As you may have noticed, I haven't exactly been on here lately. My time is spent with puppies and my own personal art practice. I need to find what works for me and right now I'm not sure. I may post something sometimes, but I'm not sure. I don't even know if I'm really into drawing furry art or if I'd rather do something else.

Once I figure things out more, I will be back again, but I don't mind if people ever want to hit me up for chatting or something, I'm cool with that.

So my mate says I should start taking commissions with what I draw for the free peeps. He's not talking a lot, but like a dollar or two per pic. I will keep working on my freebie list in between and when I don't have any commissions, however, if you are interested let me know. Paypal for money unless you are a local or are willing to wait for money to be received in the mail to get your picture. All are digital, so you will receive a large copy of your image from me by email if you wish. Otherwise it's up to FA sizes. I will also have a contract written up for terms of service. Meaning... don't change something a billion times, keep in mind it's a dollar image, so I will work hard at it, but I won't spend days and days on it. Things like that to cover my butt, like i've been told over and over.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6452428 is an example of what you will receive. I will set price to 1-2 dollars at minimum. This will help me eventually get a new tablet and give me a push or drive to draw more.

shiftingspark [at] gmail . com for paypal email.

that sometimes personal pictures that I put more effort into it feels like I draw the whole thing about 10 times before getting to the point of coloring. I feel like I'm noticing more mistakes and every time I get close to finishing (I think) I find more... repeat several times over.... I know it's good to notice things and start correcting them now, but sometimes a whole day one picture feels like a lot.

Also, the biggest advice I've gotten was to never keep pictures I draw. The reason is you start seeing your mistakes and want to correct them and want to do it over and frankly start to hate the picture. I did that when I was in H.S. I never kept my own art for more than a few months at a time. So a few of the more detailed pictures I wanted to put on my desktop, but realize that I would do exactly that, find all mistakes.... it's bad enough I do it just glancing at it in my gallery, I can't imagine seeing it all the time.

Anyone else ever feel this?

So, I've discussed with a couple artists that I really enjoy what they did to reach their 'professional' level and what type of things they used for reference. I wanted to list off what I learned and how I can apply it and see what the census is. They are also not in any particular order, so it's not like I'm putting any one thing first.

1. Don't draw porn until anatomy is figured out. It's a good idea. I'd rather work on the anatomy more and get muscle structure and stuff taken care of before deciding what kind of bits I'd want to us (human, animal, or combination of both).

2. Gather pics from various favorite artists and find what I enjoy about them. This is a good one too. Many times I've seen ear styles or fur styles and even just coloring that I like a lot. Take those elements and start finding ways to put them in my art. See if one ear style is more comfortable or even more pleasing to the eye than another.

3. Draw things you don't normally draw/never draw when in an art block. This is a great idea. I expect things on my 'off' times to be bad anyway, so what would it hurt to draw something I don't normally draw and if it looks crappy, I'm not hurt, but it was extra practice.

4. Tracing is good, but use it sparingly. And never post it! I've used tracing in the past, but I'd use it on the whole picture, not a particular part. I need to change that. If I want to learn how an ear is drawn, then trace the ear and draw my versions on the same sheet until I get it right (or i get frustrated or w/e).

5. Anatomy is something you should draw over and over again. I am totally taking this to heart. I will be sketching anatomy more often. Finding pictures of people (nude would be best) and drawing them. Magazines, RL, w/e. I suppose I should start carrying a sketchbook with me and make myself draw more often when bored.

6. When drawing anatomy, do it in layers. Starting from the bones, to muscle, to fat, and skin/fur. This idea sounds very time consuming, but oh well.. art is time consuming and I will get faster as I get better.

7. compare yourself to yourself. People will always be better than me, but if I compare each picture and find what I did wrong, make notes, and practice what I need to (like hands) then I'm not worried about others, not relying on particular styles, and improving myself by knowing what I need to improve. Never assume that I know all either.

8.pick up lots of tidbits from other artists,  Onta and  Peritian are good on anatomy,  Tsampikos is awesome at coloring, and  Wolfy-Nail has a cool unique style. I agree. they are great examples to look at and follow. I will be finding my own references too. Ask questions as much as I can.

9.Look and Observe. Always, watch what and how the body moves while doing different actions, different body parts on different type of people. Let those kinds of things inspire a picture or an idea. This is where the sketchbook will come in handy. I will sketch when I see people. different poses. Someone waiting for coffee at a coffee shop or shopping or w/e I find and see.

10 And finally, use RL models if you can and as much as possible. I can't agree more. Anatomy in motion is much more to work with than a still picture. Kids playing, dogs running, people working. w/e I can find and settle in and sketch.

Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5363050 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5465351


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5201772 http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2063006/

x2
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3655896/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5126578
Ref 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3597101/

two of my characters together - Note size difference
Ref:http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....tachi/Zeen.jpg http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....hi/ShyZeen.png http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....i/ZeenRobe.png
Ref 2: http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....hi/Kaighil.jpg http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....aighilpink.png http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....ocenceLost.jpg
Ref Together: http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....i/DSC01825.jpg http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/.....ghtStudy-1.jpg

Sonic Styled Character
Ref: http://d.facdn.net/art/xxlarkxx/130.....sonic_copy.jpg http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/.....ou-d33vcb3.png


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5664215/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2127250/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5632711/


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Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5688877/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5729339


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5533458 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5545986


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5760445


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3461167/
Ref 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3864517/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5249053/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5524251


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4989690/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5456534/

They are all my Vlad she ish a shape and gender shifter so you could do her as any thing but her collar is always on
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5767972 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5569697/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5274967/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5354495/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5571957/

either her anthro or taur forms
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5770951/

Just playing with his tongue (in Jeans)
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5040123/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5757355

- Extra Chibi for 1000 Pageviews - Halo not included
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5714621


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5781995


Ref:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5396473/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5329426/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5066934/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5403690/

The Blue Guy
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5758497/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4574551


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/112351/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/857062/


Ref: http://i.imgur.com/ghDFB.png


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2814588/


Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4690082

EmiKa-chanX3
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5639807

hunter_foxclaw Add Cane http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4943585 - likes to hit things with it.
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5645204

KiyoshiOokami Sword: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5313146/
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5403930/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5292042/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5602027/

trakmiro
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5618304/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5633172/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5635605/

Happyhuskykoma
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5126053

FoxT
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5788636/ http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5790940/

King_Kangaroo Simple Pose: Me standing up straight frontal view with my paws down at my sides.
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4733877

kuden
Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4532845/

lonelydragon13
Ref: i am a purple dragon (male) and you can make me do what ever you want

put that shit in my hand if that money doesent show then you owe me ow e ow e o... Jungle Love...

I got that darn Jay and Silent Bob rap in my head and it hasn't gone away for the last couple days and it's driving me nuts... if you don't know what I'm talking about, then watch this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON0iqz4ento