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I'll be honest, I'm kind of struggling right now
General | Posted 3 weeks agoFirst, an art update:
Things are going pretty well, I think. I've gotten down a really good pattern of being able to sketch, line, color and do backgrounds and shade. I'm not messing with my process or reinventing what I'm doing or getting stuck on large projects that I wind up abandoning, and so my art has been remarkably consistent. No more periods of just not having anything to post or struggling to finish things I'm happy with, so I'm putting out fully realized art every 1-2 weeks and still doing sketches in-between (some of which go on BSky if they're not here). I've never been more active as an artist than in the past couple months, and you'll keep seeing these uploads coming after they've had time to simmer on Patreon.
On to the awkward artist pity rant, sorry:
I'll be honest, I'm kind of struggling right now and have been for a while. I've waffled on making this journal for several months, maybe a year or more, because I always think about making it and then just kind of flake out and keep doing what I'm doing. I've always struggled with some amount of imposter syndrome but it's gotten pretty bad and I don't really know what to do about it.
The bottom line is this: my art just isn't that appealing
Some of you (who I love) will tell me that's not true, that you love seeing my work and characters and I even know a couple people who say I'm their favorite artist. I have nothing but the deepest and most profound respect for you and for anyone who engages with my art on that level, and I'm not in any way trying to tell you not to like my art or dismiss any support you have or will give. The problem is that, functionally, the amount of reach my art gets defines what the broader community thinks of it and the reach has not been good for a while. Even though I think my art has improved, technically, in almost every facet, the response has never been lower. My most popular art remains from 3+ years ago. You can see the tepid response at its most clear my comparing my recent art ( https://e621.net/posts/6320708?q=fuzzikayu ) to the art from over three years ago that it's a functional remake of ( https://e621.net/posts/3501219?q=fuzzikayu ). I've only posted one piece in the last year that got anything close to resembling a response much of my older work got, and it was on something that I kind of just put out there despite not being happy with how it turned out, which is further proof I don't really understand what it is people like about my work.
There's a couple things here to address. One is the brainrot aspect of social media. I promise, I'm not trying to let the numbers game get to me. I still draw what I enjoy, that I think viewers will also enjoy, and I'm not chasing popularity in the sense that I'm only doing art because I want to be popular, or something. I would love if more people connected with or wanted to know about my characters, but in the end I'm just doing what I like and I'm blessed that I have income, however much, from it. But the inseparable reality of our economic world means that my art doesn't just have to mean something to me or people who enjoy it, it needs to broadly appeal in a way that I can make a living off, or else I will have to stop because other things in my life will have to take priority, and right now I'm making progress in that area in a way that's gruelingly slow at best and not-at-all at worst. This might be the last year I have to do art as I'm currently doing it.
More importantly to me, on a personal level, is that the response to my art I internalize broadly as a reflection of my capability. When my growth as an artist isn't reflected by the growth of my audience or expanding my artistic circle, I have to question everything I'm doing. To that point there's a number of things that have really ground me down over the years and leave me wondering what I'm doing wrong:
My art is not shareable: People don't repost my art or pass it around. I'm in multiple furry Discord servers and I have to post my own stuff to try and get any amount of attention on it, compared to other artists who do nothing to promote themselves and yet will appear posted by different individuals across multiple servers. My art hardly ever gets posted to unconventional places like reddit, and when it does it's mostly me doing it.
My art has no meaning to other artists: One of the biggest ways to grow is to have other large artists repost your work, especially on BlueSky where its lack of algorithm means reposts are essential. My art is almost never reposted by large artists, even ones I know personally unless I ask them for help. I'm in several artist Discords and I know they see my stuff but they don't follow or respond to it. I'm in general furry community Discords where I post my stuff and I know certain people see it, but they don't follow me. When the Twitter -> BSky transition happened several large artists who were following me just didn't make the transition, or I had to ask them to, because they don't think about me. This leads me to believe there are deep technical flaws in my art that artists are seeing but I'm not, or my art is generally uninspiring.
My art is uninspired: People respond to ideas, not quality. That's just a fact and I'm not saying I think my art is better than some others, hopefully my ranting here proves the opposite, rather my art lacks a characteristic which people find inherently humorous, unique, or shareable. Sometimes I post sketches and they get more traction than fully rendered pieces I worked one or two weeks on. A lot of times other artists post *only* sketches and do gangbusters while I'm forced to constantly repost my own work to try and get a fraction of the attention on it. People are just not interested in what I have to offer, because every time I post I get maybe a couple BSky followers and zero to three FA watchers. A lot of times I *lose* FA watchers despite my art, I think, being pretty inoffensive.
General dismay: All this despite doing my best to engage with art and art culture. I read every comment and respond to most of them to build rapport with admirers. I build my art off a foundation of worldbuilding and characters and always try to give people something to enjoy beyond just the art itself, be it lore or locations and storytelling to accompany my work. I'm often asking for feedback and incorporating it where I can. It makes little difference, and I often feel I exist in a bubble separated from the greater community. I've never, in my entire time as an artist, had another artist shout me out and tell their audience to follow me, even though I make an effort to always shout out artists I admire regardless of their size. I've never been approached to do any kind of artbook, or collab, or anything that would imply my art is something people want to endorse. I watch new and smaller artists around me grow faster despite my efforts. I see obvious AI tracing or AI-assisted work get passed around and promoted while I make every effort to be as authentic as I can in my work.
Altogether I don't know what I can and should be doing. I've made some of these thoughts known in pieces over the years but I'm usually not much for giving behind-the-scenes insight and just let my art speak for itself, but the results lately have been a whimper. I'm not going to stop doing art as long as I can help it, nor am I going to change what I'm doing to try and grow the response (internally, as a drive for appeal, so not counting where people tell me what they'd like to see me do). I don't want to be a sketch artist that pumps out doodles just to flood my uploads, even though I'm capable, when I want to be giving life to these worlds my characters live in and build a gallery that's pleasant to admire on a broader level. I'm not going to start drawing fan art or popular characters even though the appetite for OCs has been markedly replaced in the last decade by the community mostly wanting flavor-of-the-month IPs. I'm going to stick with what I know as long as I can, the only thing I don't know is why it is this way. And maybe there's no clear answer. Maybe tastes have changed too much and what I do just isn't appealing. Maybe my style has gone in a direction that people don't like and they're too afraid to tell me. Maybe there's a ceiling on interest and I passed mine and I'm destined to be at or around this mark feeling like an imposter no matter how much I think I'm improving or doing things I think others will enjoy. Maybe there are deep flaws in my art that other artists just don't care enough to tell me. Maybe I'm just not someone people want to know or to be around even though I think I'm usually pretty friendly.
I'm going to keep searching for answers while doing what I'm doing. Help me understand where you think I've gone wrong, really anything if you're so inclined, I don't take offense to critiques of my art or personally, I just want to make things people enjoy. I don't want to keep looking at my art thinking about how much effort I put into it knowing people don't respond to it. I don't want to keep having anxiety every time I go to post because I know it's going to fizzle into the ether. I know I'm capable of more because I've done it in the past, I just don't know how to get artists and viewers to resonate with my work or what I should be drawing. If by some miracle anyone is reading this, especially an artist who went through the same thing and came out the other side, or otherwise feels their work touches the community in a way that impresses or inspires, please help me.
Thank you everyone who has been and continues to follow. I know there are many of you out there (because I see you fave everything or always being the one reposting my stuff), and I'm grateful to have a small but loyal and appreciative group of friends who enjoy what I do no matter what. I'd love there to be more of you, and I'm trying, and I'll keep trying. I just need to help myself and I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how I can be better.
Things are going pretty well, I think. I've gotten down a really good pattern of being able to sketch, line, color and do backgrounds and shade. I'm not messing with my process or reinventing what I'm doing or getting stuck on large projects that I wind up abandoning, and so my art has been remarkably consistent. No more periods of just not having anything to post or struggling to finish things I'm happy with, so I'm putting out fully realized art every 1-2 weeks and still doing sketches in-between (some of which go on BSky if they're not here). I've never been more active as an artist than in the past couple months, and you'll keep seeing these uploads coming after they've had time to simmer on Patreon.
On to the awkward artist pity rant, sorry:
I'll be honest, I'm kind of struggling right now and have been for a while. I've waffled on making this journal for several months, maybe a year or more, because I always think about making it and then just kind of flake out and keep doing what I'm doing. I've always struggled with some amount of imposter syndrome but it's gotten pretty bad and I don't really know what to do about it.
The bottom line is this: my art just isn't that appealing
Some of you (who I love) will tell me that's not true, that you love seeing my work and characters and I even know a couple people who say I'm their favorite artist. I have nothing but the deepest and most profound respect for you and for anyone who engages with my art on that level, and I'm not in any way trying to tell you not to like my art or dismiss any support you have or will give. The problem is that, functionally, the amount of reach my art gets defines what the broader community thinks of it and the reach has not been good for a while. Even though I think my art has improved, technically, in almost every facet, the response has never been lower. My most popular art remains from 3+ years ago. You can see the tepid response at its most clear my comparing my recent art ( https://e621.net/posts/6320708?q=fuzzikayu ) to the art from over three years ago that it's a functional remake of ( https://e621.net/posts/3501219?q=fuzzikayu ). I've only posted one piece in the last year that got anything close to resembling a response much of my older work got, and it was on something that I kind of just put out there despite not being happy with how it turned out, which is further proof I don't really understand what it is people like about my work.
There's a couple things here to address. One is the brainrot aspect of social media. I promise, I'm not trying to let the numbers game get to me. I still draw what I enjoy, that I think viewers will also enjoy, and I'm not chasing popularity in the sense that I'm only doing art because I want to be popular, or something. I would love if more people connected with or wanted to know about my characters, but in the end I'm just doing what I like and I'm blessed that I have income, however much, from it. But the inseparable reality of our economic world means that my art doesn't just have to mean something to me or people who enjoy it, it needs to broadly appeal in a way that I can make a living off, or else I will have to stop because other things in my life will have to take priority, and right now I'm making progress in that area in a way that's gruelingly slow at best and not-at-all at worst. This might be the last year I have to do art as I'm currently doing it.
More importantly to me, on a personal level, is that the response to my art I internalize broadly as a reflection of my capability. When my growth as an artist isn't reflected by the growth of my audience or expanding my artistic circle, I have to question everything I'm doing. To that point there's a number of things that have really ground me down over the years and leave me wondering what I'm doing wrong:
My art is not shareable: People don't repost my art or pass it around. I'm in multiple furry Discord servers and I have to post my own stuff to try and get any amount of attention on it, compared to other artists who do nothing to promote themselves and yet will appear posted by different individuals across multiple servers. My art hardly ever gets posted to unconventional places like reddit, and when it does it's mostly me doing it.
My art has no meaning to other artists: One of the biggest ways to grow is to have other large artists repost your work, especially on BlueSky where its lack of algorithm means reposts are essential. My art is almost never reposted by large artists, even ones I know personally unless I ask them for help. I'm in several artist Discords and I know they see my stuff but they don't follow or respond to it. I'm in general furry community Discords where I post my stuff and I know certain people see it, but they don't follow me. When the Twitter -> BSky transition happened several large artists who were following me just didn't make the transition, or I had to ask them to, because they don't think about me. This leads me to believe there are deep technical flaws in my art that artists are seeing but I'm not, or my art is generally uninspiring.
My art is uninspired: People respond to ideas, not quality. That's just a fact and I'm not saying I think my art is better than some others, hopefully my ranting here proves the opposite, rather my art lacks a characteristic which people find inherently humorous, unique, or shareable. Sometimes I post sketches and they get more traction than fully rendered pieces I worked one or two weeks on. A lot of times other artists post *only* sketches and do gangbusters while I'm forced to constantly repost my own work to try and get a fraction of the attention on it. People are just not interested in what I have to offer, because every time I post I get maybe a couple BSky followers and zero to three FA watchers. A lot of times I *lose* FA watchers despite my art, I think, being pretty inoffensive.
General dismay: All this despite doing my best to engage with art and art culture. I read every comment and respond to most of them to build rapport with admirers. I build my art off a foundation of worldbuilding and characters and always try to give people something to enjoy beyond just the art itself, be it lore or locations and storytelling to accompany my work. I'm often asking for feedback and incorporating it where I can. It makes little difference, and I often feel I exist in a bubble separated from the greater community. I've never, in my entire time as an artist, had another artist shout me out and tell their audience to follow me, even though I make an effort to always shout out artists I admire regardless of their size. I've never been approached to do any kind of artbook, or collab, or anything that would imply my art is something people want to endorse. I watch new and smaller artists around me grow faster despite my efforts. I see obvious AI tracing or AI-assisted work get passed around and promoted while I make every effort to be as authentic as I can in my work.
Altogether I don't know what I can and should be doing. I've made some of these thoughts known in pieces over the years but I'm usually not much for giving behind-the-scenes insight and just let my art speak for itself, but the results lately have been a whimper. I'm not going to stop doing art as long as I can help it, nor am I going to change what I'm doing to try and grow the response (internally, as a drive for appeal, so not counting where people tell me what they'd like to see me do). I don't want to be a sketch artist that pumps out doodles just to flood my uploads, even though I'm capable, when I want to be giving life to these worlds my characters live in and build a gallery that's pleasant to admire on a broader level. I'm not going to start drawing fan art or popular characters even though the appetite for OCs has been markedly replaced in the last decade by the community mostly wanting flavor-of-the-month IPs. I'm going to stick with what I know as long as I can, the only thing I don't know is why it is this way. And maybe there's no clear answer. Maybe tastes have changed too much and what I do just isn't appealing. Maybe my style has gone in a direction that people don't like and they're too afraid to tell me. Maybe there's a ceiling on interest and I passed mine and I'm destined to be at or around this mark feeling like an imposter no matter how much I think I'm improving or doing things I think others will enjoy. Maybe there are deep flaws in my art that other artists just don't care enough to tell me. Maybe I'm just not someone people want to know or to be around even though I think I'm usually pretty friendly.
I'm going to keep searching for answers while doing what I'm doing. Help me understand where you think I've gone wrong, really anything if you're so inclined, I don't take offense to critiques of my art or personally, I just want to make things people enjoy. I don't want to keep looking at my art thinking about how much effort I put into it knowing people don't respond to it. I don't want to keep having anxiety every time I go to post because I know it's going to fizzle into the ether. I know I'm capable of more because I've done it in the past, I just don't know how to get artists and viewers to resonate with my work or what I should be drawing. If by some miracle anyone is reading this, especially an artist who went through the same thing and came out the other side, or otherwise feels their work touches the community in a way that impresses or inspires, please help me.
Thank you everyone who has been and continues to follow. I know there are many of you out there (because I see you fave everything or always being the one reposting my stuff), and I'm grateful to have a small but loyal and appreciative group of friends who enjoy what I do no matter what. I'd love there to be more of you, and I'm trying, and I'll keep trying. I just need to help myself and I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how I can be better.
I hope you're all well and that I communicate enough here!
General | Posted 5 months agoI don't use the journal feature often but people are likely overloaded with journals anyway. Anyway, this isn't just a gallery for me, I check FA multiple times a day, so even though my art output is usually pretty slow I'm always around and if you have any questions or would like me to try and communicate more please don't hesitate to let me know!
Apologies & Upcoming Art
General | Posted 7 months agoI want to apologize for the lack of art recently, being mostly ArtFight posts, sketches and character references. I forgot to do an update post earlier this year so now is as good a time for one as any, I figure.
In the earlier part of the year I really wanted to keep working on animations, but I'm so particular about my linework and making things look right that it turned into a whole ordeal and by the time I got to coloring I didn't even really like the style I drew the animation in anymore, even though I'm proud of how the motion turned out (you can see the uncolored version here on my BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu....../3lqxjoc7nmc2s )
Animations are so time-consuming and I ended up wasting so much time on this that I wound up decompressing with the character compendium afterward, a collection of illustrations for many of my characters (of which I have 60 listed and ended up doing fifteen sketches with ten of those turning into complete images that have been posted here). This was intended to help Patrons in my Discord have a quick reference of my characters for asking questions, matching faces to names, etc. It was fun but it's not really "engaging" art that's good for growth or that people really care about unless they're invested in my worldbuilding and characters.
Then came ArtFight which took up more time, and *also* has the downside of being much-quicker art, usually stuff that I don't feel comfortable posting because I try and hold my public-facing art to a high standard, so I only uploaded a couple of the saucier ArtFights that I had time to put a little more effort into.
All of this is to say, I've been spreading out these uploads over the past couple weeks so I at least have something to post while I build up a backlog of fully rendered art which I'd like to continue to be my bread and butter. And at that, I've been successful. I have four fully rendered images completed and am currently working on the next one with the goal of being able to post new art continuously every 1-2 weeks. The twofold advantage of this is that 1) It gives me a lot of breathing room to just work on images at a pace that feel manageable and 2) it builds up over a month of backlog to encourage folks to support me on Patreon.
Finally, starting this week, I'll begin sharing these completed works (many of which are favorites of yours that you asked to be upgraded from sketches to fully rendered art), which the goal of having a continuous weekly or bi-weekly stream of fully realized art plus the opportunity for folks to see what's coming a month early over on the Patreon. My animation aspirations aren't dead, I will most likely finish the Rilohn animation at some point, and I have an Aisha and Kibo one I really want to get to, I just need to find the time to work on them that doesn't interfere with my current flow.
Again, apologies for the strange upload schedule and lack of fully rendered pieces, but it was in service of setting up this change to uploading that should start paying off very soon. Thank you for your continued watches and support and please, as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions 💜
You can see a preview of the current four full renders (as voted on by Patrons) in my scraps: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/62248902/
Also, to keep my gallery clean-ish, I sometimes restrict posting sketches and WIPs to BlueSky so you can often find extra goodies there that aren't posted here on FA: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
Lastly, thank you to all my Patreon supporters for their input, recommendations, questions and interest in my characters and world and, of course, keeping me afloat 💜 You can find my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/Fuzzikayu , which gives access to everything (polls, Discord and all chat channels, WIPs, hi-res art, early access, alt versions, etc) starting at the Anu'Kayan Outlander ($3) tier. Your support pays for my healthcare!!
In the earlier part of the year I really wanted to keep working on animations, but I'm so particular about my linework and making things look right that it turned into a whole ordeal and by the time I got to coloring I didn't even really like the style I drew the animation in anymore, even though I'm proud of how the motion turned out (you can see the uncolored version here on my BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu....../3lqxjoc7nmc2s )
Animations are so time-consuming and I ended up wasting so much time on this that I wound up decompressing with the character compendium afterward, a collection of illustrations for many of my characters (of which I have 60 listed and ended up doing fifteen sketches with ten of those turning into complete images that have been posted here). This was intended to help Patrons in my Discord have a quick reference of my characters for asking questions, matching faces to names, etc. It was fun but it's not really "engaging" art that's good for growth or that people really care about unless they're invested in my worldbuilding and characters.
Then came ArtFight which took up more time, and *also* has the downside of being much-quicker art, usually stuff that I don't feel comfortable posting because I try and hold my public-facing art to a high standard, so I only uploaded a couple of the saucier ArtFights that I had time to put a little more effort into.
All of this is to say, I've been spreading out these uploads over the past couple weeks so I at least have something to post while I build up a backlog of fully rendered art which I'd like to continue to be my bread and butter. And at that, I've been successful. I have four fully rendered images completed and am currently working on the next one with the goal of being able to post new art continuously every 1-2 weeks. The twofold advantage of this is that 1) It gives me a lot of breathing room to just work on images at a pace that feel manageable and 2) it builds up over a month of backlog to encourage folks to support me on Patreon.
Finally, starting this week, I'll begin sharing these completed works (many of which are favorites of yours that you asked to be upgraded from sketches to fully rendered art), which the goal of having a continuous weekly or bi-weekly stream of fully realized art plus the opportunity for folks to see what's coming a month early over on the Patreon. My animation aspirations aren't dead, I will most likely finish the Rilohn animation at some point, and I have an Aisha and Kibo one I really want to get to, I just need to find the time to work on them that doesn't interfere with my current flow.
Again, apologies for the strange upload schedule and lack of fully rendered pieces, but it was in service of setting up this change to uploading that should start paying off very soon. Thank you for your continued watches and support and please, as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions 💜
You can see a preview of the current four full renders (as voted on by Patrons) in my scraps: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/62248902/
Also, to keep my gallery clean-ish, I sometimes restrict posting sketches and WIPs to BlueSky so you can often find extra goodies there that aren't posted here on FA: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
Lastly, thank you to all my Patreon supporters for their input, recommendations, questions and interest in my characters and world and, of course, keeping me afloat 💜 You can find my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/Fuzzikayu , which gives access to everything (polls, Discord and all chat channels, WIPs, hi-res art, early access, alt versions, etc) starting at the Anu'Kayan Outlander ($3) tier. Your support pays for my healthcare!!
ArtFight 2025 + Porn Update!
General | Posted 10 months agoI'll be doing ArtFight again this year (as per my ArtFight card upload)! It's one of my favorite times of the year as I just love drawing for people, surprising them, and I get to find a ton of new artists to follow both on ArtFight and here on FurAffinity (some of you are already victims!) As usual my ArtFight uploads will stay on ArtFight until the event is over, then I'll decide which will make it to galleries. If you're doing ArtFight this year please check out these amazing artists to attack!
https://artfight.net/~Vampirika
https://artfight.net/~Lucentfir
https://artfight.net/~Zinogrex
https://artfight.net/~EnergyVector
https://artfight.net/~BluAirSky
https://artfight.net/~Hjorse
https://artfight.net/~larathen
https://artfight.net/~kitashi
I know you've all been thinking, "Kayu, where's the porn??" Well, since a certain patron put me up to character compendium illustrations, I've been working on those for the most part. But I've spent enough time on that and starting in July I'll be using ArtFight to warm up before doubling down on my backlog of porn WIPs! You can see a bunch of thumbnails of sketches I plan to line and color over on my BlueSky. It features many I have overdue, many you've suggested to be upgraded to completed art, and plenty that haven't been posted publicly until now!
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu....../3lsk3j53ph22s
As always, you'll get early access WIPs and completed versions of these through my Patreon as they're finished, plus exclusive alternate versions and all the other goodies that come with supporting! If you enjoy my art please consider joining, every little bit helps!
https://www.patreon.com/c/Fuzzikayu
Have a great summer!
https://artfight.net/~Vampirika
https://artfight.net/~Lucentfir
https://artfight.net/~Zinogrex
https://artfight.net/~EnergyVector
https://artfight.net/~BluAirSky
https://artfight.net/~Hjorse
https://artfight.net/~larathen
https://artfight.net/~kitashi
I know you've all been thinking, "Kayu, where's the porn??" Well, since a certain patron put me up to character compendium illustrations, I've been working on those for the most part. But I've spent enough time on that and starting in July I'll be using ArtFight to warm up before doubling down on my backlog of porn WIPs! You can see a bunch of thumbnails of sketches I plan to line and color over on my BlueSky. It features many I have overdue, many you've suggested to be upgraded to completed art, and plenty that haven't been posted publicly until now!
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu....../3lsk3j53ph22s
As always, you'll get early access WIPs and completed versions of these through my Patreon as they're finished, plus exclusive alternate versions and all the other goodies that come with supporting! If you enjoy my art please consider joining, every little bit helps!
https://www.patreon.com/c/Fuzzikayu
Have a great summer!
More art over on BlueSky!
General | Posted 11 months agoOh god it's June and I still haven't made a yearly update post
Anyway I tend to use FurAffinity mostly for fully complete/rendered works so if you're not already following me there, check out my BlueSky where I drop doodles and sketches from time to time
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
<3
Anyway I tend to use FurAffinity mostly for fully complete/rendered works so if you're not already following me there, check out my BlueSky where I drop doodles and sketches from time to time
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
<3
Free art raffle over on BlueSky!
General | Posted a year agoXitter is destroying my country, please follow my BlueSky
General | Posted a year agohttps://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
FA is my primary home base and I'll still be posting completed art here and sketches in scraps occasionally, but starting next week on twitter I'm only posting previews, completed art goes here and bsky and sketches go on bsky as well
Please please please get off Xitter it's just a disinfo machine and it's destroying my country. I know it's hard if you have crossover communities but i can tell you in my space I'm following the same people on BlueSky as I was following on Xitter and my feed looks identical PLUS I don't have to worry about links being suppressed and other shit.
I love you all, stay safe out there
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
FA is my primary home base and I'll still be posting completed art here and sketches in scraps occasionally, but starting next week on twitter I'm only posting previews, completed art goes here and bsky and sketches go on bsky as well
Please please please get off Xitter it's just a disinfo machine and it's destroying my country. I know it's hard if you have crossover communities but i can tell you in my space I'm following the same people on BlueSky as I was following on Xitter and my feed looks identical PLUS I don't have to worry about links being suppressed and other shit.
I love you all, stay safe out there
Gentle Patreon Reminder - Lots of WIPs!
General | Posted a year agohttps://www.patreon.com/Fuzzikayu
Just a gentle reminder that I'm on Patreon, so if you enjoy my work and want to support me it's very much appreciated ❤️
I have like four different WIPs I'm chipping away at right now, including my next animation, so it's a bit overwhelming and I don't want anyone to think I've gone anywhere, I'm just getting these done and providing regular WIP updates to Patrons!
Don't forget to follow me on other socials as well!:
https://x.com/ArtByKayu
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
https://www.patreon.com/Fuzzikayu
Just a gentle reminder that I'm on Patreon, so if you enjoy my work and want to support me it's very much appreciated ❤️
I have like four different WIPs I'm chipping away at right now, including my next animation, so it's a bit overwhelming and I don't want anyone to think I've gone anywhere, I'm just getting these done and providing regular WIP updates to Patrons!
Don't forget to follow me on other socials as well!:
https://x.com/ArtByKayu
https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
https://www.patreon.com/Fuzzikayu
YCH Reminder - Ends tonight!
General | Posted 2 years agoYCH Commission! Daki-style
General | Posted 2 years agoYCH! Daki-style
General | Posted 2 years agoFriend is doing a YCH!
General | Posted 2 years agohttps://www.furaffinity.net/view/55998771/
I'll be doing some work on it as well, please check it out!
I'll be doing some work on it as well, please check it out!
2024 Update + Commissions + Links
General | Posted 2 years agoHello friends, it's been a while since I made one of these but I have a bit I want to talk about!
My art workflow was pretty messed up most of 2023, but toward the end of the year I found a bit more motivation and kicked through a few projects I had backlogged. Some of these I've already posted, some you'll see soon! There were certain aspects of my art (some coloring issues, backgrounds mostly) that were artblocking me and I've since loosened up a bit and let myself do different things to try and make sure I get more art finished in a reasonable amount of time rather than letting files hang for a while before coming back to them. I've got a couple older pieces I've finished up mixed in with stuff that's completely new whole-cloth, and you'll probably be able to tell the difference (Rilohn having a slurp was some adjusted lines from about a year or two ago, for example).
As long as I can maintain my workflow of alternating between pieces and chipping away at what's working I'd like to try and upload one piece every two weeks or thereabouts. I could shoot for one week if I really tried but I don't want to overestimate or burn myself out if I get stuck again. I have about...three or four things after that which Patrons have voted on, and then I have to figure out what comes after. I'm also working on my first animation! It's a simple loop (to temper expectations), but I do it frame-by-frame and try to make sure it's the best quality I can offer in that regard, with each frame being something I consider a quality standalone piece if I were to post it. I've found the frame nature of animating really gives me a nice break, something I can knock out a little work on, then go back to my regular stuff, but feel like I'm making progress on both. Again, I don't want to push it, but depending on the reception to the animation and how difficult I find it to do with other potential images, I might try and do one animation every 3 months in addition to the regular art flow I'm working on.
All this in mind, what are the plans for 2024? Well, once I get through everything the patrons have voted on I'll either have to see if personal ideas come to me (and they do, at random times) or it might finally be times to open up commissions if that's something folks would be interested in. I'll have to update my price sheet and examples, but I have a good idea of finish levels and price points so I'll make another journal/upload when that happens. When commission slots go up, they are always offered to Patrons first (regardless of tier). This isn't to say that you ought to become a patron with the expectation of getting a commission, but rather if you are a patron for everything else I offer (early access, WIPs, alternate versions, Discord community, voting on projects) you'll also get the benefit of being the first to have access to commissions if or when they open. There's a non-zero possibility that I have enough commission work from patrons alone that I'm unable to open them publicly, or only in a limited fashion. I'll revisit this once all my current backlog is complete and I figure out where to go from there, probably in about a month.
Hopefully I find this workflow sustainable and can fit into a groove where I'm more consistently putting out art. I don't think I'll ever be the type of artist that can just churn out image after image, I'm too self-critical and work too slowly for that, but I'd like to at least make sure I'm being consistent while allowing myself enough space to start new things and keep folks interested while also improving.
Last but not least, I'm just going to thank everyone, whether you're a new watcher or have been following since the Elder Days, for your continued support! I really enjoy drawing everything: straight, gay, enby, monsters, cute characters, bodytypes from thin to thick to heavy and everything inbetween, species of all kinds, and I hope that even though I'm not building an audience on one specific brand of art (besides furry, obviously) you'll find something you like in one of those categories. I read every comment and reply to them as long as I can think of something to say and engaging with feedback on my art is one of the most fulfilling things in my line of work. Thank you to everyone who comments, reposts, favorites, subscribes, or even just looks at my art, I really do try and keep finding ways to improve.
Please check out the links below to make sure I'm keeping in touch where possible with everyone who's interested in my work:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
And please consider joining my Patreon and our wonderful Discord community therein where I get a ton of ideas and suggestions and overall great feedback that keeps my art improving on top of all the benefits mentioned above!:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Fuzzikayu
Next image will be posted later this week, and I'll make sure to post another journal when I start looking more closely at commissions or think of anything else to share! Please feel free to comment here or note me if you have any questions, curiosities, or anything else!
My art workflow was pretty messed up most of 2023, but toward the end of the year I found a bit more motivation and kicked through a few projects I had backlogged. Some of these I've already posted, some you'll see soon! There were certain aspects of my art (some coloring issues, backgrounds mostly) that were artblocking me and I've since loosened up a bit and let myself do different things to try and make sure I get more art finished in a reasonable amount of time rather than letting files hang for a while before coming back to them. I've got a couple older pieces I've finished up mixed in with stuff that's completely new whole-cloth, and you'll probably be able to tell the difference (Rilohn having a slurp was some adjusted lines from about a year or two ago, for example).
As long as I can maintain my workflow of alternating between pieces and chipping away at what's working I'd like to try and upload one piece every two weeks or thereabouts. I could shoot for one week if I really tried but I don't want to overestimate or burn myself out if I get stuck again. I have about...three or four things after that which Patrons have voted on, and then I have to figure out what comes after. I'm also working on my first animation! It's a simple loop (to temper expectations), but I do it frame-by-frame and try to make sure it's the best quality I can offer in that regard, with each frame being something I consider a quality standalone piece if I were to post it. I've found the frame nature of animating really gives me a nice break, something I can knock out a little work on, then go back to my regular stuff, but feel like I'm making progress on both. Again, I don't want to push it, but depending on the reception to the animation and how difficult I find it to do with other potential images, I might try and do one animation every 3 months in addition to the regular art flow I'm working on.
All this in mind, what are the plans for 2024? Well, once I get through everything the patrons have voted on I'll either have to see if personal ideas come to me (and they do, at random times) or it might finally be times to open up commissions if that's something folks would be interested in. I'll have to update my price sheet and examples, but I have a good idea of finish levels and price points so I'll make another journal/upload when that happens. When commission slots go up, they are always offered to Patrons first (regardless of tier). This isn't to say that you ought to become a patron with the expectation of getting a commission, but rather if you are a patron for everything else I offer (early access, WIPs, alternate versions, Discord community, voting on projects) you'll also get the benefit of being the first to have access to commissions if or when they open. There's a non-zero possibility that I have enough commission work from patrons alone that I'm unable to open them publicly, or only in a limited fashion. I'll revisit this once all my current backlog is complete and I figure out where to go from there, probably in about a month.
Hopefully I find this workflow sustainable and can fit into a groove where I'm more consistently putting out art. I don't think I'll ever be the type of artist that can just churn out image after image, I'm too self-critical and work too slowly for that, but I'd like to at least make sure I'm being consistent while allowing myself enough space to start new things and keep folks interested while also improving.
Last but not least, I'm just going to thank everyone, whether you're a new watcher or have been following since the Elder Days, for your continued support! I really enjoy drawing everything: straight, gay, enby, monsters, cute characters, bodytypes from thin to thick to heavy and everything inbetween, species of all kinds, and I hope that even though I'm not building an audience on one specific brand of art (besides furry, obviously) you'll find something you like in one of those categories. I read every comment and reply to them as long as I can think of something to say and engaging with feedback on my art is one of the most fulfilling things in my line of work. Thank you to everyone who comments, reposts, favorites, subscribes, or even just looks at my art, I really do try and keep finding ways to improve.
Please check out the links below to make sure I'm keeping in touch where possible with everyone who's interested in my work:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
And please consider joining my Patreon and our wonderful Discord community therein where I get a ton of ideas and suggestions and overall great feedback that keeps my art improving on top of all the benefits mentioned above!:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Fuzzikayu
Next image will be posted later this week, and I'll make sure to post another journal when I start looking more closely at commissions or think of anything else to share! Please feel free to comment here or note me if you have any questions, curiosities, or anything else!
On BlueSky now, too!
General | Posted 2 years agohttps://bsky.app/profile/fuzzikayu.bsky.social
plus I'm still on twitter for the time being https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
New art coming soon!
plus I'm still on twitter for the time being https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
New art coming soon!
Gentle Twitter reminder!
General | Posted 3 years agohttps://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
I post more sketches/scraps/etc there than I do to FA, which I tend to save for highly finished works or sketch stuff im really happy with
I post more sketches/scraps/etc there than I do to FA, which I tend to save for highly finished works or sketch stuff im really happy with
Reminder I'm on Twitter! (And have extras there)
General | Posted 3 years agohttps://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
I post stuff there sometimes that I can't be bothered to post on FA.
A couple of Patron reward sketches I did:
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96358257840128
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96620812894209
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96838392406016
The Ancora and Mharyk alt versions:
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....13202029973504
I post stuff there sometimes that I can't be bothered to post on FA.
A couple of Patron reward sketches I did:
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96358257840128
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96620812894209
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....96838392406016
The Ancora and Mharyk alt versions:
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....13202029973504
3k Art Raffle on Twitter!
General | Posted 3 years agoIf you're not already following me on twitter, I'm having a raffle over there for 3k! Thanks for the support!
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....85767290490880
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....85767290490880
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
Vore content on Twitter
General | Posted 3 years agoNot posting it here cus it's more of a doodle but I've got some Ate/Ate content on Twitter for the """""holiday""""""
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....61884845985792
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....62082443771904
for the sickos
back to regularly scheduled programming on Thursday 🦊🌿
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....61884845985792
https://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....62082443771904
for the sickos
back to regularly scheduled programming on Thursday 🦊🌿
Art Fight || Team Bloom
General | Posted 4 years ago> > https://artfight.net/~Fuzzikayu < <
First time trying this! I'm hoping I can get myself to do one attack per day. Feel free to add me or link your profile if you're an artist also doing ArtFight 2022!
First time trying this! I'm hoping I can get myself to do one attack per day. Feel free to add me or link your profile if you're an artist also doing ArtFight 2022!
2k Free art raffle on Twitter!
General | Posted 4 years agohttps://twitter.com/ArtByKayu/statu.....65298549100548
Just make sure to retweet and follow for a chance to win a single character colored piece! Can be SFW or NSFW! Will choose a winner in about a week (April 3rd), good luck!
Just make sure to retweet and follow for a chance to win a single character colored piece! Can be SFW or NSFW! Will choose a winner in about a week (April 3rd), good luck!
Reminder: I'm on Twitter, too!
General | Posted 4 years agohttps://twitter.com/ArtByKayu
It's not particularly visible on my profile page but I'm on twitter as well. Sometimes I post stuff there first cus it's easier. Tho FA lets me do actual descriptions which is good for my ref stuff so it kind of evens out. Anyway if you prefer to use twitter, check me out there! I really only post my art, I don't spam too much random stuff
It's not particularly visible on my profile page but I'm on twitter as well. Sometimes I post stuff there first cus it's easier. Tho FA lets me do actual descriptions which is good for my ref stuff so it kind of evens out. Anyway if you prefer to use twitter, check me out there! I really only post my art, I don't spam too much random stuff
2022 Update
General | Posted 4 years agoHello! God Jul, Happy New Year and all that fine stuff. I hope life has treated you better than our continuing pandemic has treated Earth and/or the collective mental health of the human race. Just doing a little update of sorts regarding my last journal and some 2022 stuff. Hopefully my immunocompromised ass makes it out of this month alive but no promises.
The Patreon is going well and has had a lot of recent activity! I've finished up the early stages of a couple personal projects, like my Anu'Kaya species masterlist, and I've got a couple of bigger pieces of art cooking now that I've found a bit more creative footing. As always, I'll post everything eventually, but if you'd like early access, alternate versions, absurd res, plus all the benefits that come with our active Discord community, it's all there as a thanks for your support! It truly means everything to me and my ability to continue doing art and worldbuilding.
As a personal thing, I've gotten my healthcare situation settled, so for the forseeable future I shouldn't have any issues related to insurance and such, which is a huge mental load off my mind. Oddly enough, I've been working on more art without the looming threat of being uninsured, and I'm starting to get through a small backlog that's piled up of things I've been wanting to work on. If I run out of ideas and my backlog is clear I may open for commissions, especially as more people have been asking about them. I have to balance them with the Patron request streams I do, though, since I don't want to burn out with stuff that isn't personal - juggling paid commissions and free requests. We'll see how it shakes out after I get through a bit more of my backed up work!
Thank you again to all my Patrons, watchers, commenters, favorites, and everyone who's here to support my creative endeavors. I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a genuinely enthusiastic audience to share my worldbuilding and characters with. And whether you're here for that, or just for the porn, I hope I've got you covered either way. Hope you have a good 2022!
What are my worldbuilding projects?
My primary area of focus is on a headworld known as Atonkhai (so called by its largest group of inhabitants) and the golden city of Anu'Kaya, which is represented by an expansive, socially, culturally, and economically driven society that combines history and mythology. Its inhabitants are anthropomorphic creatures which are native of the regions they represent, and which scale in size relative to their real-world counterparts. In addition to Atonkhai - which is a blend of Old, Middle Kingdom, and Hellenic Egypt there are multiple lands including:
* The sub-Saharan African-inspired Zibwamanzi
* The continent of Arkhenon which draws from ancient Greece and Rome
* Uhrwecht, the icy kingdom based on Scandinavia and its sagas
* The tribes of the Koeskoue and the Kinoswk, owing to the eastern and northern Americas
* and the mysterious, nomadic Draedha - a unique species of canine//draconic hybrids that roam in clans across the desert fringes
All of these civilizations (and more, many of which still have stories to be told!) form the backbone of this expansive project, which I tend with only the utmost respect and reverence through my background in (and love for) sociology and anthropology. Their unique histories, languages, and societies all endow them with unique characteristics that allow of a breadth of creative and explorative collaborations. There's nothing I love more than receiving questions about these worlds or their inhabitants! The depth to which I create for these worlds beyond the characters include: globes and maps, weather and environment, language and writing, customs and culture, politics, economics, religion, and more. I am currently in the process of constructing comprehensive species lists for would-be characters as well as a wiki where anyone can learn about the history and social climate baked into each society.
The most well-known of the inhabitants, shared by both Vampirika and I, include:
* Jurah, Pharaoh of Anu'Kaya and his son Prince Rilohn - tended by his High Guard, Naz'akh.
* Rilohn's friends; Tameru and Salazin, Tarik and Zarqa, Amanra and Vazha.
* From Zibwamanzi: Kibokwe and his wife, Aisha.
* Arkhenon's Lykadion general, Daxos, and one of the hoi polloi, Arkos - plus the reigning Rhemian champion, Kestiux.
* Uhrwecht's King, Raghnar, and the aloof Vyldris.
* Koahki, chief of the Koeskoue, and his co-chieftan Johkuau, as well as their friend Shiloh and supply-runner from the Kinoswk, Dakota.
* The Chieftan of the Ravik clan of Draedha, Zatu, as well as his mate Herik and their clan rivals, Baalor and Seidra.
...among the many dozens of more characters inhabiting the world!
Please do not hesitate to contact me about any of these worlds or characters, as it gives me all the more opportunity to expound upon them and this world which I've grown so fond of~
Patreon!
The Patreon is going well and has had a lot of recent activity! I've finished up the early stages of a couple personal projects, like my Anu'Kaya species masterlist, and I've got a couple of bigger pieces of art cooking now that I've found a bit more creative footing. As always, I'll post everything eventually, but if you'd like early access, alternate versions, absurd res, plus all the benefits that come with our active Discord community, it's all there as a thanks for your support! It truly means everything to me and my ability to continue doing art and worldbuilding.
As a personal thing, I've gotten my healthcare situation settled, so for the forseeable future I shouldn't have any issues related to insurance and such, which is a huge mental load off my mind. Oddly enough, I've been working on more art without the looming threat of being uninsured, and I'm starting to get through a small backlog that's piled up of things I've been wanting to work on. If I run out of ideas and my backlog is clear I may open for commissions, especially as more people have been asking about them. I have to balance them with the Patron request streams I do, though, since I don't want to burn out with stuff that isn't personal - juggling paid commissions and free requests. We'll see how it shakes out after I get through a bit more of my backed up work!
Thank you again to all my Patrons, watchers, commenters, favorites, and everyone who's here to support my creative endeavors. I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a genuinely enthusiastic audience to share my worldbuilding and characters with. And whether you're here for that, or just for the porn, I hope I've got you covered either way. Hope you have a good 2022!
What are my worldbuilding projects?
My primary area of focus is on a headworld known as Atonkhai (so called by its largest group of inhabitants) and the golden city of Anu'Kaya, which is represented by an expansive, socially, culturally, and economically driven society that combines history and mythology. Its inhabitants are anthropomorphic creatures which are native of the regions they represent, and which scale in size relative to their real-world counterparts. In addition to Atonkhai - which is a blend of Old, Middle Kingdom, and Hellenic Egypt there are multiple lands including:
* The sub-Saharan African-inspired Zibwamanzi
* The continent of Arkhenon which draws from ancient Greece and Rome
* Uhrwecht, the icy kingdom based on Scandinavia and its sagas
* The tribes of the Koeskoue and the Kinoswk, owing to the eastern and northern Americas
* and the mysterious, nomadic Draedha - a unique species of canine//draconic hybrids that roam in clans across the desert fringes
All of these civilizations (and more, many of which still have stories to be told!) form the backbone of this expansive project, which I tend with only the utmost respect and reverence through my background in (and love for) sociology and anthropology. Their unique histories, languages, and societies all endow them with unique characteristics that allow of a breadth of creative and explorative collaborations. There's nothing I love more than receiving questions about these worlds or their inhabitants! The depth to which I create for these worlds beyond the characters include: globes and maps, weather and environment, language and writing, customs and culture, politics, economics, religion, and more. I am currently in the process of constructing comprehensive species lists for would-be characters as well as a wiki where anyone can learn about the history and social climate baked into each society.
The most well-known of the inhabitants, shared by both Vampirika and I, include:
* Jurah, Pharaoh of Anu'Kaya and his son Prince Rilohn - tended by his High Guard, Naz'akh.
* Rilohn's friends; Tameru and Salazin, Tarik and Zarqa, Amanra and Vazha.
* From Zibwamanzi: Kibokwe and his wife, Aisha.
* Arkhenon's Lykadion general, Daxos, and one of the hoi polloi, Arkos - plus the reigning Rhemian champion, Kestiux.
* Uhrwecht's King, Raghnar, and the aloof Vyldris.
* Koahki, chief of the Koeskoue, and his co-chieftan Johkuau, as well as their friend Shiloh and supply-runner from the Kinoswk, Dakota.
* The Chieftan of the Ravik clan of Draedha, Zatu, as well as his mate Herik and their clan rivals, Baalor and Seidra.
...among the many dozens of more characters inhabiting the world!
Please do not hesitate to contact me about any of these worlds or characters, as it gives me all the more opportunity to expound upon them and this world which I've grown so fond of~
Patreon!Twitter / Bonus Content reminder!
General | Posted 5 years agoJust a reminder you can find me on Twitter!, where I sometimes post sketches/doodles that aren't "complete" enough to upload to FA. There's a couple extra Zatu imp doodles on there now that I don't think I'll drop in my FA gallery, enjoy!
And, as always, all my content and WIPs are available early and in absurd res on Patreon!
And, as always, all my content and WIPs are available early and in absurd res on Patreon!
woaw
General | Posted 5 years agoI normally thank new watchers individually but it's been a huge surge and it'll be less intrusive if I just say here I love and appreciate each and every one of you <3
I haven't been posting as frequently due to art struggles but I gotta say the support is a little overwhelming cus this is kinda, like, my livelyhood and every interaction helps keep me doing what I love.
Gotta figure out what my next big project will be but I should have some smaller stuff done in the meantime :thinking:
Keep bein' awesome ya'll
I haven't been posting as frequently due to art struggles but I gotta say the support is a little overwhelming cus this is kinda, like, my livelyhood and every interaction helps keep me doing what I love.
Gotta figure out what my next big project will be but I should have some smaller stuff done in the meantime :thinking:
Keep bein' awesome ya'll
Patreon and 2020 updates! - Please read!!
General | Posted 5 years ago Patreon! tl;dr: I've completely updated the Patreon and associated Discord server with new tiers, roles, and benefits! I'll get into details below, but I want to express foremost - since it concerns what most users are here for - how much artwork I do that doesn't make it here on FurAffinity. This gallery is only for works I consider finished, and I have dozens of works-in-progress, sketches, doodles, alternate versions, and other stuff that I toss into the Patron discord on a regular basis. If you enjoy my art and have the ability to support me, I promise you the benefits are worth it!
So here's how it works: Although I upload to Patreon, the easiest way for me to post everything is in a Discord server which I share with Vampirika. Everything I do is posted there, including early access to WIPs, sketches, alternate versions, hi-res completed art, and more. And because it's Discord you can actively chat with me any time, ask about my characters or worlds, or engage with the small, enthusiastic community we've built! There's always something going on, and we frequently play group stuff, too, like Among Us. This also means you can suggest what I work on and will always be at the front of the line for commission considerations. All of this is available for any tier of Patron!
Of course, the benefits increase with higher tiers, where I've added new incentives including: increased commission status, commission discounts, and shout-outs on all my FurAffinity publications!
Beyond that, I'm trying something new: My primary focus continues to be on Atonkhai and all areas of my worldbuilding projects. If these worlds, or its characters (Rilohn and Naz'akh, Aisha and Kibo, many dozens of characters who have art but which hasn't been posted here on FA!) are of interest to you, this is a way to get even more out of it. At the highest tier of Patron I'm going to be assisting in the creation of an Atonkhai OC which can be used to interact with the world or anyone else in the Discord who also has one, through exclusive channels for worldbuilding and roleplay - and this will include sketching these characters! Not sure what Atonkhai encompasses? Scroll to the bottom for more details!
I know this is a big post and not everyone is going to make it this far. That's okay - the details that most people will care about are at the top. The last things I want to cover are personal updates: yes, it's sob story time. I am so grateful for all the support I receive either through Patreon or simply from comments and compliments about my OCs and their world (and for Charr, cus holy hell Charr plays are some seriously dedicated fans). I don't know if I can do this forever, though. Why? Because I'm a U.S. citizen with a chronic health condition, and until our healthcare infrastructure changes that means I need insurance to pay for my wickedly expensive biologic. In about five months there's a strong possibility I'll no longer have coverage and will either have to stop my medication and return to an old one and pray I don't get sicker, or will need to put art and worldbuilding on the side in order to get a job with benefits. Patreon is an opportunity to let me continue working on what I love. There's no guarantee that I'll be able to purchase insurance for myself with commissions alone, though I'll certainly try, although even that would take significant time away from these projects. Whether or not you're interested in going the Patreon route to help me, I say all of this just to keep everyone in the loop about what's coming in the future. The closer I get to the deadline for my insurance expiration, the more updates I'll have about what's going on. I will always do my best to keep everyone in the loop about any delays I'm facing with regards to art or posts.
Thank you, so much, to everyone who's stuck with me over the years and watched me grow as an artist. I have a long way to go, but I've finally found something that combines both my love for art and writing that people genuinely seem to enjoy, and are enthusiastic to know more about. After a rough couple of years I'm hoping this is the one where I can take my art and my worldbuilding projects to new levels, for myself and for all of you.
What are my worldbuilding projects?
My primary area of focus is on a headworld known as Atonkhai (so called by its largest group of inhabitants) and the golden city of Anu'Kaya, which is represented by an expansive, socially, culturally, and economically driven society that combines history and mythology. Its inhabitants are anthropomorphic creatures which are native of the regions they represent, and which scale in size relative to their real-world counterparts. In addition to Atonkhai - which is a blend of Old, Middle Kingdom, and Hellenic Egypt there are multiple lands including:
* The sub-Saharan African-inspired Zibwamanzi
* The continent of Arkhenon which draws from ancient Greece and Rome
* Uhrwecht, the icy kingdom based on Scandinavia and its sagas
* The tribes of the Koeskoue and the Kinoswk, owing to the eastern and northern Americas
* and the mysterious, nomadic Draedha - a unique species of canine//draconic hybrids that roam in clans across the desert fringes
All of these civilizations (and more, many of which still have stories to be told!) form the backbone of this expansive project, which I tend with only the utmost respect and reverence through my background in (and love for) sociology and anthropology. Their unique histories, languages, and societies all endow them with unique characteristics that allow of a breadth of creative and explorative collaborations. There's nothing I love more than receiving questions about these worlds or their inhabitants! The depth to which I create for these worlds beyond the characters include: globes and maps, weather and environment, language and writing, customs and culture, politics, economics, religion, and more. I am currently in the process of constructing comprehensive species lists for would-be characters as well as a wiki where anyone can learn about the history and social climate baked into each society.
The most well-known of the inhabitants, shared by both Vampirika and I, include:
* Jurah, Pharaoh of Anu'Kaya and his son Prince Rilohn - tended by his High Guard, Naz'akh.
* Rilohn's friends; Tameru and Salazin, Tarik and Zarqa, Amanra and Vazha.
* From Zibwamanzi: Kibokwe and his wife, Aisha.
* Arkhenon's Lykadion general, Daxos, and one of the hoi polloi, Arkos - plus the reigning Rhemian champion, Kestiux.
* Uhrwecht's King, Raghnar, and the aloof Vyldris.
* Koahki, chief of the Koeskoue, and his co-chieftan Johkuau, as well as their friend Shiloh and supply-runner from the Kinoswk, Dakota.
* The Chieftan of the Ravik clan of Draedha, Zatu, as well as his mate Herik and their clan rivals, Baalor and Seidra.
...among the many dozens of more characters inhabiting the world!
Please do not hesitate to contact me about any of these worlds or characters, as it gives me all the more opportunity to expound upon them and this world which I've grown so fond of~
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