So. There's a interdisciplinary research field called animal studies. I believe those of you who like to Think about animals will find it relevant to your interests. I sure have.

Some of it is animal-welfare and animal-rights related, some of it isn't. Also, it's academic stuff, so expect "difficult language" at times...

*mumble mumble*.. Quality over quantity... *yadda yadda*... here are two open-access and apparently peer-reviewed journals on the subject I managed to dig up:

Antennae
[...] The Journal combines a heightened level of academic scrutiny of animals in visual culture, with a less formal and more experimental format designed to cross the boundaries of academic knowledge, in order to appeal to diverse audiences including artists and the general public alike. Ultimately, the Journal provides a platform and encourages the overlap of the professional spheres of artists, scientists, environmental activists, curators, academics, and general readers. It does so through an editorial mix that combines academic writing, interviews, informative articles, and discussions with an illustrated format, in order to grant accessibility to a wider readership. Deliberately provocative and irreverent, whilst maintaining an academic edge, Antennae has, over the past two years, become an international point of reference for animal and environmental studies in the arts. [...]

Humanimalia
The past twenty-five years have witnessed an extraordinary explosion of interest in human interfaces with non-human animals. Since the publication of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation in 1975 and the beginning of the movement for animal rights, human relationships with animals have become a focus of study in disciplines ranging from archaeology to literary studies, from sociobiology to postcolonial theory. This new attention recognizes that animal/human interfaces have been a neglected area of research, given the ubiquity of animals in human culture and history, and the dramatic change in our material relationships since the rise of agribusiness farming and pharmacological research, genetic experimentation, and the erosion of animal habitats. Our social and legal relationships with animals have become an object of scrutiny through increased animal rights activism, a shift from a discourse of “pets” to one of “companion species,” and the expansion of representations of animals through media, as animals increasingly disappear from our day-to-day experience in the West. [...]


[edit]Here are two more:
http://www.criticalanimalstudies.or.....dies/archives/
http://www.aasg.org.au/animal-studies-journal


And here's one that's not open-access, but seems to be good. Perhaps someone studying at a university can make use of it:

Anthrozoös
Anthrozoös is a quarterly, peer-reviewed publication whose focus is to report the results of studies, from a wide array of disciplines, on the interactions of people and animals. Academic disciplines represented include anthropology, archaeozoology, art and literature, education, ethology, history, human medicine, psychology, sociology and veterinary medicine.

From the depths of youtube comes a 5 hour long documentary on the history of pornography:

Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - The Road To Ruin (1/6)
Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - The sacred and profane (2/6)
Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - The mechanical eye (3/6)
Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - Twentieth Century Foxy (4/6)
Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - sex, live & videotape (5/6)
Pornography : A Secret History of Civilisation - Pornotopia (6/6)

I wonder how furry fits in.

[EDIT] Not surprisingly, all links are dead by now.
Just ignore this journal, or try to find this documentary by some other means.

Why isn't creative work psychology and methods of actually getting things done taught as part of art education? Arguably, it would be the most important skillset they could teach.

Some people have no problem with it, others (the majority of my art university friends) get ridden with creative blocks and paralyse when instilled with vague, high, perfectionistic ideals of "fine art" and faced with "go somewhere, fetch something" asignments. Then comes the endless cycles of procrastination, rushed work, disapointment, regrets and added fear for the next project. Sometimes it gets so bad they creatively self-destruct and quit.

This is called art education?.. Seriously?
Lobotomy would be a faster way to achieve the same result.
No wonder good artists are described as those who "survive" their education.

---

Rant aside, here are a few resources that have helped me get things done as a professional:

http://the99percent.com/
http://lateralaction.com/creativeblocks/
http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/.....obody-told-me/
http://blog.iso50.com/14312/overcom.....reative-block/
http://vfxsolution.com/allanmckay/2.....uctivity-pt-2/


Other recommendations:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Fear-Ob...../dp/0961454733 (subversive-imaginati)
http://www.tomato-timer.com/ (Avisk)
http://danidraws.com/2007/02/21/101.....-illustrators/ (pac)
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/200.....-productivity/ (pac)
http://zero2illo.com/productivity-t.....ration-career/ (pac)
http://escapefromillustrationisland.com/ (pac)
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/li.....lf-taught.html (davimink)
http://www.sketchoholic.com/contests.php (davimink)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0865474877.....ef=cm_sw_su_dp (stigmata)


Interviews:
http://characterdesign.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/tags/featured-seller/ (pac)
http://studio-sweet-studio.com/tagged/interview (pac)
http://illustrationfriday.com/blog/.....ry/interviews/ (pac)
http://www.fuelyourillustration.com.....re/interviews/ (pac)
http://www.sidebarnation.com/ (stigmata)


If you have more to recommend, please mention them in the comments, I'll add to the list.
(If you're worried, I assure you I'm not prone to ragequitting and deleting everything. This is here to stay.)

Here's something for the animal lovers.

And here's something for the bears.

Know thyself.

---

Sorry scalies, birdies and other not-quite-mammal stuffs, this is a mammal-only party. Though you may find a mention of your favorite class, a few orders and families here.

An ongoing comic project worth checking out --> http://hobolobo.net

This is one solid student film. The design of the visuals, the gritty style, the execution, the characters, the textures, the story... Oh whatever, just watch it yourself.

These successful marriages of 2d and 3d make me optimistic. Finally it's getting less technical and more creative.

Don't you just hate it when someone does what you always wanted and far better than you would ever hope to achieve?.. First Beth Cavener Stichter, now this!

So I heard you like deerboys...

I really suggest watching the hd version in fullscreen - it's all so painterly beutiful and it's full of surprising details that often do get lost in the resized one.

Awesomest animation I've seen this year, i've lost the count how many times I went through it frame-by-frame.

French animation students are completely nuts...

On my trip to Netherlands & Belgium I had business with a
man, who has been collecting art for 50 years - mostly erotic figurative paintings and prints. I'm infinitely thankful to him for letting me take a peak at a small part of his collection and spend a whole day browsing his library, which is nothing short of mindblowing.

Afterwards I feel inspired to stick to erotic/pornographic art for a while. Having seen just how big the scope of such art can be, I come to realize it could potentially be a better vehicle for meaning than I had originaly anticipated.

"I've never thought that art is better than pornography--it's just more expensive."
-Andres Serrano

(I know I don't have to provide excuses for making such art, but still...)

Anyhow, here are a few erotic artists I've found to my liking:

Felicien Rops - currently my favorite. Mindblowing stuff.

Hans Bellmer - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Rojan - [1] [2] [3] - there was bestiality series "L'Ane d'Or" based on a story by Apuleius, [1] [2] [3].

Jules Pascin - [1] [2] [3]

Eugene Le Poitevin - [1] [2] [3]

Andre Lambert

Jean Morisot - [1] [2] [3]

Marcus Behmer - [1] [2] [3]

Otto Rudolf Schatz - [1] [2] [3]

Rudolf Schlichter - [1] [2] [3] [4]

Laszlo Boris - [1] [2] [3]

Philip Pearlstein

Franz von Bayros

Joseph Smith - can't find much erotic works online, one book had a work by him, called "intercourse with the devil" (couldn't find it online).

Willi Geiger - couldn't find any of his erotic artworks online, I remember a series of etchings.

Efwe Ornikleos - not a single bloody google result... nothing.

Here's a bunch more erotic artists.

P.S.: looking for the example works by these artists I came across this: Museum of Bestial Art - the writings aren't special, but the works collected seem to be hard to find otherwise, a list of books on the subject also useful.
Apparently you can't blame only furries for bestiality art... what a surprise! Who would have guessed?

These couple of TED talks shed some light (atleast for me) on what memes actuallly are, how they work and what it entails:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/s.....and_temes.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennet.....ous_memes.html

Very interesting ideas - if you happen to have a few minutes to spare, I highly recommend taking a look atleast at the first one. There's also a scientiffic field, called memetics, researching memes, so if you think memes are limited to nothing but harmless little fun games on FA (I admit I did get that notion, for some reason...), you may want to rethink things a bit to see it in a wider picture.

http://al.chemy.org/download

Omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg..!

YES!

Splatter shapes! Ribbon shapes! Ability to write own modules! They fixed the pressure shape glitch! Scrawl shapes no longer lag! A limit effect that gets rid of your old strokes! Normalize/smoot effect! Flip horisontal/vertical! Bug fixes!

It's also beta now.

I'm in heaven.

If you ever wondered what the word procrastination means...

(Yes. Those are the things I've been doing all this time.)

This thing looks wonderful. I think it actually IS wonderful.

This HonkFu guy is ace.

Take a look: http://www.sexinart.net/

It's completely mindblowing - heaps and heaps of erotic art of all kinds!
(Arguably, it's a relevant theme on this site.)

Apparently it's been around since 2006 and is still pretty active. I have no bloody idea how this flew under my radar all this time.

I don't promise anything, but I may give it a shot.

[Edit] Colors won't happen... Stop mentioning that word.
[Edit a few months later] Ok, colors may happen...

Judith Williamson's lecture - "Culture of Denial".

I won't say what it's about, but I can say that it concerns you directly, no matter what your position is. I'm sure you'll find useful ideas, interesting observations and food for thought if you choose to listen to it.

This guy is ace.

Look ma' ---> furries!

Note to self (and maybe not only) - try to stay creative when dealing with balls, tits and whatnots.

A decent collection of well-informed scientiffic (some philosophical, some neurological/psychological) papers on all maters pertaining to animal consciousness.

Most of them lean somewhat towards the existence of consciousness in one form or another in various kinds of animals, or stating that the question is irrelevant for different reasons. So I figure, if you like thinking (and if you liked Nagel's paper "What is it like to be a bat?"), you'd be interested in this stuff.

There's been a lack of activity from me, mostly since I was occupied with reading this thing... I wanted to read them all, write introductions of each, and to collect freely available links for all the articles contained within' instead of just posting the torrent (because you know - torrents are icky icky warez things, atleast usually), but I quit halfway, since the ones I read were all quite good, and I couldn't find a single one that wasn't already available free online. So... yes, I have reason to believe this isn't piracy, merely a handy collection of the papers already available free off charge.

Thinking is a good thing.
Have fun.

I came accross this quite well-written paper concerning animals:

"Animal sanctity and animal sacrifice: how post-Darwinian fiction treats animal victims" by Marian Scholtmeijer

If you like thinking about animals, about the ethical problems surrounding them, the (unjust or not) depictions of them in our culture and the reasons for that, you should probably find this very interesting, worth a read.

It's 300 pages worth of good observations and ideas, if you're short on time, just read the introduction - some very good points there, good for getting a taste of what the rest of the paper is like. Or if you're REALLY short on time, atleast read the abstract.

Just found this stuff while writing a research paper on Jean Tinguely:

Machines that make art:
http://vernissage.tv/blog/?s=jean+Tinguely

http://vernissage.tv/blog/ - seems to be packed with random videos about art. Looks worth sifting through.

Here's some info on Tinguely, with links to images and videos (that don't seem to be showing for me, try youtube links below):
http://www.art-and-play.com/Art_and....._Tinguely.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMPL.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrq.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrs.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx7e.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jTY.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yais.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaDG.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKql.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o6o.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IQx.....eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKql.....eature=related

Optional bullshit from me:

If you hadn't yet guessed (I wouldn't be too surprised; why should you care), I have a thing for Jean Tinguely. I find his works factinating. The themes he tackles, the questions he asks is precisely the stuff i like pondering: symbolism and metaphor inherent in machinery, our relationships with machines, the irony of our technocratic/technophilic civilisation and its likeness to Sizif's myth, the pointelssness and the uselessness, the ambiguous duality of organic and mechanical & how they sometimes flip roles and seem to be each other or one and the same, how (some of) artmaking seems so mechanical, heck even Life in the broad sense if we're to look at cellular mechanics (link to fascinatin CGI vizualisation of DNA and its mechanics), how movement is life and movement is the only thing durable, how machines tackle existence differently, sometimetimes via self-destruction, sometimes via demands of being maintained, how machines are somehow malefic to things organic in many ways and how they're so alike to our skeletons reanimated - maybe relics left after us, maybe threat of our undoing, not quite alive, nor exactly dead (undead?)...
The fun and the terror. It makes me laught, it makes me sad, it makes me fear, it makes me think. And that's a good thing.

The way he approaches all of it with his trademark playful ironic "black" romantism with frank sincerity just completely blows me away, each time i want to applaud despite (or because of) the fact that noone's listening.

"Black": he painted some of his sculptures black to avoid the heterogenuity of the components. The said quality paired with the zoo-reminiscent motion and the sound... never ceases to haunt me.
That's also one of the reasons i don't like colors anymore.

Gaeabionta and deus ex machina.

Now available free under CC-attiribution-sharealike license.

What? How? Why? Here.
[edit]Here's a short article about it.

This totally made my day. Week, even. :]

Sure, it's kind of old news, but in case you've missed it - you can find all the episodes collected into one piece here.