I am trying... really trying... to get back into doing art. While I love it, being employed full time and having a full social "dance card" as it were makes it tough sometimes. Anyway...

I have moved some stuff and uploaded some art I apparently missed. A lot of my moving was to kick out a bunch of old stuff from my gallery into my scraps. If you are looking for something old (and by the Force there's some old shit in here), it's likely in my scraps now. I may not be done either, so there could be more moving.

Someone done hacked my account again. Seriously, why do people do this? And it's not even serious hacking either... they just watch artists I think are total crap and/or their chosen fetish disturbs me/grosses me out. And that's the only way I notice the hacking, unfamiliar crap shows up on my watch list. Like this time the offending addition was someone who makes fatty/inflation porn. AND THAT'S ALL. I HATE that shit. For me, inflation ranks up there with vore, rape, scat and those creepy/weird/wtf-things involving tentacles.

I mean, damn... I'm not saying I want someone to hack my account and do damage, but fucking with it apparently for the sole purpose of adding artists of shitastic genres to my watchlist is just headscratching.

So I live in Centennial/South DTC area and I've been having this issue with not meeting people. I'm really friendly and sociable when I'm with people, but it's the getting with people part of socializing that I have difficulty with. I'd love to meet some furs who either art jam or do something fun/semi-active on a weekly basis. Something like skating or archery/shooting, or what have you. Lacking semi-active pass-times, I am also looking for a D&D/gaming group.

TL;DR -- I'm looking to meet people of a like nerdly mindset to hang with and do activities with.

And in case anyone's confused, I'm not looking for potential romantic entanglements. I'm looking for friends my own age-ish to do social activities with. Last time I tried this some possessive as hell bitch cussed me out and threatened me because she thought I was trying to horn in on 'her man' since I had posted something along the lines of "Hi! I'm new to [location] and looking to meet people." I am NOT looking for potential significant others and I'm not wanting to horn in on anyone's existing relationship. Just so we're clear.

I'm bored (and alive!) and the working life of adulthood has killed my arting for the past year. I am being held a captive audience for the next few hours so I might as well draw. I will sketch the first suggestion someone makes in response to this. Nothing fancy and likely just scrap-fodder at best.

Recommendations of hardcore anything or creepy/gross fetishy things will be ignored.

OK... I'm not sure what's going on, but perhaps one of you have had this experience.

As I've been looking at my submission list in the last two days, I've been seeing a shitton of art of types I don't like. Vore specifically. Now, I've got a couple people I watch who occasionally do genres of art I don't like, but they don't define themselves by that style and I like something about what they do. But, since I've been getting submission after submission of vore in my list lately, I started looking who the artist was.

Lo and behold, the artist was the same. I didn't recognize the name so I went to check out their gallery to find out why I had watched them. As I looked through their gallery — 95% of it being clearly labeled vore — I was left with a distinct WTF? impression.

I did not watch this guy. There is no reason as evidenced by his gallery that would motivate me to watch him. Not only is the vast majority of his work of a genre I can't stomach — hehe — it's not even well done in its execution. There is no reason, past or present, why I would watch him. So, if I didn't watch him, who did?

The fact this noticeable upswing in vore submissions showing up in my list started 2 days ago, and the fact this guy does almost nothing but vore and seems to be art dumping lately or else very prolific... all makes me think my account watched his account two days ago.

Has there been a hacking issue lately that I haven't heard about, or has anyone else experienced something like this before? I'm confused and perturbed.

So there's apparently an event happening October 30th at the Boise Zoo: Boo at the Zoo. I'm having inklings of making a partial suit and I'm wondering if anyone goes to this suiting or if anyone would be interested in doing so? I'd rather not go a'suiting alone my first time, even if it is Halloween-ish

OK... this is more than a little biased in favor of canine- and feline-esque, but we'll go with it since we all love memes.

[ ] you meow/bark to get attention
[ ] you find pets toys amusing
[ ] you get hyper by the smell of catnip
[ ] you growl/hiss when someone gets too close to your food
[ ] you growl/hiss when someone you dislike is too close to you
[ ] you purr/shake your leg when someone shows you affection
[ ] if someone tosses a ball, you chase it and brings it back
Total: 0

[ ] you love to be scratched behind the ear
[ ] you love fish/meat
[ ] you like to stick your head out through the window of a moving car
[ ] you like when people pet your head
[ ] people can make you stop doing stuff by hitting you on the nose with a newspaper
[ ] you think feathers are fun to play with
Total: 0

[x] you sleep a lot during daytime
[ ] you enjoy scaring birds
[ ] you lick peoples faces to show you like them
[ ] you bite people if they annoy you
[ ] you tend to steal food from your friends/family's plate when you have eaten all of yours
[x] milk or water is your favorite drink
Total: 2

[X] you own a collar and you enjoy wearing it
[x] you own a leash and enjoy wearing it
[X] you own animal ears/tail/paws or a fursuit
[ ] you enjoy long walks in the park (I enjoy walks in general. o.O)
[ ] you meow/bark when you see something you want
Total: 5

[ ] you call your hands and feet "paws"
[X] you tilt your head when you do not understand what someone is talking about
[ ] you run to the door when someone mentions a walk
[ ] you really enjoy cuddling
[x] you stretch your body and whimper a bit every morning when you wake up
[x] you can wake up and go back to sleep right away after looking around
Total: 7

[x] you have your favorite spot besides your bed where you like to sleep
[ ] you meow or bark very often
[ ] you hide when you get scared
[ ] you run to the door to see who it is every time someone comes in to the house
[x] you like to chase flying insects and try to catch them with your bare hand
[ ] you tend to chew on stuff a lot
[ ] you like to do tricks to get a treat
Total: 9

[ ] you own a wearable item/tag with your name on it
[x] you refer to your self as an animal
[ ] your username has something to do with animals
[ ] your e-mail has something to do with animals (Click Clack Cat X3)
[x] if you get a bleeding wound, you lick it to make it feel better
[ ] you look for edible stuff often
Total: 11

[ ] you often find yourself looking through the window for a long time
[ ] you like to say hi to strangers
[ ] you like to be petted when you have done something good
[ ] people think you act like a pet
[ ] you growl/hiss at stuff you do not like
[ ] you like to eat grass
[x] if you get wet, you shake to get rid of the water
Total: 12

Final Total: 12/50

There was no scale, so I have no idea where a 12 makes me fall

http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/.....MENT-253771563

There has been massive art thievery going on en masse under the banners of Art4love.com and MarkYourSpot.com (owned by Craig Pravada and Chad Love Lieberman). Apparently these self-proclaimed bringers of a new way of art have actually been ushering in a very old way of doing things; steal shit from others then resell it.

The websites have since been shut down, but not before affecting untold number of artists through straight up plagiarism. I have heard at least two mentions of class action lawsuits going on.

The above is an excellent lineup of evidence against these groups. Go, look, learn.

I just moved to Meridian/Boise Idaho and I was wondering if anyone out there is a Boise fur or nearby. I lack any social network up here and need to meet people. Any info or redirects welcome.

...alternate title: Late-night trolling when I should be in bed.

K, if there is one central location of all things fetishy and non-mainstream, it's the furry fandom, hands down. I recognize this and respect that this community is a safe haven for all the internet's odd, shadow-dwelling, anthro-loving types. That said, I also recognize there is some fucked up shit that people e-wank over and it pisses me off.

Note that this is MY digital soap box. I intend to use it. If anything that follows pisses you off, tough. The alternate title should have been enough to warn you away, and if not the back button is always there on your browser.



Boobs on Avians or Reptiles
Mammary glands (i.e. breasts or boobs) are one of the defining features of MAMMALS. They do NOT go on birds or reptiles. OK, fine, your bird character is female? There are plenty of ways to indicate your character is female without strapping boobs on it. Stop relying on visual stereotypes and get creative about your character's appearance.

Boobs + Cock = FAIL
I can't tell you how much of a "DOES NOT WANT" face I make when I accidentally click on a thumbnail that leads to a boobscock monstrosity. Not only are boobcock things abjectly NOT realistic — those with true hermaphroditic conditions tend to be vastly underdeveloped in both areas — the way they are depicted here is fucking gross 95% of the time.

Boobs in general
What can I say? I just don't like them.

Vore
"Not sexy" doesn't come close with this one. In the furry world we think of our characters (and by extension, the characters of others) as sentient. The concept of one sentient creature — a person — eating another is disturbing as fuck. We make horror movies out of that sort of thing. Rumors of cannibalism have long been the stuff of horrific war situations and inter-cultural clashes.

Gore in Sexual Situations
Very similar to vore, sexual gore is disturbing as shit. Yeah, we all laughed in "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" when Sands threatened Cheech he was going to skull fuck him to death, but when someone does actual GRAPHIC art of the same thing? GUH!? All of the gore pics I've had the misfortune of happening upon depict torturous, fatal injuries being perpetrated on the victim. If fatal torture was not bad enough, then there's a cock thrown in fucking the innards to make it worse. Seriously WTF is wrong with people?

Bodily Fluids... All of Them
Shit, pee, vomit, and whatever else that can be secreted and/or excreted is just gross. I personally think cum is gross too, but I will bow to the mainstream acceptance of that one as OK for now.

Cock Goes Where?
For as many gay males as populate this community, you'd think people would know where the cock goes on the body. No, it is not growing out of the ass. No it is not attached to the inner thigh of one of the legs (a horrible thing that seems to happen when people draw 3/4 poses). No it does not point backwards. No, it does not sprout out of the belly.

Asshole/Balls/Vag Go Where?
Again, similar to the preceding one. We don't need any assballs, or thighballs, or floating anuses, or buttcunts, or stomachvags. Go straight to fail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Remain there until you learn anatomy or give up your porn-art card.

Rape
Fail. Just... fail.

It Was THIS BIG!
No, your character's cock should not be as long and thick as your forearm. It's not hot, it's disgusting. Oh, you think it's impressive and "fear-inspiring"? Why the fuck are you trying to scare people with the anatomical deformity between your legs when you are theoretically trying to woo them into having sex with you? Oh, and for those of you who find size play with massive tops appealing, if your top character's cock is as big across as your bottom's thigh, you are not getting in there and if you did you would KILL them.

Sex Art ≠ Good Art
Just because you throw an exposed cock or boobs in there does not mean it is good art. In fact it usually detracts from the piece. I can't tell you how many pics I've seen that would have been amazing except the artist felt the need to make it a sex piece and had one or more of the above issues. There are several artists I can name right now that have amazing skills they waste on porn.

Hey all. I know the Iron Artist thing is big and popular, and I have some questions about it. I dunno if I want to do it, but I need more info before I consider it anymore.

1. From what I understand, Iron Artist is basically a 100-count battery of fairly quick commissions. Is this correct?

2. If I were to do this, who among you who watch me would be interested in having me do something? And if you are interested in me doing something for you, what would you be interested in?

3. What do people usually charge for these things? I know it varies based on the quality of the artist, so how much would you be willing to pay?

Thanks all.

Are you a furry?
In that I draw anthro-critters on occasion and enjoy when others do so too, yes.

If you have a Spouse/SO - Is he/she a furry too?
Yes. I claim responsibility for converting him, though his name was already "Fluffy" before that.

How long have you been in the community?
I have been drawing "hybrid creatures" for most of my life, but Six pointed out to me in junior year of high school that there was a whole contingent of people who did too, and that it had a name

How did you find furry?
THIS QUESTION IS REDUNDANT!

What's your reason for furry (what interested you to get into the community)?
THIS QUESTION IS ALSO REDUNDANT!

What's Furry to you?
Anthro critters. This can be anything from humans with animal heads (a la the Egyptian gods) or straight up animals who talk (Re: Lion King). Toony animals (e.g. Loony Toons) tend to be "cartoon animals" in my brian.

If someone found out you're a furry and asked you about it how would you respond?
This has happened many times. Once I had to explain it to a cop at a con. The detail of my description is positively correlated with my audience's familiarity with "that one episode of CSI".

What are your favorite aspects of our community?
The crazy shit that goes on and no one bats an eye at.

Do you use any furry terms? (i.e. yiff, paws, murr?)
"Mate", "murr" and "mraow", but only the first one in non-furry company.

What do you wish furry was NOT associated with?
DRAMAZ… oh, and the inescapable fact the large majority of the IRL furs I've seen seem to be social fuckwits who bear a striking physical resemblance to Kevin Smith regardless of their sex.

How strongly do you feel about someone bashing the community as a whole?
I enjoy it thoroughly.

How strongly do you feel about anyone bashing you yourself for your interest based on the media's aspect of what furry is?
I have never had someone "fur-bash" me, what with my generally assertive/aggressive communication behaviors. Remember, others rarely bash you if you have a bigger stick and a demonstrated willingness to use it.

We all know furries have a lot of sexual aspects in this fandom, What's your opinion on it?
OH GAWD WHY ARE THERE BOOBS ON THAT REPTILE AND/OR BIRD!?! NO MLP:FIM IS NOT THE SECOND CUMMING! EATING OTHER SENTIENT BEINGS IS NOT SEXY IT'S FUCKING DISTURBING AS ALL HELL! RAPE IS EVIL AND DESERVES TO BE PUNISHED WITH CASTRATION -- NEITHER OF WHICH ARE SEXY.




Personal

What is/are your fursona(s)?
Eric; leopon master of many things, including rocking a kilt all the time and being a high school soccer star.

Do you have any fetishes that pertain to the fandom?
As an asexual, I don't have fetishes as I'm "bleh" on the whole sex thing. That said, BY THE FORCE THE DICK IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THICKER THAN THE FOREARM DAMMIT! ANATOMYFAIL! I get hot for anatomical correctness and make-your-eyes-bleed attention to detail.

If you could magically morph into your fursona would you?
That seems unadvisable, what with the general lack of anthro leopons in the populace.

Do you believe you have a spirit animal?
I choose to attribute an animal-shaped avatar to "that little voice in my head" because it pleases me/brings me comfort to do so. Do I believe that said avatar exists in any form other than that given to it by my imagination? No.

What other fanbases/groups are you a part of?
Star Wars, generic nerds, that-genre-of-people-who-always-seem-to-have-a-socially-inappropriate-fact-to-explain-to-a-group-with-a-straight-face-for-the-lulz

Anthro/Feral, Therian or Kemonomimi (Not a furry, just a human with animal ears and a tail)?
THIS IS NOT A QUESTION! QUESTIONS HAVE VERBS!

Are you a fursuiter? If yes, how many do you own? If No, do you ever plan on being a suiter?
No. I would love to make one, but I am less enthused by the idea of wearing it.

How many of your friends are furry?
3

How many pets do you own, if any?
1

Aside from furry what other interests do you have?
Art, arguing, knowing things, debating, making things, things that are interesting.

Are you confident enough in yourself to say that you're a fur, no matter what the media says?
THIS IS ANOTHER REDUNDANT QUESTION!



Meetups

Do you attend any cons? If no, would you attend any cons? If yes, which cons have you been to?
I have been to 2 FCs and 1 RMFC and that is more than sufficient for my tastes. Somehow the creepiness of furs in general is OK when it's online but not when a mid-40-year-old balding man with a sparkly MLP tail is standing 5 feet from your face!

Do you go to local meetups (bowling, public outings...etc)?
Used to. Don't anymore.

Have you ever attended a furry party? If no, would you attend one?
Nope, and not likely. I would go to a party thrown by a friend of mine who is furry, at which there would likely be many furs, but I would go to it because he threw it not because it was a furry party.


Online

Have you ever met up with a fur you talked to online?
Unfortunately.

What furry websites do you attend?
This one.

What non furry websites do you frequent?
All the other ones. (Seriously? This is a dumb-shit question)

Has the fandom done anything for you that you're thankful for? Has it taught you anything or brought you anything you treasure greatly?
It has made me more knowledgeable about arcanely random and non-mainstream sex-related shit, and has made it so I can both encounter such topics without batting an eye and discuss them with a completely straight face.

...STOP WITH THE NEW GENERATION MLP ART! IT SUCKS.

[ahem] Kindly return to the 80s-style MLP art. Even though it is not the height of artistic genius, it at least looks like it wasn't drawn by a cracked out 10-year-old with Flash and has a modicum of nostalgic win on its side.

That is all.

RULES:
1. Choose a few of your own characters. Five at the most.
2. Make them answer the following questions.
3. Tag three people, if you know anyone around here.


Characters in alphabetic order:
Alec Childress -- Star Wars fan character, human
Eric -- my fursona
Rahkus -- historical pirate
Ranon -- Star Wars fan character, Wookiee
Taloombray -- Star Wars fan character, Wookiee



1. HOW OLD ARE YOU? (birth years and most common play ages)
Alec Childress -- Born 22 BBY in Star Wars time, played between 23 and 37 years
Eric -- Born 1986 in our time, played as 24 years
Rahkus -- Born about 1670 in our time, played between 24 and 27 years
Ranon -- Born 241 BBY in Star Wars time, played between 218-241 and 251-256 years
Taloombray -- Born 240 BBY in Star Wars time, played between 241 and 255 years


2. WHAT'S YOUR HEIGHT
Alec Childress -- 5'6"
Eric -- 5'9"
Rahkus -- 4'9"
Ranon -- 5'9"
Taloombray -- 6'5"


3. DO YOU HAVE ANY BAD HABITS?
Alec Childress -- OCD and defying the government?
Eric -- Sure
Rahkus -- He's a pirate; pick one
Ranon -- Using his political and social clout to get away with things
Taloombray -- Killing things, using his claws as weapons


4. ARE YOU STILL A VIRGIN?
Alec Childress -- yes
Eric -- no
Rahkus -- no
Ranon -- not sure, but probably
Taloombray -- yes


5. WHO'S YOUR MATE/SPOUSE?
Alec Childress -- her job
Eric -- Fluffy
Rahkus -- Nher'ahn
Ranon -- none
Taloombray -- Lewlonnie


6. WHATS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Alec Childress -- do they have ice cream in space?
Eric -- Cookie dough
Rahkus -- they didn't have ice cream in pirate times
Ranon -- do Wookiees eat ice cream?
Taloombray -- same as above


7. HAVE YOU EVER KILLED ANYONE?
Alec Childress -- yes, though not sure who
Eric -- no
Rahkus -- yes... he's a pirate
Ranon -- no
Taloombray -- yes, he's been a soldier, a slave, and a privateer


8. DO YOU HATE ANYONE?
Alec Childress -- yes, non-specific government representatives
Eric -- nope
Rahkus -- large drunken Russian men in alleyways
Ranon -- not really
Taloombray -- yes, Trandoshans, slavers, Imperials, Davinal, numbers of others


9. DO YOU LOVE ANYONE? THIS IS A REDUNDANT QUESTION!



10. WHAT IS YOUR JOB?
Alec Childress -- slicer, privateer, political agitator
Eric -- inexplicably old high school soccer star, stable owner, anything the scenario demands
Rahkus -- fisherman's aid, pirate
Ranon -- spaceport manager, resistance informant, slave, spaceport manager
Taloombray -- Soldier, slave, privateer, groundkeeper, drill sergeant


11. BOY OR GIRL? (This question is stupid! So I change it to sex, gender, orientation)
Alec Childress -- female, woman, asexual
Eric -- male, guy, gay
Rahkus -- male, man, gay
Ranon -- male, rrakktorr, straight
Taloombray -- male, rrakktorr, straight


12. WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX?
Alec Childress -- compile code
Eric -- ride unicorns
Rahkus -- climb tall things
Ranon -- play with his nieces/nephews
Taloombray -- meditate with a metal plant


13. ANY HIDDEN TALENTS NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT?
why would I tell you?


14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HAIR?
Alec Childress -- orange-blonde
Eric -- tan, mahogany
Rahkus -- orange
Ranon -- coppery light brown
Taloombray -- white-tipped black; silver

Dear FA,

All I want for the holidays is the "Good Filter". You know, that one where, when you click it, filters out all the crap? Yeah, that's the one.

Oh, and if you can manage it... less boobies. Especially where non-mammals are concerned. That would be awesome.

Thanks,
~Admiral Yrrek

So, being an aspiring animal ag journalist, I am very interested by animal related communication campaigns. PETA and their ilk furnish me with a lot of interesting communication campaigns to look at. And when they show up in person, well that's even more fun.

I got to have a brief debate with a PETA-minded person yesterday and it raised some interesting questions. I was going to post them on my Facebook to try to get some political/philosophical discussions going, but then I realized FA made for not only a better audience (high animal interest and contemplation) and the commenting structure here allows for better debates (not so space constrained).

So... some questions! I plan to post more in the future in this vein.

Is valuing the life of a human over the life of a non-human animal "species-ist"?
If yes, does that matter? i.e. is being "species-ist" wrong or morally reprehensible?

An odd title in this community, I know, but this issue has and continues to come up for me.

I am asexual. It took me a long time to figure that out, largely because next to no one recognizes it as a possibility and even fewer talk about it, but that is the most accurate description of my sexuality. As some background info to those who may not know, there are three recognizable "camps" of asexuality. There are those who have no libido, those who lack attraction to anyone/any specific sex, and there are those who both lack a libido and lack specific attraction. I fall into this third category.

As a result of my personal experience which both lacks the interest or drive in sex and related elements, I find myself frequently in a situation of not understanding those for whom sex is a valuable part of life. And to compound it, I am the sort of person who not only wants to know the what of a situation, but also the why? I know THAT for the majority of the population sex is important, but I still have very little idea as to WHY. When I try to figure it out, I encounter a "lost in translation issue" which is tantamount to a language barrier. I am to understanding sexual peoples' value in sex as a recently ESL person is to understanding English poetry. We may understand the topical meanings of the words, but the deeper meaning behind the words which gives them their value is lost on us.

So... sexual people of FA (and I know there are lots of you) your thoughts? What is it about sex you find so important/valuable to your lives? Why is that important? And so on... I'm generally interested in your thoughts as it will generate interesting discussion that can distract me from my excessively boring schoolwork.

I am currently in the process of a massive art dump. Most everything I'm posting is stuff I've stored up over the summer. I'm such a binge and purge artist.

Most of the new stuff is in my sketches. If you feel so moved and aren't signed up to get notices of my sketches, go check them out. There are and will be some cock, so go have fun.

1. What would be your name?
Don't know. Don't really care.

2. What sort of thing would you preside over?(fertility, agriculture, destruction, etc.)
Mental creations; especially characters, creatures, and universes. Related domains would be other more commonly known mental creation such as inventions or designing.

3. Would you require a temple in your honor?
No, but the mental creation then eventual building of such a thing would be a sort of act of reverence.

4. If so, what would your temple be like?
There would be no set trend in my temples, though it is likely that there would be workspace for people to create and some sort of sitting area where the creators could talk with each other about their creations

5. What kind of worshipers do you have?
Artists, writers, designers, engineers, the generally creative, those who have always had and loved their "imaginary friends"

6. What kind of offerings/sacrifices do you demand for your 'gifts'?
The energies and dedication of the creators to their creations; "sharing" their creations with me through "prayers" though all of that makes it sound fancier than I intend it.

7. What would your avatar be/look like?
I wouldn't have an avatar in the usual sense of the concept. More of a "spirit of possibility" which would make the impossible or improbable happen.

8. What powers would your avatar have?
As mentioned above, it would be more of a spirit or force that my worthy followers might experience. It might be something like an impossible engineering design actually working despite all earlier indications, or a Character created by the follower "coming to life" for them, either in dream or in waking life.

9. How would you rule?
I would be little known or cared about aside from those who "knew". Shared experience would be the connecting factor of my followers rather than dedication to some antrhopomorphized deity personality. The only thing that would happen in terms of my "rule" would be punishment meted out to those followers who had sinned against their powers of creation by abandoning or abusing their creations. Punishments for such sins would be ironically or poetically tied to the details of the sin. So, if I were be this sort of god or spirit, George Lucas would be violently schizophrenic or something equally befitting the fracturing he allowed to be perpetrated upon his creation (i.e. the broken cannons of Star Wars). Or we could be more vindictive like South Park and have manifestations of all his wronged creations come and rape him for what he did.

10. Would you pass on this meme to others to try?
apparently

I just watched "that one episode" of CSI. This shit's hilarious. I don't care how many furs hate that episode, but I can't help but find it the funniest thing ever. What makes it even better was my experience at the first fur con I ever went to.

It was Further Confusion 2005 (I think, mebbe 2006) and I wasn't staying at the Double Tree so I had to find parking. It was a Saturday, so I decided to park in the business lot across the street from the hotel. There was a cop parked on the side of the road across from the hotel, just leaning against his squad car and observing the fursuit parade which had jsut let out into the parking lot.

I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get a ticket for parking in the business lot so I went up to the cop and asked. Very distracted, he waved me off, saying it was fine. As I moved off to approach the hotel, he called me back wanting to know what was going on over at the hotel.

"What's going on over there? It looks kinda weird, and I saw this one episode of CSI..."

It was at that point I died laughing. Once I regained my composure (while wearing my tail, by the way) I explained that it was a fur con -- something like a sci-fi convention for people who liked Disney-style animals -- and told him the CSI episode was not accurate to reality. We chatted a little bit and it was entertaining all the way around. Funny shit.

I need to do more art. I need to do art more regularly. Speed-painting and speed-sketching is fast and like stretching for artists. As such, I've decided to try to build a new art habit. While some people read as a way of cooling down before bed, I will do one-hour art pieces most nights before going to bed.

I have created a nice little chart -- modeled on the Dungeons and Dragons treasure chart -- to randomize the style, content, and so on. For anyone who is a massive nerd like me, below is my chart, complete with percentages. Two D10s are required. If you lack D10s, you are not nerdly enough for my chart of awesomeness.

All results of the One-hour Art experiment will be posted in scraps and will be titled "One-Hour Art: (Date)". Most results will be cross-posted to DA; humans will only be posted on DA and anthros will only be posted on FA.


List A -- Style
1-40% sketch (skip List F)
41-100% speed-paint

List B -- Contents
1-40% Subject only
41-80% Landscape only
81-100% Scene

List C -- Subjects
1-20% Animal
21-40% Creature
41-60% Anthro
61-80% Person
81-100% Object

List D -- Landscapes
1-10% Desert
11-20% Forest (tropical)
21-30% Forest (deciduous)
31-40% Savannah/Grassland
41-50% Mountains
51-60% Tundra
61-70% Ocean
71-80% Urban
81-90% Indoors
91-100% Underground/Other

List E -- Scene Moods/Events
1-16% Combat/Action
17-32% Destruction/Sad
33-48% Creepy/Scary
49-64% Light-hearted/Happy
65-80% Silly/Playful
81-96% Porn/Innuendo
97-100% Artist's Choice/Other

List F -- Palette
1-25% Warms -- bright
26-50% Warms -- desaturated
51-75% Cools -- bright
76-100% Cools -- desaturated

...Boobs are MAMMARY glands. They only belong on MAMMALS.

Reptiles and birds are not mammals, therefore they do NOT have boobs.

STOP PUTTING BOOBS ON REPTILES AND BIRDS!

...that is all.




[edit] And to everyone who is or will harp about it being fantasy or that anthros are not realistic anyway, so why should we draw them as such, I point out that the best fantasy resembles reality or at least maintains some semblance of "probablism".

Plus there's always the "this is my journal and I want to rant so fuck off" angle...

Your monthly house payments exceed your monthly income.

You make over $300,000 and still can’t afford a house.

You take a bus and are shocked when two people carry on a conversation in English.

Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

You speak Spanish, but you’re not Mexican.

Your child’s 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

You don’t know anyone’s phone number unless you check your cell phone.

You’ve been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. (no, but does being able to taste the difference between Hawaiian and Arabica count?)

You begin to “lie” to your friends about how close you are when you know damn well that it’ll take you at least an hour to get there. (Sure, except that I'm not lying)

Getting anywhere from point A to point B, no matter what the distance, takes about “twenty minutes.” (like ass... it MIGHT take only 20 mins to get across my home town on a good day.)

You drive to your neighborhood block party. (You kidding? No one knows their neighbors well enough in SoCal to warrant a blockparty)

A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

Gas is $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the US (Honestly, knowing I'm paying at least a dollar less for gas here in CO than in CA makes it so I don't care how much I pay here.)

Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

You can’t remember … is pot illegal?

You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cell phones or pagers.

It’s barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work at least an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents. (TOTALLY... no one in SoCal knows how to deal with even the slightest bit of rain.)

Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.

You drive next to a Rolls Royce and don’t notice.

In the “winter,” you can go to the beach, ski at Big Bear, mow your lawn in your shorts and maybe get a sunburn all on the same day. (My dad always made a point of getting the whole family together in shorts for a picture to send back to the home office in Wisconsin on Christmas morning)

You eat a different ethnic food for every meal. (I miss that ability SOOOOO much)

If your destination is more than 5 minutes away on foot, you’re definitely driving.

Calling your neighbors requires knowing their area code.

You know what “In-’N-Out” is and feel bad for the other states that don’t have any.

You don’t stop at a STOP sign, you do a California roll.

You’ve partied in Tijuana at least 3 times and you can’t remember at least 1 of them.

You go to a tanning salon before you go to the beach.

Your have a permanent impression on the side of your head from your cell phone.

You know that Venice is a beach.

The waitress asks if you want “carbs” in your meal.

You know who the tinsel underwear dude in Venice Beach is.

You classify new people you meet by their Area Code. An “818” would never date a “562” and so on…

You call 911 and they put you on hold.

You have a gym membership because it’s mandatory.

The gym is packed at 3pm … on a workday.

You think you are better than the people who live “Over the Hill.” It doesn’t matter which side of the hill your home is, you are just better than they are.

You know that if you drive two miles in any direction you will find a McDonald’s or a Starbucks. (Two miles? You kidding? There were two Starbucks, a Coffeebean, a BK, a Taco Bell, and a Japanese food/fried chicken joint within 2 BLOCKS of my high school)

You know what “sigalert,” “PCB,” and “five” mean. (Yes, but it should be "Five", and that really is a SoCal thing rather than a general CA thing)

You can’t remember . . . is pot illegal?

It’s barely sprinkling rain and there’s a report on every news station: “STORM WATCH.”

The Terminator is your governor. (Correction; "Governator")

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from California.

...there needs to be more Wookiee art out there. Go forth and draw Wookiees, for it will bring balance to the Force... and not that bullshit balance the Jedi Council was talking about with Anikin either. Come on folks, if there is an entire council of one group and only two of the other group, what side do you honestly think the balance-bringer join and/or do to your numbers?

Ahem... More to the point; there needs to be more Wookiee art. This is your task, should you choose to accept it.

I know everyone is all excited about the ruling on Prop 8, but just to bring you back down to earth for a moment, be aware that a stay of the ruling was issued barely an hour afterward. Additionally, actions have already been taken to appeal it to a higher court and both sides are fitting to take it all the way to the Supreme Court, provided the Supreme Court will accept it.

The question of the Constitutionality of banning gay marriage going before the Supreme Court is a very sharp double-edge sword. On the one hand, if the Supreme Court will consider the issue and they say banning gay marriage is unConstitutional, then yay for us and every gay in every state in the nation. HOWEVER, if they are willing to see the issue and rule that it IS Constitutional for states to ban gay marriage, it will be next to impossible to overturn such a ruling.

We aren't out of the woods yet so don't break out the party and be careful what you wish for.