This is going to probably be one of those tl;dr posts but I'd appreciate if it was glanced over, at least


For those that know me well from my old account and this one, I constantly yammer on about my artistic influences:
Norman Rockwell, Leonardo Da Vinci, Chuck Jones, Don Bluth, Glen Keane, etc etc
I like to profess those aspects because I'm not going to proclaim I'm some deity that magically poofed with artistic ability and those other guys stole from me- I like to give credit where credit is due.

However, not many people know that there are specific creations from various artists that I sometimes meld together into one.

I used to be a wolf. Howly. Howly came to be by me wanting to upgrade from childhood to a mature young adult.
According to my world, at the time, transitioning from loving dogs to loving wolves makes you insta grown up.
I didn't know what fursona's were around that time but I felt I needed someone to represent me in a way others could respect and not view as a child if I posted work.
In other words, I took that shit too seriously.
She was around for about 7 years then my personal life hit the tanker. I came out of the battlefield with surprising optimism in some new found self discoveries but Howly wasn't going to cut it any more as far as representing me goes.

Thus
Arrow.
IRL he was inspired by a Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever I saw about 8 years ago while on vacation in the Keys. I was astonished that dogs could have a pink noses and totally thought that if I was to have a sort of a new character pop up, that breed would be it. However, I was about 14 years old and my attention span was short. I forgot about it entirely.
Zooming up to 5 years later, I remembered that dog looking through some photos I'd taken of the trip and decided to do something with it. I looked it up on google
That's it.
Needless to say, after I did so I didn't touch the idea until very recently wanting to return to my happier times as a kid who loved dogs like crazy.

(this is not in any particular order except when I wanted to develop a dog character)
1.
When UP came out, I was not looking forward to it. I always underestimate EACH Pixar film because, let's face it, those that mingle with Disney always have to compromise something for the sake of decency and maintaining an image if producing something from their studios.
I was pleasantly surprised, as I always am, absolutely adoring the film and, like any good 'furry' especially loving Dug.
When Dug came to the scene, I adored that big gigantic nose. I thought that was incredibly creative for a studio that usually tries to make their characters seem anatomically within range. That nose just completely threw me off and again, I thought if I were to have a character, a big nose would HAVE to happen.
If you haven't noticed, I'm not a big Disney fan. I don't claim to gain particular influence from Walt Disney or anyone from their team except Glen Keane because his expressionism is extraordinary and his style has set a trend for Disney. I guess as a kid, I wasn't satisfied with the mushy love stories and typically cliche characters with little to no action to the actual movie itself.
There have been exceptions, of course, and several Pixar films were those. However, aside from Dug, I can't name many characters that inspired Arrow to who he is today.

2.
TV was everything to me when I was a kid.
I used to watch it with great fervor all day every day looking to it as a sort of strange friend and baby sitter when I came home from school or on the weekend. My mom was always busy building her career as a teacher, my grandparents were usually asleep 84% of the time, so mind numbing cartoons had to keep me entertained. I don't know what sparked my interest with Loony Toons so much but I've always been enamored by the fluid style, music and nostalgia of each episode. Crashing, smashing, bashing, poings, bams, biffs, zooms, ker-plunk- every hard hitting scene I was totally indepth to. Every anvil smash, every giant mallet- I simply could not get enough.
Especially of that iconic bunny. Looking back to the series, you can tell that animators had a lot of fun with his 'wascally' personality and cross dressing tendencies. Especially with Mel Blanc doing voices. It was classic.
Bugs had/has this sort of smooth criminal aire to him that not only strokes my chivalrous/masculine aspects but also, my more mischievous tendencies. Being able to get away with things that most others couldn't because they couldn't jump into a dress or viking helmet or fake mustache and on a regular basis I find myself leaping into a story to save an awkward moment or spark some humor with ease. I indebt that aspect entirely to Bugs. He's always been a major inspiration of mine, especially when backed up by the animation team of Chuck Jones. Now THOSE were some cartoons that really brought out his character. As far as Arrow goes, you can tell by his lean shape, cheeks, brow and expressive eyes/limbs, "suave" personality AND of course RabbitArrow where Bugs slips into the design (and all that other stuff mentioned previously :P)

3.
Everyone has their heroes/mentors/God.
Jesus Christ, the Dali Llama, Gandhi, Charlie Sheen- the list goes on and on. Most kids pick up big tough alternatives or whatever is popular at the time: Optimus Prime, Barbie, again, the list is infinite.
But while those kids were picking up transformers and doll accessories, I picked up a dog. And boy, did I ever.
I'm not entirely sure what made me fall so completely head over heels for Scooby Doo (and not the "I want to fuck him" sense or "boyfriend/mate" sense but in complete idolization hero worship)- maybe his character design, maybe the voice or again, big nose, but something about him struck a cord with me as a kid and never left.
I was a fanatic. Literally. From 2nd grade until about 9th grade I passionately embedded my life with anything of this Great Dane. From knock off toys, to shirts, to cereal bowls or stickers, I would do anything to get my hands on merchandise. Scooby was also my claim to fame in elementary school- people knew me as "The one that loved Scooby" apart from my twin sister who loved Tigger at the time. I used Scoob in tons of projects too like, drawing him in a little civil war uniform when we were studying that time period or in 6th grade basing an entire amusement park after him for an entrepreneurial project. This dog never left my brain to the point of learning how to mimic his voice! XD
Scooby has changed drastically over the years and with each new change I found myself slipping out of love with his aspect/character, but he'll still be the number one pooch that I give a lot of credit to in my development of Arrow. Especially in expressions, jowls and paws and certain mannerisms.

4.
You have no clue, do you?
It's been wracking your brain ever since you stumbled upon this little melding pot in your submissions. "Who is that?" "What is he from?" "What's his name?"
THE STACK OF QUESTIONS IS OVERWHELMING.
Well
He's not from a cartoon.
He's not from a slogan.
Or any sort of obscure Netherlands advertisement.
This is Doggie Barker.
Who the fuck is that.

Doggie Barker is my first EVER persona. Devised probably as a coping mechanism of some sort or just an overactive imagination, Doggie was someone I LITERALLY would LARP from toddler to late teen. Why? Again, probably because of a lack of a father figure or my innermost desire to be a man- NO idea. He is, literally, a dog Bugs Bunny- Bronx, Brooklyn accent and all, however, more of a beach bum and surfer dude. Doggie is everything I am and I was everything of him for the most part- aside from accents. My sister and I used to draw our respective characters constantly- in art books, text books, what have you. There are literally drawers with our artwork saved by our mother up in an attic somewhere.
I really loved 'being' Doggie, but felt like he wasn't who I wanted to personify in the fandom- he's more of a personal character than anything- so I placed some aspects of him into Arrow like, the floppy ears, being a dog, and of course, the hair as well as traits of my own personality :P


This was fun! :D
I really enjoyed drawing this out because I haven't drawn Scooby, Bugs or Doggie in YEARS! I realized how similar they all were and in Arrow a couple of weeks ago and was like "That's it. I must tell the world!" XD

I'm sure there are some choppy pieces that don't really make a lot of sense but it's almost 90 right now here so I'm going to say this was mostly heat stroke induced writing @__@;

Characters belong to their respective owners <3