FA+
Shop
460
Views
Views
8
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Photography / Fursuit
Species Feline (Other)
Size 1280 x 1165
File Size 311.6 kB
Report this content
More from Murrahnithahn-i-ia
My half of the Xmas gift exchange at the Prancing Skiltaire. 
got my part- hope she likes how I've done her buddy Riley's tail!
I don't know if Riley has an FA page, but the character is copyright to her. :) May she wear her new tail with much enjoyment!
got my part- hope she likes how I've done her buddy Riley's tail!I don't know if Riley has an FA page, but the character is copyright to her. :) May she wear her new tail with much enjoyment!
Category Photography / Fursuit
Species Feline (Other)
Size 1280 x 1165px
File Size 311.6 kB
A lovely little place KaniS introduced me to: a furry household near LA that the locals go to hang out, watch movies, yak, share food and wander about in suit. Awesome, total nerd-fest. Some folks get snuggly, others madly scribble in their sketchpads (there's a lot of that), folks play table-top games like Munchkin or Zombie Attack and get just plain silly. It's a good time.
At the last Skiltaire, it was their annual Christmas gift-echange, and I got gift in one of the draws (there nded up being two, since some folks brought more than one gift each). She chose my offering when he name got called, so I did a tail for her and she did an adorable drawing of me and KaniS for me.
At the last Skiltaire, it was their annual Christmas gift-echange, and I got
gift in one of the draws (there nded up being two, since some folks brought more than one gift each). She chose my offering when he name got called, so I did a tail for her and she did an adorable drawing of me and KaniS for me.
You have a suit? Coool! You'll have to pardon me- I get all silly over fursuits. Love the things. Gonna try and build 'em, eventually. I'm making a pair of dragon suits for me an KaniS as a kind of test to see if I can do it. The mask in the background is the base for my head. Kani's is behind it: if you look, you can just see the muzzle of the card-stock form I use as a frame for the papier mache. It's an experiment to see if papier mache will work as a hard and durable material (after I impregnate it with acrylic medium, first). If not, then I'll try the trusted foam and balaclava so many others use. Though I really like 
approach: she makes molds for faces out of spray foam insulation, then furs that.
approach: she makes molds for faces out of spray foam insulation, then furs that. 
There might be a regular fur-meet in your area, if you go looking. I'm sure you've asked around at least once- maybe try it again? Turns out, there was a semi-regular gathering in Winnipeg of the local furry folk, but they were rather a small group and no-one had suits, to my knowledge. Many were also very young and there is apparently a big problem with cliqueism, something that infects any Winnipeg activity horribly. I haven't had a chance to check them out in person, but I know two guys who know of the group and both tell me the same story: cliquish and elitist, which I find very strange in a furry crowd. O_o
Indeed! But, first you need to find out where an when they are, then see if you happen to know anyone who's a member of the group. Then, go with them. If you don't know anyone, then see who is a member and try communicating with them. If they like you (almost a surety) then an invitation will be likely.
I know like one person who might qualify as a fur. >..>
And now that I think about it, I think he has tried to invite me to some almost-local furmeet, though I've always been back at my parent's place and unable to go. Now that I live here "permanently" they're still too far away.
And now that I think about it, I think he has tried to invite me to some almost-local furmeet, though I've always been back at my parent's place and unable to go. Now that I live here "permanently" they're still too far away.
Argh. That's a bummer... All I can say is keep looking... Kani and I still have to drive something like forty minutes outside of LA to go to the Skiltaire meets. There's a fur in LA 
She's organized the occasional fursuit meet where folks gather in suit and go for a wander through the streets. That looks like a lot of un. :)
She's organized the occasional fursuit meet where folks gather in suit and go for a wander through the streets. That looks like a lot of un. :) 
Trying to finish those for FC, me. *grins* They're the forms for my and KaniS' heads. Mine is almost done, now, just have to skin it with the hologram and white fabric I got to represent my opal scales and I'm still sculpting Kani's. It's a kind of papier mache called cellu-clay. The stuff dries light and seems pretty durable. I'm gonna seal it with acrylic varnish, then glue on the material. If I get 'em done, they're gonna look awesome!
Thanks for liking Riley's tail, too! Isil wanted a "brindled" effect on the fur and I found this stuff in downtown LA- did a little colour work on it to bring up the already-there pattern.
Thanks for liking Riley's tail, too! Isil wanted a "brindled" effect on the fur and I found this stuff in downtown LA- did a little colour work on it to bring up the already-there pattern.
Oh, there will be photos! I've been taking pix throughout the construction. Kani's' head is nearly finished- skin and all. Mine is still nekkid, but I'm gonna be driving with Kani to his buddy's place tonight, where we'tre gonna stay overnight before continuiing on to San Jose for the Con in the morning. I'm sure I can finish mine there- it has fewer pieces, too, so it should be faster.
I've been having some major construction problems (size being one- almost too small), but I think I've worked out the bugs- I'm definitely doing these again with a different frame-work- card-stock blows. But, it was what I had, so I went with it. My preference would have been a material called modeller's mesh: aluminum netting that you can shape and cut like fabric, and it holds it's shape nicely.
I've been having some major construction problems (size being one- almost too small), but I think I've worked out the bugs- I'm definitely doing these again with a different frame-work- card-stock blows. But, it was what I had, so I went with it. My preference would have been a material called modeller's mesh: aluminum netting that you can shape and cut like fabric, and it holds it's shape nicely.
Yeah, it's got both an underlayer of softer pile and guard hairs with the striping dyed in. Sweet stuff and so soft.... I enhanced some of the stripes to give it a more rusty look and added a few darker stripes and the centre blaze of black and brown to make it less monotonal. I'm pretty happy how it turned out, though I still wanted a bit more curl to the tip. Oh well, it still worked, and I'm happy with that.
Downtown LA is crazy- they have a "fashion district" that's something like 90 blocks square... O_O Areas divided off into clothing, jewelry, fabrics, upholstery supplies, sewing machines and repair... Insane and they all seem to be these wee little stalls with no organizing principle other than just pile the stuff on the floor and dark men with thick accents haggle with you over it. I find it a lot of fun to go digging around in there.
Downtown LA is crazy- they have a "fashion district" that's something like 90 blocks square... O_O Areas divided off into clothing, jewelry, fabrics, upholstery supplies, sewing machines and repair... Insane and they all seem to be these wee little stalls with no organizing principle other than just pile the stuff on the floor and dark men with thick accents haggle with you over it. I find it a lot of fun to go digging around in there.
*chuckles* Indeed not! O_O Heck, I'm pretty much a vegetarian - I "break the rule" when I go out, though- meat does occasionally pass my lips. Some of the faux furs out there are awesomely done- beautiful stuff that feels wonderful to the hand and looks quite real. When Isil asked for a "brindled" look, I thought I would have trouble finding it. Nope- there are three places I go to that have a pretty good selection of fun furs, and it was at the second one.
If you have money, the place to go would National Fiber Technologies- but their stuff is insanely expensive because they make specialized stuff for movies and museums. They can an do make custome orders of fabrics and faux furs, but be prepared to pay upwards of forty dollars a square foot.
Other places have cheaper, but just as beautiful material ($9-$20 a yard)- just look around your city, I'm sure you'll find something.
I like meat, too, preferably raw. But KaniS is a vegtarian for ethical reasons, and I happen to agree with him. I also saw a movie recently that nearly gave me a complex: it's called "Earthlings" and I'd advise not watching it if you don't have a strong stomach. That film is a pretty brutal expose on the meat and fur industries and how the animals are raised, treated and killed. Despite loving my predator's ration of raw flesh, I was so disgusted at how the animals were treated, I made the decision to go off meat almost entirely. I still crave it, though, but I'll only eat it when outside the house, and even then, not often.
Other places have cheaper, but just as beautiful material ($9-$20 a yard)- just look around your city, I'm sure you'll find something.
I like meat, too, preferably raw. But KaniS is a vegtarian for ethical reasons, and I happen to agree with him. I also saw a movie recently that nearly gave me a complex: it's called "Earthlings" and I'd advise not watching it if you don't have a strong stomach. That film is a pretty brutal expose on the meat and fur industries and how the animals are raised, treated and killed. Despite loving my predator's ration of raw flesh, I was so disgusted at how the animals were treated, I made the decision to go off meat almost entirely. I still crave it, though, but I'll only eat it when outside the house, and even then, not often.
lol I totally agree! I would never own a real fur coat! Though, I've never seen anything on leather... o.o and I really like leather. I've seen those videos about how the poor chickens are treated, that's why I usually get the free range chicken eggs and meat at the store. I've never seen cows get really mistreated though... I mean besides the poor little babies. I've never eaten veal though.
It was how the cattle were butchered that had me having trouble holding my gorge down. Ugh, those poor animals. They are often not dead, merely stunned, when they're suspended from a single leg- through the muscle and upside-down, their throats slit to bleed out too slowly, in my opinion. Imagine how that must feel for the animal going through such a horrible process. *shudders* We'd rise in a fury if something like that was done to a human-being.
Veal: I refuse to touch it. an animal, even if it's eaten later, should get to at least live it's life to adult-hood. I know many don't survive infancy or adolescence in the wild due to disease, starvation or predators, but real predators don't keep the calf in a tiny pen so it can't move or build muscle, either...
Argh- I'm starting to sound like I'm preaching- better stop that, before I get stupid with it.
Veal: I refuse to touch it. an animal, even if it's eaten later, should get to at least live it's life to adult-hood. I know many don't survive infancy or adolescence in the wild due to disease, starvation or predators, but real predators don't keep the calf in a tiny pen so it can't move or build muscle, either...
Argh- I'm starting to sound like I'm preaching- better stop that, before I get stupid with it.
Yow, that must make for some uncomfortable conversations when one of those folk finds out you're of the same or similar faith. Eek. O_____o I'm mildly religious, myself, though it leans toward a near-atheism- but I'm a Pagan with leanings toward my Tribe's spirituality. I've actually met a few Pagan fanatics, and yes, they are scary- the insane kind, as were all of the Christian fanatics I've met. The whole "my way, or the highway" approach to evangelism is terrifying, especially if the group gains any real amount of political power. *shudders*
lol don't i know it! I'm christian myself, but oddly I don't really put as much merit into the bible as most other Christians. One of my old pastors told me I wouldn't go to heaven if I didn't believe in the bible. Religion is rough. I think it's more of an idea than a set thing, you can never be certain until you're dead ya know X3
As one movie preacher put it: "What if the Hari Khrishnas are right?" *giggle* But, seriously, religion and the faith it can inspire should be a personal growth thing, not some official institution policing their Dogma and cracking down on anyone of even a slightly different opinion.
It was a blast. I never saw so many suits in one place in my life! I did finish the masks and participated in the fursuit parade- there were over five hundred costumes! Wow. O___o Only a pawful were dragons, and canids were by far the most represented (foxes, wolves dogs, etc), a good smattering of felines, two pokemon (that I recognized, anyway), any number of kawaii anime girls (even the boys), a couple of minotaurs, plus two aliens (the telephone critters from Sesame Street), a werewolf and one tank made of cardboard... Dunno what was up with the guy being a tank, but go figure.
Pictures forthcoming!
Pictures forthcoming!
Indeed! I got some lovely pics of us wearing them at one of the photo-shoots the Con provides: that was pretty cool. I'll post some images of the masks themselves and the Con pics will go up as soon as the photography studio that does them uploads them to the Net and I can yoink a couple of the cuter images of me and KaniS.
Thank you, hon! *huggles* It was bizarrely easy to make- the longest part was re-tinting some of the fur to bring out the brindle more. I could probably make a half-dozen tails like this in a day, if I'd done the cutting the day before. But, I definitely need to find a btter fur for things like the poof on the end- that stuff was such junk, but it was all I could find. Hopefully, it won't detract from the gorgeously-made main fur- that stuff is brilliant.
The stuff is so soft to the hand, too! Also takes inking well. Thanks for liking it! The person who'd commissioned me had asked for a "brindled" look, and so I headed for my personal favourite place to find fabric: downtown LA's Fashion district. I found this at the second store I checked. I keep a list of places that I'd found good selection of faux before, but it was still a surprise to find it so fast. The only flaw in the design of the tail in my mind was the end didn't curl up as much as I'd hoped (it was supposed to be bobcat-like for the sabre-tooth)- I didn't give the pattern enough of an exaggerated curve to it. Keep forgettting to do that, if I want a strong curvature.
Aw XD Bah the places I find offline aren't worth a damn. You get fur once, go back, you can't get the nice stuff you got before AND whatever's left (if anything) is just shit.
Can't say my online sources are any better. DF used to make really nice backings for the fur, then I guess the manufacturer had cut backs and one yard I ordered was just super shitty backing.
Can't say my online sources are any better. DF used to make really nice backings for the fur, then I guess the manufacturer had cut backs and one yard I ordered was just super shitty backing.
Dang. I've been considering ordering from them. One manufacturer I'd love to get my claws into is National Fibre Technologies, but their stuff, while brilliant and gorgeous, is so expensive, it makes my tail kink. They weave all their own stuff, though, and will do custom orders, too. Their stuff has wonderful stretch to it as well- amazing stuff for suits, that. O_______O Oh, to dreeeeeeeam... Heh.
All the yards I've gotten from them were great until I bought one of the Tricolor furs. The backing on it was shit and had holes in it that were a real bitch to stitch up- it made a decent blanket and an xmas gift though, other than that it sucked and it wasn't even THAT soft like the regular solid color long hairs
Most of the stuff I've handled wasn't all that soft, either, except the angora mixed fur they had. It's the realistic look of the subtle colours they do. Most of the material I've have a chance to handle (admittedly, not much) had fairly loose backing on it, so I'd just plan around it- say, by backing it with a firmer woven material with similar stretch and tack it down to that, then sew it into something. Pity you've had such lousy luck in getting fur. I've only had one crappy lot, but it's only two and a half yards- I'll eventually use it in something, though it likely won't be for suits (it's the stuff I ended up using for the tip of Riley's tail- I couldn't find anything else in the right length or colour, dangit).
Comments