Sooo I have finally decided I should get myself an actual suit! And not one in the distant future, but like, now! xD Surprisingly, it all kind of just randomly happened! An unrelated conversation in a group chat about a week ago to which a local suit maker replied, led to me DMing them about it, then starting to talk about fursuit stuff, and before you know it, we were planning out a suit!

I've given it lots of thought over the past week. Initially (well before this past week) I was intending to jump straight into a realistic fullsuit with all the bells and whistles, but now I realize that I should probably first learn how to take care of one to begin with. So the intention with this one is to make a "daily driver" fullsuit, something I could use in any situation, that would be relatively easy to store, wash and take care of, and in which I could feel comfortable spending time in without worrying that I could break something. It will be digitigrade though, but a more slim-fit version with just enough leg padding to imitate the effect. It will have no hard or moving parts (foam or TPU head base with soft maw lining, soft claws), only sewn patterns (no airbrushing), and a detachable, non-suspended, slightly floor-dragger tail. The maker being pretty close by and going to some Dutch and Belgian cons that I also am going to, means can I have an easily accessible long-term maintenance plan for it, as well as room for additional accessories or different variants down the line (for instance, a shorter tail that I won't dust the floors with).

Of course, this function-over-form scope does bring with it some limitations. The biggest one being that the leopard fluff pattern of my character had to be simplified (one accent body pattern tone instead of two, larger size and lower density). Also, the head may turn out slightly bigger and less accurately shaped than it would have otherwise been when using a bespoke solid base. Turns out there aren't a whole lot of European ready-made options for soft raptor head bases. Though we're still very much in the design stage now, and nothing is started yet. So some things may still change, and more options may be on the table (probably not a whole lot more though). This ref sheet is at least an important milestone, as it provides the artistic vision for the suit.

Still, I can't find the words to express my happiness and excitement to finally stop postponing this dream of making a suit of Rriik!!! Coming to realize that it's been almost a decade since my first upload, which was me drawing his head from "memory"... time really flies in life. I've turned 25 myself late last year, and honestly it really does feel like I've entered a different stage of my life. One where hopefully I can do and experience as many things as possible, the things that make me happy, with those I care about. And this suit is the starting point into all that!

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Also I realize that I haven't even talked about the actual ref sheet haha! This was a commission by  Mieno, and she did a great (and insanely quick!) job on it, communicating with me every step of the way, providing a dozen WIPs in total as we worked out all those design considerations to make this into a usable fursuit reference. The nice thing about it is it's double-purpose. Since I am well aware of how difficult my character is to draw and work with, this could actually serve as a more simplified reference of Rriik, to be used more broadly for commissioning pieces where I don't want artists to be stuck on all the little details, without sacrificing the spirit of the character! Win-win for everyone :}

So yeah! Please shower  Mieno with some love for this awesome ref, and stay tuned for the fursuit reveal, hopefully not too long from now! :3