Okay, a real quick note here in the wake of this inauguration;

if you voted for Trump, if you support him in any way, if you're making excuses for Elon, kindly do yourself a favor and don't bother looking at anything I make.

Not that it's that great or I'm likely to have a sprawling following among people who consider me, my friends, and my family to be disposable subhumans, but it needs sayin' anyway.

[edit; anyone else want a free block? Cause I am DONE pretending to be civil to fucking Nazis when I'm not on shift being paid for it.]

Kthbye

People who could probably use a bit of extra income at;

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10138995/

And that's it. That's the whole post. My fellow artists, my fellow citizens, my coworkers and my friends deserve to be and to feel safe.

I can't believe I never noticed this before, but "shift to Crinos" has the same scansion as "feeling groovy" and you can filk Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song" accordingly...

... which leads to the idea of singing lyrics from Metallica's "Of Wolf and Man" to "59th Street Bridge Song..."

"Bright is the moon, high in starlight
Chill in the air, cold as steel tonight
We shift, call of the wild
Roll Primal Urge and shift to Crinos!
ba da da da da da da shift to Crinos."

I apologize for being out of touch for six months or so. I figure I may as well offer an explanation as well as that apology in case anyone was wondering.

Basically; a landlord who increased rent but who wasn't available to negotiate about me staying while my housemate moved meant that I moved along with my housemate in August. There were some openings in a house in north Oakland and we thought it'd work out okay.

It did not work out okay. Between house problems, health problems, and a grueling day job my life and a lot of my personality disappeared for a while. I was able to save up enough that, with some friends helping a lot, I was able to move when my contract ended (I was working as a loan administrator while the bank moved some of their tasks to a new facility in Arizona; it was never going to become a permanent job).

I feel a lot better about my new place, and I feel up to trying to scan and post art from the last few months. I'll probably re-open commissions soon, and I still have a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/C0C85TPG if you're feeling generous!

Thanks!

Heya, a couple of people I know are caught in a financial tight spot. Their GoFundMe is at; https://www.gofundme.com/flynn-and-.....emergency-fund

and Flynn talks about it a little at;

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8812068/

Originally I thought nobody was all that interested in B/W sketches, but I have a lot of them sitting around, I'm probably not going to work all of them up, and I'd rather post them where they might entertain people.

Would you rather see sketch pages

1) consolidated into one or a few big downloadable sketch dumps?
2) uploaded separately, as many as possible all at once?
3) uploaded separately, paced as 1-3 pages or so daily or every few days for a while?

Actually I'll be at the con! No table or art show stuff, but around.

Please drop me a note if you need contact information!

Hey, is anyone going to Pacific Anthro Weekend?

I'm thinking of driving down from Oakland to check it out.

I realize it isn't too terribly likely but;

if you're reading this, and you still support President Trump in any way, please do us both a huge favor and unwatch me. And, if if I follow you, please let me know so I can unfollow you in return. Thanks.

S P E C I F I C S:
> d.o.b.: June 11
> gender: Genderqueer. AMAB.
> sexual preference: sapiosexual
> religious standing: agnostic/animist/Buddhist

A P P E A R A N C E
> species: Human, as far as you can tell.
> ethnicity: Ukranian-Eastern European mutt, Ashkenazic, probably Roma
> height: 5'9"
> hair color: Nondescript brown
> hair style: cut to business-standard length, I was growing it out for a while there.
> eye color: green
> glasses: aging wireframes
> typical clothing: button down shirt and slacks/gray or green t-shirts and jeans
> jewelry: red/black beaded necklace on occasion

P E R S O N A L
> current location: San Francisco Bay Area
> occupation: at present, contract/bid administration and vendor communications for a government contractor. Looking for something else, in case you're hiring.
> personality type: INFP apparently
> personality: exploring, curious, empathetic (or at least put in a good try), outdoorsy, imaginative, quiet and boisterous by turns
> family: parents in another state. I don't communicate with them often.

F A V O U R I T E
> books: A Sand County Almanac, Dancing in the Streets, The Hobbit, The Innocent Killers
> shows: Fooly Cooly, Samurai Champloo, Samurai Jack
> music: REM, Foo Fighters, Veruca Salt, Tori Amos, The Shaolin Afronauts, Dmitri Schostakovich
> animals: spotted hyenas, coyotes, red/arctic/swift foxes, bearded vultures, ravens, borzoi, border collies, percherons
> smells: redwood forests, incoming rain, ocean spray

A R T I N F O
> commission info: Current costs are $20/sketch, $30/inks, $40/flat colors, $46/cell shaded, $54/full color per initial figure. Additional figures are half price of the first. Unfortunately work is really eating me alive right now, so I am not able to work at all quickly and am really not open right now - but watch this space. I might get more time soon.
> art trades: Can't really do that these days, unfortunately.
> requests: Sadly, very difficult to manage these days.
> gifts: You'll know when you get one!

C O N T A C T I N F O
> Email: jonserval at aol dot com
> Tumblr: http://crocutable.tumblr.com/
> Twitter: brushwolf (private account, and I may not follow everyone back if that's cool)

I've been hearing a little about this thing unfold and I am trying not to join in the schadenfreude too much.

That said; a batch of well-off young partiers show up on an island when things go terribly, terribly wrong? And yet somehow, there are no robots or genetically engineered dromaeosaurs in sight? Where's the future you promised me, Hollywood?

Hey, heads up; Twitter may have decided that you're following @POTUS, @FLOTUS, or @ VP.

Which y'know, if you wanted to do that, I can't make decisions for you. But if you didn't want to do that, neither should Twitter.

This year I'm definitely doing Saturday, I started a new day job recently, so I really can't get Thursday, Friday or Monday off. If things go very well, or I get so badly plastered on Saturday that I can't quite drive home, I'll do Sunday as well!

Please DM me or let me know if you want to meet up on Saturday!

It really is nice getting to see another Star Wars story during the holiday season. I thought it was good to have something bridging the gap between the prequels and Episode IV (of course I liked the references to the Cantina, and cheered when Princess Leia showed up!), and this one felt more small-scale and personal than the usual sprawling epic.

That said, I still can't figure out why the Imperials were so focused on ruining Life Day, and the Wookiee effects really seemed off.

Hi! I'm trying to cover bills and am running a sale on some types of commissions!

Please send inquiries and character information through email, JonServal at aol dot com, thanks (I can flag email and am not always able to get to art archives as easily)! Here is what I can do for you;

* sketches ($16/figure + $8/additional) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20521837/

* inked drawings ($24/figure + $12/additional) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21538176/

* flat colors ($32/figure + $16/additional) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20893060/

* cell shaded pictures ($40/figure + $20/additional) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20492648/

* cut-and-grad colored pictures ($40/figure + $20/additional) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21025358/

* full shaded pictures ($50/figure + $25/additional, will check with commissioner after both thumbnails and penciling stages) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21527427/

* model sheets or sequential pages (negotiable) example; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20893060/ or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18415303/

Please send inquiries and character information through email, JonServal at aol dot com, thanks (I can flag email and am not always able to get to art archives as easily)! Here is what I can do for you;

* inked drawings ($30/figure + $15/additional)

* flat colors ($35/figure + $18/additional)

* cell shaded pictures ($40/figure + $20/additional, will check with commissioner after penciling for possible revision)

* full shaded pictures ($50/figure + $25/additional, will check with commissioner after both thumbnails and penciling stages)

* model sheets or sequential pages (negotiable)

Hi!

I'm hoping to make some money off commissions, and I wanted to ask for advice about which alternatives people might enjoy enough to put money into!

I initially hope to solicit $200-400 worth of commissions. The fastest way to do this are sketches at $20/single figure + $10/additional without revisions, but I am also available for;

* inked drawings ($30/figure + $15/additional)

* flat colors ($35/figure + $18/additional)

* cell shaded pictures ($40/figure + $20/additional, will check with commissioner after penciling for possible revision)

* full shaded pictures ($50/figure + $25/additional, will check with commissioner after both thumbnails and penciling stages)

* model sheets or sequential pages can be discussed further

What I'll need to know are primarily are character appearance (references help!), personality if you feel that's useful, and what situation you'd ideally want them in. Please email me about this at JonServal at aol dot com with "commission" somewhere in the header; that way I can flag your email, and I have an email address to invoice now that PayPal's gotten a lot stricter about their policies.

Since I am trying to scout an area out and move, I would like to make a little more to cover those expenses beyond commissions. What would people find most appealing?

* straight-up asking for support through GoFundMe?

* creating a Patreon as a big tip jar as well as offering illustrations as rewards? Those rewards would be printable (300 dpi) art of monsters or prehistoric animals.

* creating a Kickstarter for a 20-30 page color illustration book, focused on either monsters in general or prehistoric animals.

Thank you for your time!

oh oh oh oh
oh oh oh oh

I just got in late, today I barely ate
Caught at work till I near flipped my lid
I've been really stressed, I've been really bored
I wanna see what we got in the fridge

Birds don't just fly, they fall down and get up
Leftover chicken would sure hit the spot

I won't give up, no I won't give in
Till I reach stuff that should be in the bin
No I won't leave, I wanna eat everything
Even though that is a bad idea.

Oh oh oh oh EAT EVERYTHING
Oh oh oh oh EAT EVERYTHING

Yep. I went to see it again. I still think it's a much more appealing story than most other recent Disney, especially due to how the movie handles characters. I think that means though rewatching it really catches a lot of stuff that you'd miss the first time because the characters and story are that strong. This time through I noticed a lot of Cory Loftis' stylized logos all over the place and a lot of the animation, lots of follow through and secondary motion stuff. And a few more storyish things I figured were worth bringing up, talking about with other fans;

* Right at the beginning of the movie, as the Hopps' leave the barn for the Carrot Days Talent Show, there's a bunny walking past them with a flip phone. Given how omnipresent smart phones are throughout the movie it's a neat little head tilt to "this is a late 90s/early 2000s era childhood."

* During that first disastrous conversation where Nick basically tells Judy to give up on her dreams, they walk by a market, and Nick swipes some blueberries, which go in his shirt pocket. It's very fast and I'd previously missed it and it set up the idea that Nick likes blueberries and they'll show up later.

* I missed the dialogue between one of the predator-rights protestors and an angry prey being "go back to the forest!" "I'm from the savannah!" Among other things, we don't see a designated savannah area which really implies - when I think about the general climate, the animal types, and the Disney-funded research trip to Kenya - that the city center is supposed to be a Masai Mara type of ecosystem.

* Doug's conversation on the phone in the lab is about Night-Howler-darting a cheetah, but outside of Clawhauser you don't see more conventionally proportioned cheetahs. The big cats we do see are all broad-shouldered types with wide noses and prominent chins, and I can't imagine any character designer not really pushing the rounded heads and gangliness enough that a cheetah would be obviously different. So to me that phone conversation really pushes the idea that, just because you didn't see your favorite animals, doesn't mean they're not in there.

[edit; there's more]
* I think "Try Everything" brackets the main story both because it provides a nice musical number but also because it's basically so much about Judy's experience. The first time it shows up we don't give it much thought - it's basically this happy bouncy thing which jams home Judy's willingness to try. But when it brackets the movie at the end, Judy has failed and has explored way beyond her experience straight out of Bunny Burrow and Academy. She's done the first real footwork on being an adult, so the song at the end basically suggests that she's once again starting a new chunk of her life.

* There's such a variety of cars in Zootopia and it's clearly supposed to be this beautiful utopian place albeit with some ugly sides. Finnick's van backfiring is the only suggestion any of these vehicles might not have an electric engine of some sort. Given the big fronds on "palm tree" buildings in Sahara Square and the amount of foliage in the Rainforest District, I'd wonder whether their society is hugely solar-powered.

* My housemate's SO has this theory I really liked about Yax and the Nudist/New Age center. They've suggested based on our heros' interview with Nagi, that Yax is at the front desk because he's actually an incredible organizer and basically runs the place - he may even have been the guy who set it up, but he's certain that someone else is really responsible. "Oh yeah, and I got Fred to work on everything. Like I after I did the credit card reconciliation and pulled a P/L statement for the month, I talked to Fred and set up things for the electricians to rewire the mud pits, and then Fred was cool with me going to the dispensary. He's such an incredibly organized guy."

So I'd been thinking about some subtle things with how Nick's portrayed.

For someone who at first blush appears to be very much committed to the role of shifty, cunning fox, and he's clearly smart enough to try hustling people, he sure doesn't go for the big time; the biggest stunts we know he pulls are selling someone a skunk-butt-rug, playing on sympathy to get a Jumbo Pop for free, and selling pawpsicles and pawpsicle sticks (and these are incredibly, incredibly legal). I think his heart was never in being a scam artist; he's a frustrated Boy Scout, and for someone with more than enough reason to distrust police officers, he certainly drops being a scam artist very quickly in favor of getting to be one of the official good guys.

Also, we find out that "cute" is really an iffy word for non-bunnies to use before Nick drops c-bombs on Judy, multiple times, and before we learn that Nick spotted the Fox Repellent immediately. It's my guess that he spotted her specieism immediately, and decided that this would be a great way to really dig right back at her; he can easily claim he doesn't know just how offensive that is, and it fits with the intentionally hurtful digs he makes at her.

Basically I loved the film, and I've only seen it once so I might have really wrong impressions. I went in figuring it'd be like Big Hero 6, something technically perfect which completely didn't grab me, and came out thinking it was better than (non-Disney) Rise of the Guardians. I want to see it again (and again!), and it's one of those things that makes me wish I were employed by someone as an animator, storyboard artist, layout artist, anything, y'know?

I think what Zootopia really got right was character growth. The story focuses in on the two main characters, but drops just enough characterization for the mass of others - Clawhauser truly cares what others think of him, Bogo is embittered and cranky, the Oryx-Antlersons argue as a hobby but they're not complete assholes - that they don't seem artificial. It's much more convincing than the obvious comparisons, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6. I really felt involved in the main characters' sense of loss, sense of upset, I think because the story is that focused on them. Getting to explore who Nick is, and come to know him at about the same rate Judy does, is a really neat bit of storytelling.

Here's where it gets heavyish.

My biggest criticism of the movie as a discussion of prejudice is that we don't see economic inequalities that, in our world, really really keep prejudice rolling along. It's strongly hinted at; a thriving organized crime family suggests a poor population (suggested that it's predators) which doesn't feel they can find justice from the mainstream; Bellwether's position as a populist leader somehow suggests there's a lot of poor people backing her up; Judy's definitely living in a crummy apartment building; Nick is very clearly from a dirt poor family; Nick, Finick and Doug sure seem to be pretty poor. The abandoned subway stop and the abandoned factory might suggest that there was a recession a few decades ago - maybe the manufacturing base moved elsewhere? And certainly Nick's talk about how people come to Zootopia thinking their dreams will come true and the city breaks them, is the archetypical story you hear about LA - something really familiar to anyone working on the project.

But there are no homeless sleeping on the streets; there's no obvious gangs of young carnivore youths who just don't see a future elsewhere; we don't know that sheep or wolves are largely stuck with the poor-paying and physically intense, sometimes hazardous jobs which are the curse of the poor immigrant in the real world; we don't learn that it's so absurdly pricey to live in the rain forest that major corporations bus their valued programmers in from there, while the city proper is full of jaguars, tapirs and capybaras who can't afford to live in a rain forest anymore; that sort of thing.

Everything is suggested, not stated, and ehhh.... maybe it's better this way. The world is full of plenty of terrible things and Zootopia is among other things intended for children.

This, incidentally connects up to my big visual criticism of the movie - the city doesn't look that lived in. I'd figure there'd be roadwork everywhere, oddly mismatched architecture, vehicles obviously from anywhere within 50 years of differing designs, buildings obviously altered after the fact to account for recent residents different sizes and shapes from the original inhabitants. This might be one of those things I'll see more of when I re-watch the movie.

My best guess about how economics and prejudice work in Zootopia is that predators are perceived the same way Jews were perceived in prewar Germany.

I do think the movie has some really nice things to say about the nuance of prejudice in the real world. That we can hold a lot of preconceptions (a yak who's that sure the elephant's memory is better than his own!), that the stereotyping is differently nasty by group (see just how badly foxes get scapegoated compared to the big cats, who seem to enjoy a lot more social legitimacy), that each group has little stereotypes of themselves (bunnies can freely use cute to talk about each other, but used by an outsider, it's a pretty nasty bit of patronizing), that not everybody who holds prejudices (even really nasty ones, like the Hopps' take on foxes) does so because they are terrible people, and that unscrupulous people with plenty of power can eagerly mine less-powerful folks' fear as a source of support.

I really did like the open-ended nature of the end - you don't get to make everything perfect for everyone forever afterwards, but what you can do is improve things and try to help the future be a little wiser and more compassionate.

Considering that this stuff is difficult to talk about I think it sure beats nothing (I'm pretty certain I'm being all kinds of offensive right now! Do forgive me). What gets me is that the story must've been pretty established before everything in 2015/16 about race issues really broke - so all I can imagine here is that as Angelinos the writers were very conscious about this sort of thing.

Another subtle, serious thing I liked; Nick's flashback during the press conference might just be storytelling device, or, very possibly, the filmmakers just acknowledged that it's possible for males to wind up with PTSD from sources other than being in a war. I actually breathed a lot easier after "all" Nick's bullies did was muzzle him and tell him he wasn't and couldn't be wanted or valued - you come from a background like mine, you can imagine all sorts of really horrible things that a group of kids might do to an isolated social misfit, and over time, not just one terrible incident. These, thank goodness, aren't material a children's movie is going to show.

Anyway, I'm rambling. And being too serious. Zootopia, awesome movie. Yeah. :)

I adored the movie and I want to go back and watch it again, and again, and again.

Also, I've been very amused by making dumb comments on Twitter segueing off possible ways to spoiler the movie - I'm trying to avoid actually spoilering the movie but just in case, you might want to skip this if you haven't seen it yet.



#Zootopia is just an elaborate simulation and there is no Shell Beach but fortunately the fox can Queue.

Nick is actually a special model with no set longevity, Judy takes him and a spinner and heads north to Canada. In the director's cut we find out Judy is actually a Replicant too.

The killer was actually a powerful toad anthro, Hugo Statoc.

It's actually a clever replica and not the real Maltese Falcon.

My favorite part of #Zootopia is when Chief Bogo announces that today they are cancelling the apocalypse.

I also liked the part of #Zootopia where the fox is fitted with a muzzle and then strapped to the front of a war buggy.

I really liked the part of #Zootopia when they're in the abandoned subway station and Judy has to fight Agent Smith.

I really liked the part of #Zootopia where they fight an invisibility-cloaked spider tank in the abandoned natural history museum.

the part where Judy's gazing at the amazing sights of #Zootopia before arriving at a dumpy apartment in the middle of a Block War.

... edit...

"Hello! I'm here to ask you some questions about a case."
"Got the wrong fox, carrots."
"She say, you Braid Runner!"
"Tell her I'm eating."

Hello!

I wanted to repeat that I'm available for commissions! I'm still finishing out the last batch.

Subject material can vary, please send character descriptions, some information on what you'd like (activity, how elaborate), and a good email address to bill and to receive the completed project, to JonServal at aol dot com. Ideally I'll try to complete each commission within 1-2 weeks, but thanks to interviews and just general life, it might take a bit longer. My prices are as follows;

* single color pencil sketches; $20/character, + $10/additional character

* inked drawings; $30/character + $15/additional character

* flat color artwork; $40/character + $20/additional character

* cell-shaded artwork; $46/character + $23/additional character

* fully shaded artwork; $52/character + $26/additional character

* sequential pages; negotiable. Please discuss possible comics more with me, and please don't be surprised if the answer winds up being no.

Hi!

So the job I'd thought I was going to start is apparently on hold while [company redacted] undergoes reorganization. That means I have more time and need!

Right now I'm sticking with the usual procedure - I have up to 10 slots, and don't necessarily anticipate needing to say no to anything. Subject material can vary, please send character descriptions, some information on what you'd like (activity, how elaborate), and a good email address to bill and to receive the completed project, to JonServal at aol dot com. Ideally I'll try to complete each commission within 1-2 weeks. My prices are as follows;

* single color pencil sketches; $20/character, + $10/additional character

* inked drawings; $30/character + $15/additional character

* flat color artwork; $40/character + $20/additional character

* cell-shaded artwork; $46/character + $23/additional character

* fully shaded artwork; $52/character + $26/additional character

* sequential pages; negotiable. Please discuss possible comics more with me, and please don't be surprised if the answer winds up being no.