This is a High Definition (HD), or, high resolution, version of my new FurAffinity user avatar picture for 2026. Even though it has a 2025 copyright date (that's when I drew it, and posted it here).

I manually upscaled this picture to 12 times (12x, or 1200%) its original size. The original resolution of this picture was 72x96 pixels, with each pixel being a 1x1 square. I first enlarged the picture to 144x192 pixels (after enlarging the canvas to the same size first to prevent blurring from the anti-aliasing glitch in the Windows XP version of Microsoft Paint), and then added in pixels to match the new higher resolution (think Connect-The-Dots, except with pixels instead of dots that you draw between with a pencil), which is now 2 squares tall by 2 squares wide (4 squares per pixel, so 4x the resolution for the same number of pixels, making smaller details possible). I also rounded some of the edges as I was adding pixels.

I then repeated the process by enlarging the picture 2 times (2x or 200%) again to 288x384 pixels (again, after resizing the canvas to match first to prevent blurring from the anti-aliasing glitch in the Windows XP version of Microsoft Paint), which now brings the size of each pixel in the image to 4 squares tall by 4 squares wide (so, 16 squares per pixel for the same resolution of pixels, allowing details such as Gio's hair texture to be clearly visible, and also for the letters in the picture to appear "round"). I refined the rounding of the edges while adding pixels to match the new resolution, resulting in the picture you see now. For the first time, I was able to draw Gio's tail correctly, so that now it is rounded (instead of having sharp angles and obvious squares like before), and actually looks like a tail, now.

I made Gio's sunglasses translucent by tinting the objects behind them to match the tint of the lens in front of it, after reducing the Luminescesnce of the color of the objects behind them to 25% before adding the tint of the color of the lens, in addition to giving them a pseudo-3D appearance with the descending gradient of the "panels" of Gio's sunglasses lens; the leftmost "panel" of Gio's sunglasses lens has a tint of Red 192, Green 48, and Blue 0; the middle "panel" of Gio's sunglasses lens has a tint of Red 128, Green 32, and Blue 0; and the rightmost panel of Gio's sunglasses lens has a tint of Red 64, Green 16, and Blue 0. The light source would be to the upper left of the picture, to Gio's right, as indicated by the gradients of his sunglasses and his belt buckle.

Gio's hair texture (for anyone that is curious) is that of a natural "afro". His hair is not straight, and that is shown by the "angled" edges of his hair having visible variances in thickness, as some of the strands of his hair are curled around themselves and look thicker than they actually are, while other strands of his hair are single and appear thin in comparison to the strands curled around themselves. Gio's hair is black, like his fur color, but his fur color (as well as his belt and the pads and support bar of his earmuffs) are shown as different shades of dark gray due to graphics limitations, so that his hair (and pants) are visible to the audience.

I tinted the picture with a tint of Red 16, Green 8, and Blue 0, at a Luminescensce of 75%, by manually adjusting every single color's Red, Green, and Blue values to 75% by dividing each color's Red, Green and Blue values by 4, multiplying each respective result for Red, Green, and Blue per color by 3 to get 75%, and then adding 16 to the Red value, and 8 to the Green value, to tint each color in the picture (there are 44 colors in this picture).

The screen blur effect was created by enlarging the picture 3 times (3x, or 300%) from 288x384 pixels to 864x1152 pixels, without enlarging the canvas to the new size first, to deliberately induce the anti-aliasing glitch in the Windows XP version of Microsoft Paint - for use as a feature, despite it being a glitch. It is great as a "retro" filter, to capture the look of a film photograph, VHS tape, or CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) screen blur, when combined with period correct tinting (lower blue saturation than today, usually with a dark brown tint, such as this picture), and other special effects.

And, the "texture" that you see on the picture was created by saving the picture as a GIF file (from Microsoft Paint), which artifacts the image in a controlled manner to approximate colors due to the limited color palette of a GIF file - which is perfect for recreating the look of a photograph (or newspaper) print, when combined with the anti-aliasing glitch to blur the picture first before doing so, as printers do the same thing when mixing red, green, and blue ink to print a photograph or newspaper picture.

Also, the segmented, geometric, gradient colored font you see in the picture, as well as the font for the copyright year and copyright symbol was drawn in, as Microsoft Paint lacks the capability to do so (this is still the case in the Windows 11 version, even though I use the Windows XP version, on a Windows 11 computer). I added the descending rainbow of colors on the vertically arranged letters that read A N T H R O, as both an attention-grabber (and, because I like the way it looks on the picture - and not for the reason you gutterbrains are thinking of), but also as a shout out to the Blinx the Time Sweeper games on the original Xbox video game console, as the colors correspond to crystals in the game with different "time" functions:

Red - Retry (If you die in game, your actions will reverse what you did up to a point before your death.)

Orange - Fast Forward (You have superspeed relative to everything else around you.)

Yellow - Slow (Everything around you is at half speed, except you.)

Green - Record (You perform an action and the game plays it back; useful for obstacles that require two people to operate, or for killing certain enemies that are also "recorded" and can't be killed except by another "recorded" being, such as a recorded "copy" of you.)

Blue - Pause (Time stops in game without affecting you; allows you to pass, or, destroy, dangerous obstacles that would normally kill you if they were moving, and to solve certain puzzles, such as air activated tile switches under water that opens a door.)

Magenta Pink - Rewind (Time moves backwards in the game, except for you, allowing you to undo damage to an object to pass an obstacle, such as a collapsed bridge over a large and deep body of water that would drown you if you were to fall in; you need said missing bridge to cross it safely.)


The shout out makes sense to anyone who's ever played either of the two games (Blinx the Time Sweeper, Xbox, 2003; or Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, Xbox, 2004), as both Blinx (and Gio) are humanoid cats; both have "signature" eyewear: Blinx wears goggles, Gio wears brown-lens sunglasses, and, both are associated with Microsoft products - Blinx with the aforementioned games on the original Xbox console, and Gio, who's made/drawn in Microsoft Paint, as a technical showcase of what someone with skill can do with it (image tinting, image blurring, texturing to appear like a photo/newspaper print, translucent tinting), despite its limitations. I am by no means the best at using Microsoft Paint to create art - but I am one of the first people to use it to create special effects within its limitations (like using the anti-aliasing screen blur glitch as a feature, for example), not just for drawing. Breaking its limitations is what makes it fun to use, despite its unfitness as a tool for the task I am using it for.

At least the Windows XP version (which I use) is easy to use, and also not an AI (Algorithmic Imitator) data farm - the same of which can't be said for its Windows 11 App "replacement", which not surprisingly (to anyone, not just me), is a huge downgrade from the Windows XP and Windows 7 versions, with the added "benefit" of monitoring user actions with Session IDs, requiring users to reset the app (in App Settings under Settings) after every use without an internet connection (after using it, also without an internet connection), since Big Brother Microsoft can never have enough of your data to feed its (and its contemporaries/competitors) AI data farms.

The fact that the Windows 11 Microsoft Paint App has an AI capability (CoPilot Image Generator, which requires an internet connection and a Microsoft account to even use, with a rationing, 1 credit-per-use system) further proves my point.


I was going to wait 3 more days to post this, but, since I already made the picture, I figured I might as well post it early, 2025 copyright date and all.


Gio
Monday, December 29th, 2025
11:08 A.M. Central Standard Time (CST)