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A-ho hum
General | Posted 17 years agoWell, I survived Rainfurrest, more or less in one piece and it was fun. Fun was had. Captured, tied down and had.
It was great seeing all of you there. Hopefully I'll see more of you at FC in California in a couple of months.
It was great seeing all of you there. Hopefully I'll see more of you at FC in California in a couple of months.
Requests from Oh...
General | Posted 17 years agoI've gotten 4 requests to do more pictures along the lines of the Oh...
The jaws requested so far are:
Lion
Wolf
Fox
Now, what surprises me the most is that Oh... is the first picture I've ever posted that got me private messages and requests. It's just something I wasn't expecting, but I can assure you I'm happy to draw critters mauling bits and pieces, but I'd like to keep the requests limited. I told the first lion guy, no problem! Wolf I wasn't so sure about and Fox..well...it's just a lot of critters and I don't want to exhaust my audience by doing a very long series. So, I'm asking how about two more? A Lion and a Wolf? Anyway, if you have a vote, just attach to this message. If there's enough enthusiasm for something I hadn't considered, then I'll add it to the list. :)
I'll also do them in slightly higher resolutions and cleaner art, not just fast bang-offs like Oh...
Or, if there's enough public outcry I won't do any at all! :)
The jaws requested so far are:
Lion
Wolf
Fox
Now, what surprises me the most is that Oh... is the first picture I've ever posted that got me private messages and requests. It's just something I wasn't expecting, but I can assure you I'm happy to draw critters mauling bits and pieces, but I'd like to keep the requests limited. I told the first lion guy, no problem! Wolf I wasn't so sure about and Fox..well...it's just a lot of critters and I don't want to exhaust my audience by doing a very long series. So, I'm asking how about two more? A Lion and a Wolf? Anyway, if you have a vote, just attach to this message. If there's enough enthusiasm for something I hadn't considered, then I'll add it to the list. :)
I'll also do them in slightly higher resolutions and cleaner art, not just fast bang-offs like Oh...
Or, if there's enough public outcry I won't do any at all! :)
Maurice Sendak made me furry!
General | Posted 17 years agoTo my knowledge, Maurice Sendak's "Where The Wild Things Are" http://tinyurl.com/4mzqh9 has been in continual print for 45 years. The book was written in 1963 and when I came of age to comprehend what a book was it became, far and away, my most often-read story.
The important part of the book, my takeaway, if you will, was the escape. However, as much as this journal entry is about my relationship to "Where The Wild Things Are", it is also about my relationship to furrydom. I've been letting this next part ricochet around in my head trying to find a less revealing, but honest and direct, a candy-coating or gentle way to say, as a child I was physically and emotionally abused to the point that I had to be "rescued" from my parents. We got that out of the way, but it's not something to dwell on. Let's get on to what "Wild Things" did for me, okay?
Well, Max is sent to his room without supper for making mischief. And just like that he imagines himself away, and he sails off to a land full of monsters. Only the monsters have big strong arms, and fur and feathers and scales and feet and only slightly sinister expressions and they treat Max like a king!
http://www.timelineuniverse.net/ima.....ild_things.jpg
They even give him a crown and a scepter! Well, I was Max. The only difference being, when the monsters say "Please don't go, we love you so..." I would have stayed. Look at the monsters closely, they always have an attentive eye on Max. They all want to be his friends. Even if the monsters ate me, I knew they'd do it because they loved me so much. And frankly, being eaten was a pale comparison to what the real monsters where doing.
Add to the fact that Max was doing CosPlay 45 years ago!
http://viz.cwrl.utexas.edu/files/08_SendakWild.jpg
(He's a wolf, by the way) Just by putting on his wolf suit he becomes a wolf! How cool is that? When I was six, I didn't understand the book. I didn't understand the story. It was ten sentences long, which in 6 year old terms was a novel! But each picture told me everything I needed. Any picture in the book would pull me into it as my eye traced every hash mark and pen stroke Mr Sendak put on the page. I could look at the monsters and imagine them with their arms around me, keeping me safe. I could hear the howls of the Rumpus! As a six year old who wanted desperately and terribly to escape, I wished (not knowing what a prayer was) to whatever a six year thinks is a god to turn his room into a forest and bed into a boat. There had to be a higher authority to appeal to, since Max obviously got away with it! I just had to find the way.
For many more years the monsters were there for me, right on the shelf, but still in a place I couldn't get to. When I learned abstraction and figured out what stories were and what fiction was and that cartoons weren't *exactly* reality, most of my worst times were over. I was safe by then, but the monsters were still my hearts desire. I may have had no concept of sex or sexuality, but my heart ached for the company of the monsters and I had no problem with the idea of sleeping with them (as long as they were warm and didn't have pokey-tickly bits, like feathers or razor sharp talons). Those are still rules I live by to this day, by the way. Also, look at the monsters. Each one is different, and yet they're all friends on this island. No race, no color, no species, but all of them mixed up in a bucket.
My relationship to art was also formed by the deep study of this book. I am more of a tradional artist, but I'm making my transition to digital. The insane level of inking detail and muted color pallette in Wild Things is part of the reason I loved it. I also love Mr Sendaks volumes and his balance.
So, in summary, I think it's pretty clear what I'm banging on about. "Where the Wild Things Are", more than any other childhood influence, stuck with me, kept me safe and filled in where a lot of filling was needed. Did it make me furry? Well, I doubt singly it did but it certainly was a contributing factor. Thank you, Mr Sendak.
The important part of the book, my takeaway, if you will, was the escape. However, as much as this journal entry is about my relationship to "Where The Wild Things Are", it is also about my relationship to furrydom. I've been letting this next part ricochet around in my head trying to find a less revealing, but honest and direct, a candy-coating or gentle way to say, as a child I was physically and emotionally abused to the point that I had to be "rescued" from my parents. We got that out of the way, but it's not something to dwell on. Let's get on to what "Wild Things" did for me, okay?
Well, Max is sent to his room without supper for making mischief. And just like that he imagines himself away, and he sails off to a land full of monsters. Only the monsters have big strong arms, and fur and feathers and scales and feet and only slightly sinister expressions and they treat Max like a king!
http://www.timelineuniverse.net/ima.....ild_things.jpg
They even give him a crown and a scepter! Well, I was Max. The only difference being, when the monsters say "Please don't go, we love you so..." I would have stayed. Look at the monsters closely, they always have an attentive eye on Max. They all want to be his friends. Even if the monsters ate me, I knew they'd do it because they loved me so much. And frankly, being eaten was a pale comparison to what the real monsters where doing.
Add to the fact that Max was doing CosPlay 45 years ago!
http://viz.cwrl.utexas.edu/files/08_SendakWild.jpg
(He's a wolf, by the way) Just by putting on his wolf suit he becomes a wolf! How cool is that? When I was six, I didn't understand the book. I didn't understand the story. It was ten sentences long, which in 6 year old terms was a novel! But each picture told me everything I needed. Any picture in the book would pull me into it as my eye traced every hash mark and pen stroke Mr Sendak put on the page. I could look at the monsters and imagine them with their arms around me, keeping me safe. I could hear the howls of the Rumpus! As a six year old who wanted desperately and terribly to escape, I wished (not knowing what a prayer was) to whatever a six year thinks is a god to turn his room into a forest and bed into a boat. There had to be a higher authority to appeal to, since Max obviously got away with it! I just had to find the way.
For many more years the monsters were there for me, right on the shelf, but still in a place I couldn't get to. When I learned abstraction and figured out what stories were and what fiction was and that cartoons weren't *exactly* reality, most of my worst times were over. I was safe by then, but the monsters were still my hearts desire. I may have had no concept of sex or sexuality, but my heart ached for the company of the monsters and I had no problem with the idea of sleeping with them (as long as they were warm and didn't have pokey-tickly bits, like feathers or razor sharp talons). Those are still rules I live by to this day, by the way. Also, look at the monsters. Each one is different, and yet they're all friends on this island. No race, no color, no species, but all of them mixed up in a bucket.
My relationship to art was also formed by the deep study of this book. I am more of a tradional artist, but I'm making my transition to digital. The insane level of inking detail and muted color pallette in Wild Things is part of the reason I loved it. I also love Mr Sendaks volumes and his balance.
So, in summary, I think it's pretty clear what I'm banging on about. "Where the Wild Things Are", more than any other childhood influence, stuck with me, kept me safe and filled in where a lot of filling was needed. Did it make me furry? Well, I doubt singly it did but it certainly was a contributing factor. Thank you, Mr Sendak.
