Spunky had a bit of an urgent need for some quick income, so in an extremely rare event, she opened for commissions, with fixed prices. Prices that were way below what her auctions usually go for, so I had to try to snag a spot. She collected requests for about a day or so, then picked the ones she liked. She liked this idea! ^_^ 'course, as popular as her art is, she had a zillion requests, so a lot of folks weren't selected, and they're probably pretty bummed about it. I can sympathize, having been in that boat many times (and currently in that boat, with another artist or two). I'm ecstatic, as I've been after a color commission from her for years. :) I did manage to get a collab piece a while back, with her line-art and ivybeth's coloring, which was awesome. But now I have a 100% Spunkified Rooth! And I love it! She even added a papery texture to it, which gives it a nice touch, dontcha think?

This pose captures my love of coffee, Spunky's love of scarves(*), and also is reminiscent of my big 40th birthday celebration in Vail a couple of months ago, where we spent a good deal of time just hanging out in the chilly ski-resort city (thus the scarf!), sampling coffee at shops, browsing galleries, eating fine food, getting massages, and doing a bit of working out. No skiing though, not this time. Goal here was relaxation, not soreness. ;) Also note the perfectly acceptable lack of wings - Rooth, being a shape shifter, does have the capacity to "put them away" when he wants to. On a chilly breezy day where he's not going to be flying anyway, they're better off stowed. Similarly for his plantigrade stance - he can shift 'tween that and digitigrade on a whim, and he's pretty whimsical sometimes, so either stance works for him.

(*) tip for 'how to get selected' when artists do stuff like this - find some overlap between what they love to draw and what you want drawn, and you're more likely to get selected (scarves, in this case). Concordantly, if you eliminate from your concepts stuff they don't like to draw, you're more likely to get selected (e.g., buildings are rough for many furry artists). The trick is figuring out what they do and don't like to draw, especially if they don't make it obvious in their blog entries or by way of their personal art pieces. Leaving enough open for their creativity and preference also helps a bunch. There are never guarantees with 'choice' style commissions, but you can improve your chances by tuning your request to their interests.

Art © 2011 Spunky
Character, Rooth'ragon © me
Original post: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5785112/
Quoted: $210. Paid: $210+tip