Yup, it's mine, for what it's worth.

Some time after I sleep I'll post a few more suit construction pics.

OK,

I'm about to upload a nine fursuit progress pics. They aren't very good as photographs and don't show much, but it's what I have and I wanted to keep the deadline for posting the first batch. The next group should provide better viewing material and make those I'm posting tonight more interesting.

As of it's publish time I've already progressed much farther than what the documentation shows. This will likely be the case until I'm done with the suit and can spend more time with FA.

Things are going well with my suit and work has picked up a lot. Here are just a few random details:

The muscle-suit is a bit complex. - I'm using foams of various densities for a more naturalistic feel and working around cooling gear. However by next week it will be done and my fur will be dyed. (...and much other work done.)

I have plenty of help.  petorawolf Has been teaching me quite a bit and helping with construction. Today I handed off to another friend, the machining of the remaining hardware for my forehooves and the sculpting of a mirror image of an ear-substrate mold I made. Also I know a seamstress who recently offered to help sew.

For my eyes I have some nice small plastic hemispheres, but I may not have time to paint them, etc., in which case I'll use some slightly larger ones I made years ago.

My suit-making schedule is so tight I'm not posting early progress pics. As soon as something is complete enough to be worth posting I'll start doing it. Since the suit has to be done by FWA (end of March) you should see something here soon. I'll write a bit about what I've been doing at that time.

Two key things have happened to me in the past few days. I have become the beneficiary of
incredible generosity and I will have a donkey suit in time for FWA, possibly by my birthday!

✂ This weekend I met  petorawolf, a recent transplant from Portland with a lot of fursuit construction experience. He loves to help other furs learn to make their own suits!*

♡ Yesterday a friend of mine in Oregon gave me the gift of
enough money to finally get my fur and other materials!

Today Petorawolf and I started planning a sculpted donkey body suit. This week we will put in many hours of aggressive work, purchasing and constructing sculpted parts, etc., After that he will manage my work and assist as necessary.

There is one part-type with which Petorwolf has trouble, and does not make: heads. However I once built a head out of acrylic, etc., using a helmet as a base. (I later took it apart after I decided it was unsafe to wear.) ...so I'm not intimidated by making a head from foam and certain novel materials.

~ WIP pics soon ~

My gratitude is unbounded!

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

If anyone reads this and is disheartened because of their own current inability to acquire a suit, please think about what might be able to be done in time. I've wanted one for about 20 years (I'm now 41.) Several years ago I even made great progress on one before someone who was upset with me threw it out. Anyway I know what it's like to be jealous. It's natural and I don't think there's anything wrong with it, so don't feel guilty if you are. ...but I hope my little story has inspirational value.

*In my last year of working on a fursuit tentatively in fits and starts, I've been daunted by the enormity of the project as a whole. Though I didn't expect to find it, I had hoped for someone to at least provide a certain level of interest and moral support for the challenge, and ideally assist. Petwolf is currently a Project Manager by profession, which will be of great value to me.

The title of this journal is also that of my favorite film. (by Wim Wenders)

UPDATED MONDAY, JANUARY 11

I can't imagine anyone's interested enough to read this but here it is, just in case.

MAIN:

See my most recent journal for new news regarding my suit!

Recently I spoke with my old friend Colette. This Summer she will tattoo a donkey-cross on my back for a minimal amount of money as a gift! (The tattoo will be light and subtle, made up of a pattern of individual hairs.)

I need to postpone any more work on the photomanipulation of and for (gift)  KabukiHomewood until I have my fursuit put together.

FURSUIT WORK:

I haven't posted any images in a long time since little progress has been made. Since work is still slow on my high tech hooves I'm going to get started on the bodysuit and see what happens.

Recently I recorded my friend  lwwolfin singing with his guitar. He was really great. ...natural and authentic. The thick and various timbres he worked out of his guitar, that played discrete roles simultaneously, were quite nice. I'll see what I can render out of it and see what he thinks.

COMMISSIONED, WAITING: I'm not in a great hurry for the below items. It's a privilege for me to have them done. As they're completed, those uploaded to the artists' galleries will be added to my favorites and I'll ask permission to post any that aren't.

 KabukiHomewood has made an initial step into working on a commission for me. I sent her a somewhat flushed-out idea and asked her to change or contribute as much of the details as she would like. (She did the best badge I ever had, by the way.) She thinks the new piece will be a watercolor.

 Rukis will do a drawing for me based on a sketch she did at FWA. (This drawing wasn't posted by Rukis and I didn't ask permission to post it because of the anticipated more detailed work.)

At her convenience  Sarcy will do a character sheet for me, (once gets a spark and things click for her.) This will defiantly be worth the wait.

OTHER:

WIP: a drawing I promised SL's Wolfin Bailey

For the time being I've stopped working on the installation that will take up one wall of my bedroom. Eventually it will be moved to the barn-room. Rather than describe it I'll post some pics once there's something to show.

WIP, (currently on the shelf waiting.): A while ago I got the silly idea to do a painting inspired by  Lucah. When it's done I'll post an image and send L. a note that I have a gift. She can have the actual painting if she wants it. As far as posting progress pics of the painting I've decided against it. I just don't like showing artwork that's not finished.

STARTED (won't get back to this until next year): I've started a story with Jackpot as a main character. Once I have the beginning done I'll post that.

I'm working on a commission for an abstract sound piece that will be installed in Long Island next Fall. It will be basically furry in nature, though I won't be using that term to describe it.

My paintings are also basically furry to a large extent, though again for practical reasons they can't be described that way in the art world. My latest series of paintings was started but is on hold while I work on the projects listed above. Excluding the agreement for the sound piece mentioned above I have no commitments right now so I've been too distracted. This Spring I hope to have my fursuit done and get back to work. ...and get new representation.

-- some thoughts from times I've anthropomorphized my dog and speculated as to what's in his head --

Does he infer I have a high social status from delivery people bringing meals to my door?
...and that my rank has dropped now that money is tighter?

Did he understand why I laughed so hard after the time I told him something was "No good!"?

Have my efforts to train him the meaning of the word "soon" been successful?

Was he once called "Charlie Brown?
(He looked at the TV every time that name was spoken on "... The Great Pumpkin ...".

Oh well. It's probably all moot.

Last week I attended the 3rd Annual PonyPlay Camp and 8th Annual PonyPlay Weekend at The Farm in Kentucky. (http://dulca-scenes.yolasite.com)

Since the fees were low and I stayed on-site I was able to attend the full week. It was a valuable workshop for me as a novice. I learned a lot and got plenty of practice lunging, long lining, cart pulling, etc., The atmosphere was relaxed so I was able to get used to being in a crowd while moving to varying degrees into equine head-space.

The program was casual and loosely structured in order to accommodate the specific needs of those attending. The expert training was led by Doña, who has had an extensive, notable career training and working with bio-horses. She's intuitive and quite adept at reading body language and communicating subtly through the reigns. The professional experience of some of the attendees was exploited in discussions and demonstrations as well. As a human equine it was helpful to sense the difference in qualities of various people's techniques. I was paired up with a novice trainer often and we were both doing pretty well by Sunday.

For those who haven't visited The Farm, there is abundant private land for being an equine, (in my case an ass,) whenever the need arises. There's also a good bit of indoor scene space with all types of equipment. Donkey by day, by night I was incrementally initiated to the larger realm of play. The camaraderie of all made everything enjoyable and meaningful.

The weekend was catered by a crew in the lifestyle. There was enough great food to keep me pulling and jumping despite my high metabolism. The culmination was a ponygirl and ponyboy show on Sunday. The veteran judges were equitable and discriminating. However in keeping with the spirit of the retreat, the competition was light-hearted and not of the blue-chip type.

Although I didn't donk-out as much as I'd like to do in the future, I did have some great moments. Doing as you please was encouraged yet I was a bit too timid to spend much off time as a donkeyboy. Without going into detail here, my preparation was a bit lacking in light of my particular needs. At any rate I have renewed energy to get myself where I need to be.

Many thanks to Doña and the diligent Lady Robin, as well as all the other guests, visitors and volunteers. You gave me a concentrated experience I won't forget. I hope we can have more fun before too much time passes.

one last note: I collect fine minerals and I was actually able to find two nice micromounts of separate unknown species on the property. This kind of thing helps me get a feel for the land.

Well, after FWA the sketchbook I've had since 2000 got lost in the mail and I lost my commissioned badges at RCFM. ...so I've decided to start over, though I have to go slow because of money being tight. (not uncommon these days)

I'm attempting to catch one of the rare and elusive Lucah slots. ...but the demand is so high the chances of anyone in particular ever getting one is almost zero.

This week I was able to commission two other great artists. Out of what was lost I'm lucky enough to have a few images scanned. For what it's worth I'll be trying to contact artists and see if I can post properly credited images here.

There's one more way I'm starting over as well. My ex-wife threw out the fursuit I made years ago before I had a chance to wear it. Well after talking about it for a long time I'm now working in earnest on a replacement. I just got some high tech plastic and rubber for the hooves. I'm sculpting the forms and I've got some mold making to do, etc.,

UPDATE MONDAY, JUNE 29:

first fursuit construction images posted today
pics to show progress on new hoof forms within a week