Finally!

After years and years of planning and patience, here is the Swan Song, to bid my farewells to all of you, as I prepare to sail for some unknown but hopefully exciting future…

In the meantime, I entrusted good old Kylian with the task of explaining to you what all of this is about: it's a piece-of-cake job I am more than certain he will accomplish with no problems.

By the way, I apologize for the low resolution of this file, so you can find a high res version in 3 parts here:
https://sta.sh/02c36stmaxsv
https://sta.sh/013sbgubxa7a
https://sta.sh/04k8ybgzlaw
I had the (bad) idea of doing a vertical comic strip, only to realize photoshop doesn’t allow such big files to be saved in a convenient file format…So I had to drastically reduce the resolution. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the current file with no issues, as I’m not even sure I will at the time I’m writing this.

I will be honest: I have no idea if this is going to work the way I hope it will and I am SO nervous now. Years in the making, with different artists working on a similar scenario, then weeks of work on my side to come up with this little comic-strip (while my crazy mind couldn't prevent itself from adding more and more silliness into it).
All of that so I can leave with a bang.
I don't even know if it will work as intended, if people will find it funny or even play the game...Hopefully it won't turn out as one of those "fun and good ideas on paper" that end up being an absolute cringe-worthy disaster when executed, because it turns out stupid, or dumb, or people don't get it!...

Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts!
In any case, I would like to thank the 5 amazing artists who accepted to participate in this project and have kept it a secret ever since (some of them for years!), as none of this would have been possible without them. I will be honest admitting I am not the easiest person to work with, so I truly thank them for their patience and for putting up with my strange demands and shenanigans.

I should also thank all of you who have followed me for all of these years, some of you since the very beginning. I know I am not an amazing artist compared with others, and that my “fanbase” is not that important, but I am glad I wasn’t alone on that journey and I hope you enjoyed it as well. :)

Well, it’s not the time to get emotional, at least not yet! XD

Before any of the artists reveal their piece of art, YOU, dear watchers, will have to guess first who are those artists hiding behind this preview!
I am pretty sure you know all of them and are familiar with their art, so it should be a pretty easy task :)
Needless to say, if you are one of the artists who participated, try not to spoil the fun for the others! XD

Worst case scenario, after a few days, if nobody guesses right, I reveal the artists myself and allow them to upload their pictures.

So time for you to play! Post your guesses in the comments! :D

EDIT: Well, I did say it should be a pretty easy task. Boy were you guys fast! XD
In the rare event some of you have never heard of the artists mentioned bellow, I can not insist enough to go and check their work...NOW!
Don't hesitate on commissioning them when they are opened. Some of them are actually cheap...Way to cheap (everybody, double your prices AT LEAST!!!).

Artist 1:  BenJ24
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/28853036/

The first version was indeed done by our amazing and flamboyant green friendly dragon! BenJ was the very first artist who participated (you might recall I did an art trade as part of it). He's been waiting for two years to post his version, so I can't thank him enough for his patience! I somewhat wish I would have waited and asked him to draw it now: I remember seeing his art when he first started and I am amazed at how quickly he's been improving ever since! The sky is the limit as they say, so will his progress ever stop? I personally can't wait to see what he will be producing in the next few years and beyond! :)


Artist 2:  eternal.knot
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/28.....#cid:132878114

I could go on for a while about how amazing and rather unique Eternal's style is: he's like a hidden gem on this website, you can automatically spot his work from hundred of others and his art always reminds me of some old comic books from the 80ties, 70ties and maybe even before. The interesting part is that I've never really read comics from that era, but his style seems to evoke something that could have belonged to that era. I am very happy he accepted to be a part of this, and he added a nice twist to the original scenario by including other little annoying furry creatures in the drawing ^^...


Artist 3:  impximon
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28937866/

You can't go wrong with The Imp, can you? :P "cue the super-hero music!!!".
Ximonr was one of the very very very first artists I discovered, along with the fandom, when I started drawing 14 years ago. I was easily intimidated back then, and remember being somewhat scared and uncomfortable watching his art: I was like a shy and naïve little puppy! XD Still, I really admired his work: he's been a inspiration, a level of skills to reach and also a friend. To be fair, Ximonr's style really has some kind of "harsh-je-ne-sais-quoi" quality that conveys a sense of seriousness and maturity, no matter what the topic is. There is something in his inking technique that I've never been able to reproduce, no matter how hard I've tried. And boy do I like that inking, the style of his comics, that line quality: it's like you're watching a kid's cartoon with something extremely adult in the production design (putting aside content). It's like Ximonr is drawing Batman TAS while me, in comparison, I'm stuck with the flipping Gummi Bears! Nothing wrong with Gummi Bears (heck, they took Joseph TOTO Williams to sing the theme song), but I would like to add some more punch to my art!
In the meantime, Ximonr's version is a perfect display of his drawing skills as Kylian is stuck with...Well, you'll see by yourself! :)


Artist 4:  Sketcher92
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28929414/

Sketcher wasn't originally on the list of artists I had in mind for this Swan Song. But suddenly he opened an account on FA, he was available, he was on my budget, so I jumped on the occasion! This is definitely an artist to keep an eye on, and I wish I could sketch like him (no pun intended): there were a lot of messages and drawings exchanged for this version, and I was impressed at how clean and on the spot his basic sketches were...Anyone who saw me drawing knows how messy I am and how much of a problem that is for me! (I pretty much can't draw traditionally!).
Sketcher also totally nailed Kylian's design. You still recognize the character, but also the artist's style: it's like he totally appropriated himself the character, understood the design, what worked and didn't work, and how he could sublime it. I know this might sound cheesy, but it's true: when I started seeing the final pages, that made me react very strongly to my own character. He made me fall in love again with Kylian, made me go back to the "writing board", to work more on the story of that character. And just with that spark of inspiration that kicked in, I really managed to fill in some gaps that the script had for years! And here I am now with a story, characters and a universe I really want to share with you!
We also discussed a lot about the scenario for this comic, and came up with an idea I really like. Something stupid, funny, purely comedy...
And I personally think this is by far the most hilarious comic of all, and if one day Kylian and his story becomes a real comic, cartoon or thing...I am totally stealing this idea!


Artist 5:  viktria (and big big thanks to  egger as well, for being the Master of Coins while I was taking the commissions and paw icons ^^).
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28930434/

So this is interesting: I had Viktria in mind right from the beginning, and contacted her with the original scenario (which, you might have guessed, was very very stupid and silly). However, she was very busy with other projects, so we had to postpone everything for quite a while. It gave me time to think about another scenario, something more emotional and connected to the swan song and my departure.
If Sketcher92 did the comedic scene, I thought Viktria could be the perfect artist for the emotional one.
I pitched her the idea, along with a drawn script, thinking it would be too long, that she would refuse. Not only was she totally okay with my idea, but she nailed the kind of bitter-sweet mood I was looking for and that the comic needed.
Metaphorically speaking, this comic really symbolises my swan song: the departure, the feeling of "remembering the good old memories", the uncertainty of the future and what it might bring, as well as the future of my characters.
Viktria got it all right, even the most complex panels, even some crazy creature designs. I think we managed to get a fetish comic that actually doesn't look like and feel like a fetish comic. I just hope we didn't go too far with the sad part, to the point it might look corny: I'll let you judge by yourself. :)