I created a twitter account for myself. It's been pointed out to me, in a friendly, yet concerned way, that I have grown increasingly anti-social over the past ten or so years. It was certainly not by design. I think that ongoing depression and art block just has that affect on me. Taking that their advice I'm going to try to reach out and connect with other like-minded people.\

I'm on gtalk as fatpandafa

I'm now on twitter as fatpanda_fa

Give me a follow. Despite my confession of depression, I'm not an angsty moaner.

I've posted the first of four sketches. Will posting the second one in the next few days.

Has anyone out there used an online printing service that is okay printing adult material? I'm working on an illustrated short story and would like to get it printed as a smallish perfect bound book, but it's furry and explicit. A lot of the services I've looked at have restrictions on pornography that are pretty vague and seemingly all encompassing.

It's prose, with black and white interior illustrations, and a color wrap around cover (that will be non-explicit).

Any suggestions?

What kind of things do all of you in FA-land like to buy from artists at conventions? I've been considering making a limited edition portfolio to sell? What kind of artwork would you be willing buy? Do you predominantly only buy commission sketches? What kind of uncommon offerings have you ever thought would be cool?

Just saying hello. Lots of cool stuff going down in the RL. I'll be back soon with lots of sketches I have yet to scan, including the four cross-dressing sketches I offered.

Thanks for all the watchers I've gained lately! You guys rock! Seriously, it totally makes my day whenever someone watches me.

My dealer table at Rain Furrest was just paid for! Should any of you be going I'll see you there. Table should be listed under my name. I'll be selling my hand-made sketchbooks and notebooks, and I'll be sharing the table with a friend who makes awesome handmade, high end pens and mechanical pencils. With luck we'll be next to Chuck Melville and Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe. At least I requested to be next to them.

I can count the furs I know on one hand, so please stop by and introduce yourself. I'd love to meet more furries out there.

My doctor is concerned that I have type 2 diabetes. It's gone undiagnosed for quite some time. It does explain a lot though. The lethargy, not being able to motivate myself, the need for so much sleep, the general fuzziness of my mind.

Luckily, it sounds like I'm not at the show-stopping stage. I may be able to manage it with exercise and a change of diet. At least that's what I'm hoping for. There are plenty more tests to do. Time to hurry up and wait.

I always thought I would be more upset about news like this. But really, I kinda feel that I might regain some sense of my former self once I can start addressing the problem. Anyway, fingers crossed and all that.

There were four really good candidates, so I've decided to sketch each of them. I'll post each one as I get them finished. Thanks again to the four of you who submitted!

I'm offering one of my rough sketches to a crossdressing fur who posts here with links to their fursona reference. I'm guess there won't be many takers, but in the case I get multiple requests from now until 8pm (PST) tonight (01-21), I will choose the one that interests me.

Like always, don't expect high quality art.

This has come up a few times over the 20 years I’ve been drawing furries, and it always surprises me. It’s happened again, and though the issue was resolved amicably, I wanted to make a general post about it in case any of my other watchers have the wrong impression about me.

I’m bisexual. I don’t appreciate comments like, “It’s so refreshing to see a furry artist who isn’t a fag.”

While it’s true that I draw far more females than males. I've always thought the males I did draw were as queer as a three dollar bill. At least I intended them that way.

Oh, and to all you crossdressers out there... You're hot! You're beautiful!

Thanks for your understanding.

I've created a Stocking Furs account. You can find it here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/stockingfurs/

I'd love all the help I can get. How does one go about handling submissions? Should I contact folks and ask them if I can resubmit their works, naturally with blurbs and kudos and links to their page, and all that? Or should I simply favorite pieces? I have put in the artist bio area a request to please note me if you would like your art favorited.

What are your opinions? Even if you don't run an FA group, how would you like to be approached?

Is there a stocking furs group here? Should there be one I figure I should try and join it. ^_^;

Is Second Life worth hanging out in? Any opinions? Places to hang out? People to hang out with?

With a new sketch no less. Hopefully this will set the tone for getting back to my weekly sketches. It's still early in the evening, I just might sketch something else.

I typically watch movies or listen to music when I draw. I need a little noise in the background otherwise I start to obsess and I never get anywhere for the constant redrawing. I watched An American Werewolf in London, followed by The Dark Knight. About to put in the first disk of Castle season 2 and start another sketch.

Cheers!

Looks like the holiday season is going to be busier than I expected. So much family stuff to do that for the next two weeks I'm going to be too busy to draw on any kind of regular schedule.

I'll try and get back to it after Christmas.

So this week was anti-drawing week. No excuses. I may still try to do some drawing either today or tomorrow, but it's not looking favorable. I'll post a few archive pieces to make amends.

I managed to post four new things this week! I think that qualifies as a success. Thank you for wading through the suckage. Expect more, for I am going to keep it rolling for as long as possible. Just think, if I can keep this up for a whole year, I'll be busting out sketches that are actually worth looking at. Until then, persevere! I promise to improve.

Should you feel so inclined, please offer up suggestions. I might even draw it! Though if you offer an idea one week and I don't draw it, that's not to say that I won't eventually get around to it. I'll keep referring to your collected suggestions when I need ideas.

I had a lot of fun drawing Tracy yesterday, and I really want to keep the ball rolling. I've decided to try my own personalized version of the Iron Artist meme. I'm going to attempt a sketch a furry pin-up four times a week until the start of summer 2011. Seeing as how I have a full time job, marriage, and music lessons, I can't realistically try to sketch something everyday. Life is just too busy for that.

Since I'm so very rusty with art, I'm no where even remotely close the level I was at the height of when I was regularly drawing, I've made a few caveats of my own to help ease the pain of relearning to be creative again.

1. I have no delusions of producing quality artwork. You're very likely to see some seriously horrible attempts at art. You've been warned.

2. When I'm drawing a complete blank, I will revisit some old artwork of mine and see how I would redraw it today.

3. I may or may not draw other artist's characters. There are at least two artists whose creations I enjoy thoroughly and I feel a strong desire to draw one or more of their characters. Hopefully they won't mind. Especially if it turns out bad. I'll be contacting you directly or via private note before posting anything to get permission and all that.

4. I will be pulling upon every pin-up cliché in the book, and in fandom.

5. Feel free to make suggestions, but please be warned that I make no promises to draw them.

My only hope with this experiment is the same hope I had for all my previously failed experiments. I want to form a habbit of drawing again, for better or worse.

Here I go. I'll post my first sketch late tonight. I have a brand new 50 page sketchbook to fill up!

This is possibly one of my favorite cons. The costumes are the best, overall, I've ever seen at a convention. The sheer amount is staggering. I may be the only one who stands out as I am not in costume.

If you happen to be here, be sure to say hello. Although, it occurs to me that like three people on my watch list actually know what I look like. In that case, if you do find me, I'll give you one of my 9x12 sketchbooks.

I'll post a picture from my crappy laptop camera.

I've been going through my old system back ups lately. Like all self-depreciating pack-rats I have back ups going all the way back to my first computer. They've been collated and backed up to contemporary media, from floppies, to Zips, to Jazz drives, to CDs, to DVDs... I'm slowly purging it all. I created, collected and otherwise squirreled away so much trash that it's shameful. But, occasionally I come across some art I did that for some reason never made it to the art archive. So I post it here. Hope you don't mind my mostly posting old art. There's so much of it that I could post a piece a day for the next few years. Eventually I'll get it all uploaded here.

I don't usually appreciate NewGrounds, but this little game gave me happies. SeppuKuties

[] 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

[0] you love to be scratched behind the ear
[x] you love fish/meat
[] you like to stick your head out trough 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
[x] you think feathers are fun to play with
Total: 2

[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
[] milk or water is your favorite drink
Total: 3

[] you own a collar and you enjoy wearing it
[] you own a leash and enjoy wearing it
[] you own animal ears/tail/paws or a fursuit
[x] you enjoy long walks in the park
[] you meow/bark when you see something you want
Total: 4

[] 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
[x] 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: 8

[] 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
[] 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: 8

[] you own a wearable item/tag with your name on it
[] you refer to your self as an animal
[x] your username has something to do with animals
[x] your e-mail has something to do with animals
[] if you get a bleeding wound, you lick it to make it feel better
[] you look for edible stuff often
Total: 10

[x] you often find yourself looking trough the window for a long time
[x] 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
[] if you get wet, you shake to get rid of the water
Final Total: 12


Now, take your score and multiply it by two to get your final score.

24% Furry.

This is likely why I don't make new friends at furry conventions.

On Friday my wife and I got home from our seven day cruise to Alaska. It was seriously awesome. Being pampered for a whole week is well worth every penny. I haven't been on a proper vacation in four years so it was long overdue. No, I don't consider conventions a vacation.

Now that I'm back I'm going to get back on the art train. Hence my recent work in progress post. I'm getting closer to completing my kiriban contest image. I think the undisclosed winner will be pleased.

Am I a fool if
I believe in everything
It's a lie after all

I hit 10,000 page views and I chose a winner. I have the rough sketch down and I am getting ready to ink it. It's a secret until then. =p

So until then, what are your favorite anime/manga cliches? Assuming you like such stuff, that is...

How manly am I?
The manly meme...

01) [ ] You own tools that you use regularly
02) [x] You carry a wallet
03) [x] You prefer movies or shows where there is more action than romance
04) [ ] You spit on the ground when not in a building.
05) [x] You scratch where it itches when it itches
06) [x] Your idea of good footwear is boots or tough tennis.
07) [ ] Your wardrobe only changes if you gain weight or the clothes fall apart.
08) [x] You don't count calories when eating.
09) [ ] You have deodorant strong enough to make you socially acceptable but not strong enough to make you smell like it.
10) [ ] You tend to wipe your hands on your clothes instead of a napkin.

Total So Far: 5

Do you love:
11) [ ] Video games
12) [ ] Working on mechanical items.
13) [ ] Building things.
14) [ ] Working out at a gym machines
15) [ ] Getting in and out of stores as quickly as possible.
16) [ ] Football
17) [ ] Baseball
18) [ ] Wrestling
19) [ ] Boxing
20) [ ] Hunting and/or fishing

Total So Far: 5

Do you shop at:
21) [ ] Home Depot
22) [ ] Lowe's
23) [ ] Big and Tall men's stores
24) [ ] Hunting and Fishing supply shops
25) [ ] Auto supply stores or other mechanic shops
26) [x] Hobby shops
27) [x] Comic book stores
28) [ ] Sports supply stores
29) [ ] Video game stores
30) [x] Electronic supply stores

Total So Far: 8

Do you say:
31) [ ] Son
32) [ ] I can fix it.
33) [ ] Man-up
34) [ ] When I was your age - followed by how far you had to walk and in what weather conditions.
35) [ ] Don't be a wuss.
36) [ ] It's just a scratch
37) [ ] Take it like a man.
38) [ ] That's not how you do it.
39) [ ] (Shit)
40) [ ] Here's your (insert profanity and what the person just said).

Total So Far: 8

Do you read:
41) [ ] Field and Stream.
42) [ ] Bear Magazine
43) [ ] Playboy
44) [ ] Sports Illustrated
45) [ ] Pro Football Weekly
46) [x] Comic books
47) [ ] Men's Health
48) [ ] Men's Fitness
49) [ ] Men's Journal
50) [ ] Private Media Group, Inc.

Total: 9

Multiply your total by 2 and then you have your percent: 18%

Aw yeah! Wait... My wife is sooooo manlier than I am.

Music playing loud
pencil gliding on paper
memories of old


Edit: Tonight's playlist
Heartbroken - Meaghan Smith - The Cricket's Orchestra
The Night You Saved My Life - Tanya Donelly - beautysleep
Young Adult Friction - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Debaser - Vitamin String Quartet - Tribute to the Pixies
The Great Leveller - The Wolfgang Press - Bird Wood Cage
First Train Home - Imogen Heap - Ellipse (Deluxe Version)
Damien Dreams - Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
I'll Believe In Anything - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Life Going By - King's X - Ear Candy
Verb - Eleven - Avantgardedog
World Waits - Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
Caribou - Vitamin String Quartet - Tribute to the Pixies
Wait It Out - Imogen Heap - Ellipse (Deluxe Version)
Where Is My Mind? - Vitamin String Quartet - Tribute to the Pixies
Utopia - Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Velouria - Vitamin String Quartet - Tribute to the Pixies
Canons - Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
Smoking - Goodness - Goodness
Goldilox [Reprise] - King's X - Ogre Tones
Ave Maria (Duet) - La Corda D'Oro OST
Antmusic - Adam & the Ants - Adam Ant: Super Hits
Illuminate - Orbital - The Altogether
Grounds for Divorce - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
There Goes My Gun - Pixies - At The BBC
It's Okay - Eleven - Avantgardedog