Hey watchers,

You can now find additional art, old and new, as well as TF animation tests on my Twitter/X feed -

https://twitter.com/Gryf_Art

Enjoy!
Gryf

...you might enjoy some of the feline and reptilian transformation stories here by a new-to-FA author named   AllLuckNoLife Check em out.

TF author and fan fiat, (aka judicialfiat on Telegram), passed away on August 21st, 2016.

I did not know him particularly well but I was a fan of his writing, and in turn he was a fan of my artwork.

I first came across his work in the mid 2000’s when he was posting stories on cyoc.net. We had spoken a few times back then, but we lost touch until recently when he posted his writing on docs-lab.com. Since then we had shared a few conversations together on Skype. I had recently noticed that he had dropped off of FA and other sites, and a google search of his name revealed his obituary. There is no specific information as to the cause of death.

I found that some of his stories accurately mirrored the spirit of what I was trying to capture with my artwork. The image in my gallery titled ‘Mating Ritual’ was in part inspired by his story of the same name. When I asked him about how he approached his writing, he said some of it was written in what he referred to as a ’fugue state’. In my minds eye I pictured him writing his stories like a concert pianist might try and play a particular complex and intense piece of music. He managed to write about the topic of transformation with a focused clarity that few others were able to.

He will be sadly missed.

A few people have asked about how I go about creating my images.

I work almost entirely digital and haven't created any significant art using natural media in around 14 years. Prior to getting a graphics tablet I used to draw a lot on paper. My primary tools are a graphics tablet and Photoshop. I used to use Painter and sketch programs like OC, but these days 95% of my work goes through Photoshop.

Some people ask if my work is drawn, painted or photographic. It varies from image to image. Some images are drawn entirely from scratch, some are drawn from scratch and augmented with photographic textures. Some are photographs that are used as anatomical reference and are completely painted over. Some are 3D renders that are tweaked in photoshop. Others are 3D renders that are painted over. I rarely do straight up photomanips anymore and much prefer to paint the majority of my images.

The technique I chose is fairly arbitrary depending on my mood or the image I am trying to create. If I find a perfect pose or reference I might use that as a starting point. If I need a simple pose I might draw from scratch. If I need a more complex pose and can't find reference, I'll use Poser or Daz3D to render out a pose. Sometimes I'll put effort into a 3D image as the basis of the image. I'll often use photographic textures to enhance a drawing an add layers of texture that would otherwise be very difficult to paint. Of late I've been enjoying achieving the same effects by painting alone.

Here is a quick overview of technique for some of these images:


http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9485487/ Clouded Leopard TF - Photos are a basis for the poses, but they are repainted and reworked and relayered and relit, the result being that there is lots of painting and little to no actual manip work.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8405121/ OLD - Puma Dream Transformation - Painted from scratch. No reference.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8772202/ Seaside Transformation - Photograph for pose reference which was sketched out, then rendered from scratch. Look at /scraps for a process .gif.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8366715/ OLD Selkie skin TF - A Poser render that was then painted over.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7383469/ Transformation Ritual - Photos used as pose reference and then repainted. The panther was actually a Daz3D render layered with textures. Everything was then blended and repainted to integrate the whole image.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8981581/ Slick Panther - 95% 3D render, with some photoshop effects added.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6136116/ Ottermorphosis - Painted from scratch, a process .gif is in /scraps