That's just frickin awesome o.w.o

This is gorgeous!

This is awesome! Great job, can't wait to see it when it's finished!

You should talk with Dragoneer (and probably Muzz) about auctioning it off or something at FA:United. Could be worth it.

Maybe, though I had considered keeping it myself. In case I ever want to get a table selling stuff at a con, this would make a pretty excellent advertisement.

This is true! Both good plans.

I’m usually one that follows the phrase “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”, but I would just like to offer a bit of constructive criticism.

As you go through a pattern such as this one, you should plan ahead a bit and replace the “odd colored” rings in the generated pattern so that they actually fit within the picture itself. This way you don’t actually follow the pattern verbatim and end up with a raccoon with pink/blue fur.

Please understand that my intent is not to be mean. By replacing said rings, the piece would overall look much more unified and “picture like” rather than super busy and difficult to put together at a moderate to close distance.

I'm not sure which you're talking about when you refer to "the odd colored rings." I mean, in a large part the entire thing is an exercise to check whether this method allows for generating an accurate pattern that works for an arbitrary image. The goal is not for it to come out with flat colors and sharp pixel lines. It's true that the image I started with was maybe not ideal in that outlines come out a bit odd, but I've also done this with a photo, and it ended up pretty well.

Going through and adjusting the pattern while working it introduces opportunities for making mistakes, and also can lead to inconsistencies in how you correct things. I did adjust the pixels directly for the eyes, but I did that on the pixel map I was working from to avoid problems.

(Also, I think I'm good with it ending up looking indecipherable from up close. I like the way it resolves like an impressionist painting when you step back.)

Odd colored rings = pink / blue / green where there should be tan / brown.

I actually was talking about modifying the pattern (the pixel map) and not necessarily the mail.

And as long as you’re happy with I suppose that's all that matters. Like I said I was only trying to offer a bit of helpful criticism. :)
I'm just glad you took it that way and didn't fly off the handle. DX