to the standards perhaps because of a communication divide? XD I don't know, but I do find it refreshing. I also think that part of it is due to the non-commercialization of the hobby for them. They come out here as hobbyists and aren't trying to market or please others in a sense, or streamline their style, or abandon their own sense of character design to just draw what other people have made. With some of the Japanese artists I speak with, many are only just now being exposed to the money side of things outside of the comics market (which is often original content/design for anthropomorphics).
Don't know. But I do know that I really appreciate things like the recent game Ghost of a Tale where they make what they make not to fit a mold or pander or fulfill for someone else, but because they have something they want to express.
Anyway, what I'm getting at, is being unsatisfied with one's art is normal (probably even common) and what pushes us to grow as artists. Hang in there. *sends good art vibes*
The problems of advancing age are starting to annoy me, as well, so you're not alone. I wish you good luck in coping with your wrist troubles; sometimes the best you can do is just to be aware of it and work around the problem. I hope a long-term solution emerges for you.
I am always wishing you the best with your art! Evolving and changing your style is the mark of a very healthy artist and I look forward to seeing the results. Buona fortuna!
Thank you for your continued support! ^_^
Also, I've been there with the nerve issues of late. Hope something good can come of it.
Can you use oils at all or do you react to them? I have been using basil, peppermint, lavender, rosemary in a carrier oil when I do my hand and arm massages for both of us plus mineral soak arm baths. Its been helping his age related not carpal mystery but I get joint inflammation and vague soreness that only feels good usually from stretching so the oils feel really nice in that way particularly the basil and lavender. I've got a lower lumbar lordosis curve too so I use the oils mostly on my spine for some comfort.
Using lawnmowers, weedwackers and heat really wreck my hands, and with my natural tremors, its almost hilarious to try to work, that and the sweaty summer palms is not awesome. No lie though, I use a granny lid opener and it really helps. Before I had one I had to use a tool to open my ink bottles or walk over to a neighbor and sheepishly ask someone to open it for me. If you can use cheats/hacks to avoid pain, do em!
Thank you for your support and suggestions!
be well dear
Bunners
Slumps like this happen unfortunately, but they are often great starting points to get better and better, since most of the time they are barriers we put on ourselves.
Hope your wrists will get better soon too! In the meantime hang on!^^
Too safe subject wise you say? I'm sure the fandom will help you fix that.
Thank you for your support!
And You are welcome!
You mention problems with using keyboards; nothing was said about computer mice, but there's just a potentially useful thing I saw once: there are those devices called trackball, which you manipulate with just your thumb, not wrist or whole arm.
"Never being super productive when it comes to finished works", I can relate a lot to that... On my side, it was still quite opposite with art this year, first half was productive and full of focused study, with advancements across several fields. Nowadays though, it all got into huge slowdown because of external factors. And I'm afraid it's going to remain like that for the rest of the year.
I'm intrigued by your mention of the more naive furry art. Could you tell more about it?
By "naive" furry art I mean furry art from (apparently) self-taught artists that don't seem touched by the commercial trends of the fandom but are clearly passionate about the same themes which are the core of furry art. Some example artists from Deviantart would be Zaphkiellane, themeanguy, Andibi, Khialat, Hattonslayden, Grummankat, and many others really. I need to specify that I absolutely don't mean "naive" as a demeaning term, quite the opposite. They work is refreshing and full of heart and ideas and I'll take that over most art from fandom big names. But then I have unusual views of what qualifies as furry art proper. For me it is all about a very specific flavor and about a very specific sense of wonder that the artist conveys about the creatures he draws - that's what I had set on to elaborate in the Furry Art Archaeology blog. There are even several big names in the fandom whose art I do not see as furry art proper because it has no trace left of that flavor even though superficially it's still about anthro animals and typical furry themes. To me the greatest artistic genius that has ever touched the fandom is and will forever be Chris Wayan, and I'm sure most people on FA have no idea who he is. X-D
There's also a sense of familiarity in the whole approach you describe, in that I don't care much about trends or whatnot (I'm not even knowledgeable, what commercial trends are out there), but simply hack away at my own stuff.
About Chris Wayan, indeed I haven't heard about him before. While I managed to see only a fraction so far, I totally appreciate the breadth and freshness of his "dream works". What's more, it does bring back a memory, and a sense of longing...
I must say that, while my project notebook is overflowing with ideas I haven't made yet because of insufficient skill and/or time, my imagination was much more free in the past, and wider in a sense. Maybe it's simply natural progression of things, but personally I blame my largely depressive twenties for soiling my creative fount. That, and the technical trouble with creating any kind of art, which made me become "man of applied science", working my ideas through the tech-heavy CGI. Which in turn narrowed my focus, to things I considered directly achievable. Which in the end lead to most of my works, technically advanced as they might be, ending up as just simple pin-ups when it comes to content...
In a hindsight, some improving steps have been taken already this year, by attempting works that hint to some story behind them (and/or being spiritually themed), but as always, much more remains to be done.
Thanks for pointing out this category of art to me. It comes at a right time (well, very generally speaking – summer and autumn are traditionally busy for me, with little time for art), as I also feel this thirst for letting my creativity flow more freely again.
To me art quality has very little to do with visual complexity. I want to tackle some more complex ideas in the next months because I need to try new things and overcome certain limitations, but pinups and simple nudes are always my favourite subject both to make and to collect (in the case of furry art) because I feel that being visually simpler they let the true character of the artist emerge. They are also somewhat the quintessential subject of modern furry art, much like epic fight scenes are quintessential of fantasy art. You can often tell from a pinup whether the artist feels in that particular way about the characters or not. Your art certianly does have that feeling for instance, as that is not bound to any specific media. In fact it's quite cool that you manage to convey it with 3D CG. Other 3D artists I like in this sense are Tchaikovsky2, Shadowsquirrel and BlackPanthress. There are probably others but the fandom now is so large it's hard to find all the interesting stuff.
Again, I already knew Tchaikovsky and Shadowsquirrel. It's actually the latter who was largely responsible for inspiring me to work towards furry characters in 3D. His early works evidenced to me that this can be done in the first place. And his "Three unlike sisters" project is for me a fine example of soulful anthro art, with actual artistic relevance and emotional impact.
I could add Zorryn to this list of 3D artists, though I'm not sure how would you categorise his works when it comes to the furry art approach. In any case, he's good technically. And I really don't know of any more people at similar quality level. It seems there is only a handful of us, who manage to get it this far.
I would say that 3D (both furry and not) is quite an insidious art medium, with a trap one can fall into. Simply put, because of its nature it is extra easy to confuse technical proficiency at using the program, with actual ability to make some decently-looking art. And then it's easy to stagnate at relatively low artistic levels, or worse, go the route of using ready-made models only (the Poser crap, cough, cough...). It takes a degree of ambition and determination to avoid this pitfall.
To backtrack a little, do you know of any particular keyboard technology that you consider to be the least straining for hands? I've read some praises of ergonomic properties of the mechanical keyboards, but haven't actually tried any yet – and for now I'm most fine with flat, low-travel and relatively silent "laptop style" kinds (preferably illuminated too). I didn't have any particular typing-related problems so far, but I'm interested what can you say about that, just in case.
https://www.microsoft.com/accessori.....4000/b2m-00012