Hi all,

If you're in the Phoenix area, there is a new one day mini convention taking place with a $15 ticket price. The event is called Itty Bitty Fur Con. This seems like a fun escape from the summer heat and the details are available below.

https://ittybittyfurcon.com/

- The Desert Fox

Hi all,

You may know me as Desert Fox, an artist and photographer who has been involved in the community since 2009. Recently, I've been going over photos from the last seven years and put together a 280 page book with over a hundred different fursuiters from meetups and conventions ranging from 2009 to 2016. One third of this book includes photos from the Lone Star furs, such as the Arlington and Plano Meets as well as Texas Furry Fiesta 2015 in addition to photos from the Arizona Furs BBQ/bowling Meets as well as AZFurcon 2013 and 2015. If you attended any of these events from this time-frame in fursuit, there is a strong likelihood that you are featured in this photography showcase.

The book is called Fursuit Collective Volume 1 and is a 280 page photography showcase of some of the most memorable fursuiters that I've encountered during my time with the fandom. All of the photographs are full color, 8x10 inch portraits at 300 DPI.

Here's a list of all the featured fursuiters.

https://twitter.com/DesertFoxSky/st.....90477116633088

If you would like to take a quick preview, here is a link to a random assortment of pages from the book:

http://www.blurb.com/books/7024520-.....ctive-volume-1

Finally, here's a link to the photo book, available through Blurb publishing. I've done everything I could to keep the list price low.

http://www.blurb.com/b/7024520-furs.....-by-desert-fox

Any feedback on the book? Feel free to message me on twitter desertfoxsky or reply to my journal here.

Thanks so much for reading and have a great week! : )

- The Desert Fox

Hi all,

Here are the photos from Mohr's party event. Enjoy!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

- The Desert Fox

I am currently considering selling my two fursuits to finance other hobbies, notably my interest in photography. As I simply don't suit enough to justify keeping them, I am offering them up for sale. I live in the Phoenix area, so any local furs interested are more than welcome to contact me to try out the suit.

Both suits have zippers in the front so its easy to get suited up. They both come with their own totes.

Desert Fox Fursuit

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce7dXrXXEAA-d9a.jpg

Digitgrade Deer Fursuit

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce7dXFWWEAAT0Hg.jpg

These costumes would fit anyone roughly 160 lbs, 5'10" with a medium build.

The fox includes:
Full bodysuit, two bandannas, one black storage tote, tail, head, indoor feetpaws made by Matrices, outdoor feetpaws, handpaws. Asking price $1500.

The deer includes:
Full digitgrade bodysuit, deer head, two fans, two black storage totes, carbon fiber outdoor feetpaws, handpaws, tail, belt and a cool vest with cooling packs. Zipper is in the front of the suit. Asking price: $2000.

I have one pair of Under Armor leggings and Wilson under-armor style undershirt which will go to the first buyer free of charge.

I'd love for these suits to get a new home so they can be worn by someone with more time to enjoy them than I have!

If interested, make me a reasonable offer.

- The Desert Fox

On the president's order, a decision was made to rewrite our national anthem! Please stand, remove your hat, place your hand over your heart and recite the following!

O' say do you see!
By the dawn's early light!
Its Cap-tain Freeagle
And he's here for a fi-ight!
Communists, terrorists
And those things that end with -ist!
They better be scared
Of the Captain's Free-dom Fist!
Red bombs bursting in air
Explosions every-where
Gave proof to the night
That freedom's still here!
O' say does that star spangled
Eagle yet save
The land of 'Merica
And the home of the Brave!

- The Desert Fox

Hi everyone,

Here are all 60 photos from this month's fantastic Spring BBQ.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05

Thanks once again to the organizers and everyone who contributed so much to the potluck! As always, feel free to share these photos with friends and family!

- The Desert Fox

Wow, what a weekend!

A special thanks is owed to everyone for their fantastic feedback over the last couple of months These suggestions have been quite helpful in shaping the characters, concepts and overall quality of the CF project.

A large milestone was reached this weekend with the copyright application being submitted through the U.S Copyright Office along with the completion of a promotional 104 page Art of Captain Freeagle book. A hard copy print of the book is expected to arrive within two weeks for review, prior to being green-lighed for publication. The copyright process is expected to take eight months due to the volume of applications in queue. Total cost for this was $55 and the application took two hours including file upload time. Feel free to send a note if you have any questions about the Copyright Submission process.

The Art of Captain Freeagle - An All American Web-Comic is expected to be offered as an incentive for those who make a contribution to a future Kickstarter campaign. This campaign will launch when more content is ready to show for the comic including a reasonable amount of progress on Issue #1. More updates are on the way in this department. These will also be available for sale separately at a cost of $50 each as a trade paperback. Proceeds will go to fund web-comic development.

For those curious, here are some stats on the book: 104 8"x10" pages at 300 DPI, 50 hours completion time, 21.3 GB worth of PSD source files, a 224 MB final PDF and 10 total days worth of production time. Included in the book are 60 full color, full bleed concept art pieces and 30 character biographies.

So where to go from here? CaptainFreeagle.com website is currently being worked on and Issue #1 is in pre-production with a script ready to go. The next step will be to work on Issue #1 and bring it to life, so this will involve plenty of time spent working on layout sketches, thumbnails and studying existing comic books to understand to the layout process.

All of this is incredibly exciting and its going to be a hell of a project! Thanks again for all the support and keep the feedback coming! : )

- The Desert Fox

Hi all,

I am doing some research in regards to self-publishing and would like to know if any of you have experience in this area?

In particular, here is information I am interested in gathering.

1. The U.S Copyright Office Submission Process. Have you gone through this and what has been your experience?
2. Are obtaining ISBN Code(s) truly worth it for a small publishing firm, or should I use the default Blurb ISBNs?
3. Whether establishing a LLC is worth it, or whether this is a better strategy for a maturing sole proprietorship.
4. Your thoughts on print on demand fulfillment using vendors such as Lulu or Blurb as well as lead time.
5. What price points are reasonable to you for a comic book (24 page estimate) Trade Paperback (100 page estimate) or a Hard Cover coffee table style art book (100 pages). All products will be full color and full bleed.
6. Would you be interested in a Captain Freeagle comic book based on the characters you have seen already?
7. If you don't answer these questions, the communists win!

Thanks!

- The Desert Fox

The milestone of 25 separate 8.5x11 character art concept art pieces for the Captain Freeagle project was hit this afternoon and I'm looking forward to starting a rough storyboard draft of Captain Freeagle and the Freedom Squad soon along with some fun web comic panels.

In the meantime, a friend of mine is helping out with the website (which I expect will launch Q2 of 2016 or sooner) and script writing for the main comic is done. I have a few more character concepts on the way along with some more politically themed webcomics for election 2016 which is relevant to the times and may help with building a following.

If anyone has any feedback on the artwork or suggestions on any fun comic ideas, feel free to send 'em my way. I appreciate all the ideas folks have had so far and look forward to seeing where this year takes Captain Freeagle.

- The Desert Fox

Last night's bowling meet was fantastic! Many thanks to everyone who helped make this event a huge success! Here's the photo set from this event.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

As always, feel free to share with friends and family. Enjoy!

- The Desert Fox

Thanks to Kahlua for the invite! Here's all my fun photos from this fantastic event. : )

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

As always, feel free to share with friends and family.

- The Desert Fox

Hi everyone,

TaiyouCon 2016 was absolutely fantastic and totally worth the time! Here is my gallery of the best shots from the event. As always, feel free to share with friends and family.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

All shots were taken with the fantastic Canon 70-200 2.8 IS USM II, which is my go to glass for portrait sessions.

Enjoy!

- The Desert Fox

Hi everyone,

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for the fantastic support, comments and feedback this year for the webcomic. While the concept is still in development mode, your comments and feedback have helped shape the concept, refine the art style and bring these fun characters to life.

Looking back, this year has been tumultuous with a move back to Phoenix from Texas, several strained friendships, a critical surgery, family emergencies, taking care of a dying dog, constant overtime at my old employer, a move to a new employer and a challenging holiday season. Looking back, its amazing to see how much artwork was completed for the Captain Freeagle project during this time and I couldn't be more happy with how things progressed.

Thanks to everyone who provided encouragement and support along the way.

Secondly, I really do hope to make 2016 a breakout year where more comic production will take place. My 2016 roadmap is still in the early stages, but I hope to establish an independent presence to produce content, link this content to numerous art communities/feeds and ultimately drive traffic to the web presence. I would also love to build a social media presence to drive traffic and mentions. This will be a taxing project, but I've always wanted to pick a project and finish what I started. If all goes well, a trade paperback issue will be on the horizon.

For those interested in a fun Christmas scene, here is my gift to you. May the holidays be fantastic!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18602104/

The best gift I can get from everyone would be continued feedback and comments as this is a gift that keeps on giving. You are all helping to shape the story. I look forward to bringing this story to life.

Respectfully,

- The Desert Fox

A few folks have asked me recently about the Captain Freeagle project and where it goes from here. At this time, I'm still in the process of exploring concept art and establishing the general look and feel of this concept. The project is getting close to having enough promotional assets to reasonably pitch the concept on Kickstarter or GoFundMe, but certain milestones need to be hit first before that happens. The project is well on course, but it is not being rushed. This truly is a project of passion.

I appreciate the folks who left feedback on the previous journal and on twitter. All the thoughts have been very, very helpful in improving the project and fine tuning the presentation.

To describe it quickly, the whole concept is going to be a throwback to 1960's America specifically with the architecture style, technology, costumes and aesthetics. Think of Mad Men meets Team America meets Jonny Quest with a Zootopia like world of cartoon animals. Lots of booze, cigarettes, political humor, underhanded dealings and cartoon mischief.

The idea is to keep America stuck in a 1960's aesthetic years after the cold war has ended, due to Captain Freeagle's efforts. The US at this time has become stagnant - since there is no more cold war, there really hasn't been much of a cultural development beyond the relative peace following the 1960s. Technology remained very much the same with vacuum tubes, CRTs, radios and inefficient, heavy steel cars. I want a clunky world, but with people who have cheeky optimism and feel complacent in the empire they have created. This is all turned upside down when their world comes under attack by an unexpected menace.

In Joss Whedon style, horrible things may happen to key characters. I won't say who, what, when, where or why. But they may happen at critical junctures. This will be important to show the fragility of the world that the characters live in and the nature of their fleeting existence.

The panels will be drawn in color, with full detail to really capture the essence of what we're going for. Here's a preview panel.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18301493/

More concept art and panels are coming and I look forward to presenting them.

Thanks everyone for the support!

- The Desert Fox

Hi folks,

I have some free time this week and next before I start a new job and would be interested in seeing if anyone wants to hang out, fursuit or kick back and chill at a restaurant and enjoy some beer. I'd be up for target shooting and hiking too. If so, just let me know!

- The Desert Fox

Hi folks,

I'm just putting up a quick survey to gauge the direction folks would like the see the Captain Freeagle web comic take. I am doing concept development and have posted some test panels to my scraps. Scriptwriting is underway.

For a quick runwdown, The concept is sort of a Team America meets Looney Tunes concept with superheroes, celebrity villains and very light political humor. I have already decided to steer clear of very controversial things like religion, drawn out conflicts in the middle east, etc due to the potential for those things to polarize audiences. I really want something full of humor that will make people laugh. But to do that, I really need some feedback to get a sense of direction.

Feel free to take a look at the characters and test panels in the scraps folder. You can take a quick look if you want and skim them. In particular, I have a few quick questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. Would you like to see any political humor at all, or non-political humor. If so, why?

3. How do you like your web comics? Single panel, multi-panel? Or both?

4. Who is your favorite character in the lineup so far?

5. Which characters should be redesigned or are not 'strong' concepts?

6. What do you think about the concept? Does it resonate with you?

Feel free to answer any of these questions and I really look forward to hearing what folks have to say. I'm really excited about the idea of putting together a webcomic that works from the 'furry' perspective, but can still appeal outside of the community to those who enjoy cartoony web-comics.

Thanks for your time, even if you take just a few minutes to look.

- The Desert Fox

Wow, what a great convention! I can definitely say this was a major improvement over the first one I attended in 2013 and look forward to seeing this convention event grow over time. Its a bit late here in Phoenix, so here are the photo galleries.

Check out the full event gallery here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

If you prefer a different look, I tried something different this year. Two sets - main event and after dark.

Main event set - My convention experience condensed into just about 60 photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182.....57660053422491

After Dark Set - Experimental low light photography. Safe for work, I promise!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182.....57659982955366

Enjoy!

- The Desert Fox

AZFurcon

Are you going?
Yep!

Dates:
October 15-18

What will you do?
Fox related things!

Can I buy you a drink?
Sure, I'll have a Corona with lime.

Can I buy you things?
Can't say no to that. : )

- The Desert Fox

Hi everyone,

First off, a big thanks for the organizers for putting this fantastic event together and coordinating the meetup. Everything turned out great, except for the heat, that is. Somehow I survived the day with half a case of water.

Anyhow, here are the photos from the event. Feel free to re-post and share with friends and family!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

Most of these were shot at 200mm @ 2.8 which is a change from my usual shooting style. I typically stick at 50-70mm, but figured I'd change things up a bit.

Enjoy!

- The Desert Fox

Wow, that was an outstanding convention! Although I was only there Saturday, there were plenty of really cool people there and some amazing costumes. For those interested, click the link below to view my Saboten-Con 2015 gallery. This set turned out great and I'm already looking forward to next year's convention.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182.....57657854481450

Feel free to share these with friends and family.

I have also opened up for art commissions for those interested in character or color work. Please PM me if interested and we'll discuss specifics.

- The Desert Fox

P.S - For those curious, all pictures were taken with the Canon 6D and 24-70mm 2.8L II combo which is simply great for low light shooting. I really love the responsive and incredibly accurate low-light AF performance with this pairing. This was definitely an upgrade from the Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 which was already excellent on its own.

These last few months have certainly been interesting, so I thought I'd take a few moments and reflect on them.

A few of you may have noticed that I haven't been visible at meets lately. My recovery from recent hernia surgery is mainly to blame for this and I hope to be active once again at meets by mid to late September. This is all dependent upon my recovery, which has been much slower than I would have liked it to be.

Our family slot machine business has been growing with new orders from repeat customers, so my role in updating the website and reviewing our monthly finances has pretty much taken me away from setting up new meets. Since I have returned from Texas to Arizona, I have once again resumed handling product photography and managing our numerous website listings, in addition to other company projects such as competitive analysis and marketing initiatives. Christmas is coming up soon. Due to this, my availability for setting up meets may need to wait until next year as I am low on time for planning work.

I do have a new illustration studio set up and will be opening up for commissions once again to help fund several key projects for my full office upgrade. These commissions will be prioritized so they can be completed in a timely manner and I'll announce my availability as soon as a I wrap up a few commissions for private clients first. I am planning on opening (tastefully drawn!) NSFW commissions for those of you out there who happen to be interested in such things!

My next meet up event will Saboten-Con 2015 followed by AZ Furcon 2015. If anyone has a hotel room they would like to share for a reasonable price during AZ Furcon 2015, feel free to let me know and we will have a conversation. If no rooms end up being available, I'll use the convention as an opportunity to do some creative portrait photography.

I look forward to these next few months ahead and hope to see you all once again soon!

- The Desert Fox

As an artist and creative person, I frequent blogs and creative forums online in search of new techniques or approaches to bringing my ideas to life. Its quite interesting and enjoyable to see how others approach the age old question of how to effectively communicate visually and execute on a concept. Its also sadly fascinating to see how with all of the technology, software and tools available, that artists and creative folks make the same mistakes over and over again. This is all due to their ability to be swayed by buying into the concept that purchasing expensive gear, equipment and software will improve your artistic ability.

How so? The age old adage of spending extra money in pursuit of the silver bullet that will improve your creative skills, whether it be photography, illustration, animation or graphic design. The silver bullet is of course marketed in various ways with fancy packaging, illustrious testimonials, and product placement by influential commentators who all want a slice of the action at your expense.

A great analogy I ran across was a story about a photographer named Ansel Adams who was well-known for his stunning nature photography. A reporter spent quite a lot of time to chase him down to ask some interview questions and had a chance to just ask one. He asked 'Ansel, what is the most important part of your camera?'

Now, if you would ask all the artists on the forums, they would say 'Oh, so and so lens', or 'So and so model', or 'You need to buy this brand!' or 'You need a full frame sensor- that's the most important part of the camera'. The question is really not the right question of course. However, Ansel, being a master of his craft, had a stunning answer. He simply gestured to his forehead and remarked 'The most important part of my camera is the nine inches behind it'.

You see, the most important creative tool you have at your disposal is your own creative mind.

Money, fancy equipment, top of the line gear...none of this really will make you a better artist in any sense of the word. You may have added technical convenience or a slight edge in producing content more quickly, but the core creative process won't be improved.

This all goes back to the $5 pencils that I see sold at stores like Michael's. Is there much of a difference between a fifty cent pencil and one that costs $5? Besides a brand name, not all that much. Its part of the reason why I spend a few bucks for a pack of bic pens and use basic blue pencils for sketching. I don't much care for being had by the marketing machine and would prefer to focus on creating with baseline tools. Now there are always exceptions to the rules, but the point of this article is not to fall into the trap of 'If only I had this software, I would be a better artist', or 'If I only had the Wacom Cintiq, I will be a better artist' type of thinking. That thinking is incredibly expensive and there is not much to show for it.

When you get hung up on this way of thinking, it creates a cycle that is hard to break. I see this all the time with photographers who drop a bunch of money into gear, then keep buying more and more gear in pursuit of the holy grail that will improve their photography. They're never satisfied with that they have and they fret over what gear to bring with them when they go to shoots. They end up overloading themselves with gear and when the moment comes to get their picture, they miss the shot because they were too busy switching lenses.

The key is to get away from the process of overthinking and overloading on gear. Instead, create a simple tool set that works and master that tool set. Once you do this, you'll see a difference in how you create.

For those interested, here is what I have been using to create. My mantra: keep it simple.

One camera - two lenses.
A pack of Bic ballpoint pens
Blue Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils
Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet
Desktop PC
Photoshop CS3
Flash CS3
Sketchbook

That's it. I see beauty in simplicity and minimalism. I'm content with what I have and need nothing more.

- The Desert Fox

Is anyone on here reserving a hotel room for AZFurcon and need a room mate for the weekend to split hotel costs? Let me know!

- The Desert Fox

Thanks everyone for your patience while I resolved getting my PC set up to process photos once again. Everything is now ready to go and the AMF Mesa bowling photos are now up. Feel free to re-post and share however you like. If you re-post, please link back to my profile.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68182932@N05/

A big thanks for  AZ-Furs for all of their help setting this up!

- The Desert Fox

I have noticed one thing with the FA community and that is an uptick on scamming attempts to obtain free art or commissions. I do most of my selling on ebay now to attract serious buyers only.

However, it is tough to sell art/fursuit commissions on ebay, so in lieu of that, here is what I've been doing.

1. Look at your buyer's profile. Do they have a history on FA? How long have they been posting? Someone who just set up an account could potentially be a scammer using a dummy account. Check their shout boards for red flags from other users.

2. Read your potential customer's journal posts and look at their postings on other online accounts such as Twitter, FB or DeviantArt. If they are consistently negative or have a history or getting into arguments or spats with other patrons, I decline the sale/transaction and politely state that at this time I am not moving forward. I also type their username into google to see if anything 'scam' related pops up. Scammer names usually end up on artist beware blogs/boards. If I have a gut feeling that the user is a scammer, I will add them to my blacklist to cut off further communications.

3. Invoice your customers and insist that for sales, all sales are final. That way you have a paper record of the transaction. Insist on an invoice so you know who is buying from you. Scammers are weary of filling in invoices with their real name or with their contact details as they thrive on anonymity.

4. For high value items, insist on a cashier's check from a bank. When you receive the check, call the bank to authenticate and verify the cashier's check. This way, you are protected from fraudulent credit card/paypal chargebacks which are much easier to do for scammers (paypal almost always sides with the buyer). In addition, you are also protected from fake money orders by verifying authenticity. Make sure to communicate in writing the tracking number information and also insure your item for the full value. Add signature confirmation to your package as this will prove if an item was received, and if so, who signed for it. Maintain a paper trail and get confirmation from the seller in writing that the item has been received. Keep those records for your personal records.

5. Needless to say, honor your terms of the transaction when you come to agreeable terms with the buyer and deliver. Strive to be professional at all times. Have clear terms or a clear policy in writing that both parties agree to. Make the invoice your contract for delivery.

These are just general guidelines to protect yourself as an artist. Without artists, there would be no FurAffinity and in the spirit of fairness, it is important to receive fair compensation for your work.

Hope that helps!

- The Desert Fox