HOME | DD
Tinselfire — Butterfox
#amphibian #anthro #butterfly #fox #frog #furry #hybrid #male #orchid #phalaenopsis #waterlily #wings
Published: 2018-12-18 19:33:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 2913; Favourites: 121; Downloads: 16
Redirect to original
Description
GIMP 2.I rarely draw hybrids, and this foxboy has been sitting in my WIP folder since February. Started drawing to pass time while attending a fighting game tournament that did not turn out quite as planned - and I was not among the contestants - and there, he almost remained.
Today seemed a good occasion to make him presentable. In recognition of a mutual appreciation for beautiful boys.
Happy birthday, BJPentecost .
Related content
Comments: 95
Thank you! Exactly the word I was looking to convey.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thank you <3 The wings were a lot of fun to paint, and learned a lot painting them - got a few ideas in store for when I return to the subject. But that will be more about the logistics, though. In this case, every flake on the wings is painted individually, which is something I certainly do not recommend; took way too long, and my wrist was completely stiff for days after.
Sometimes it is hard to practice what you preach. In the enthusiasm, I completely forgot painting should involve a lot of creative "cheating" to economize - and that you need a break once in a while.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome! ^^
I know the feeling; I have one big drawing with a lizard-like character, and doing the scales one by one has taken way too long. I'm going to clean what I've already done and then start using some copy-paste and some tools to get the thing done faster once I return to it... Unless I decide to scrap that version and remake it in another angle because I've realized that the choice of angle is what has made a fair number of my drawings look bad in some way.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That could be it - angle and how it suits the composition makes a huge difference. Pictures have a hierarchy in them, and if the basic framework is off, it cascades right down through everything down to the very smallest details. Sometimes it can be patched as you go; sometimes not. If you think something looks really wrong, though, a lot of the time it is better just to power through and see how it turns out finished.
There is a way to economize texture detail for things like scales, where you try to single out where the viewer is most likely to look and detail that area carefully, and the rest of the area only to the point where it is recogniseable as the same sort of texture. A lot of hair and fur tutorials mention some variation of it (I don't know if there is a universal method for finding the right area to detail).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh! By the way, I saw your project breakdown schedule. That is an interesting idea. Used Tortoise SVN back in my university days, but never got the hang of it - probably best to get scheduling habits in order while you're young.
Will be giving your worldbuilding a look once I find the time.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! Although, it's not much of a schedule, more like what's going on right now :'D Now that I think about it, a schedule thing could be nice too, but I know for certain that I can't stick to anything else than writing certain things on certain days 
There isn't much about worldbuilding on WordPress, more about just what Greenfield is, what's its status wordcount- and pagecount-wise and what I'm currently working on.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hm.
Maybe many people don't know, but when they touch, see or hear something... Then happen two effect.
These are: The sense/perception of unconscious and conscious. I think that, the sense of unconscious is a kind of perception, what originates from the outside. Not necessarily belongs to the person, who feels these "energies", "material and immaterial memory"... but only at the moment of perception. The sense of conscious is belongs to the person. A kind of "own opinion", "known thing", "experience", "learned knowledge/lore" ect. ect. If you pay attention to these... You can make a difference between them.
Because of i'm just a simple human as anyone else... it wasn't happened differently with me.
Unconscious:
How much memory... How much feeling... Fairy tales and an old story. For a moment i felt that i'm again child... and look the illustration in first pages of an old book. I wondered what the tale was about. Hah... But seems that, no book, and no tale... ^.^ Or maybe, there? Who knows?!
Even, a flower also came to my mind: "Wood Forget-me-not"... And the spring-summer morning aroma/flavor/smell.
That fairy-fox so much familiar. As if i already saw somewhere... But where? Hm. Some pictures flashed, as like the celtic fairy pictures in a pale yellowed paper. As a cinema movie or projected images, *the background stood, just the fariy-fox moved. I saw him as he touched into the water and then the hair... thereafter he shook his wings.
I thought that: This picture would be a nice gift. :')
Conscious:
Those butterfly wings? Oh my... The butterflies love the wet but sunny places, for this reason, the lake-shore, river-shore and mostly the bog/moor. In this regard, the artwork is so brilliant. Hah... if we observed BJPentacost artworks, the picture continue hold the brilliant status. The colors and concept...
For example: Laetu Baor , Tiny Dragons , Ritual or Deer At Play . Your observed was very succeed and right. You meant and displayed these gestures in the kindest way. But i don't want to harm you, i mean these things, in the best positive way.
Despite of that, even if this picture contain some BJPentacost style effect, you held on your own style... The Tinselfire art style. This can be seen very well. I already mentioned once that, your style similar the renaissance and baroque oil painted artworks. (Marten painter, Otter, timothy, birch ) I so really like it that: sometime, as if the dye would be visible. Seems that if someone touch the picture, then she/he may feel a softly "rough" surface, because of the the overflow dye.
Hah. Immediately blinked it, your Butterflies observing. 
But in fact it's just a tip. The difference or completion, which is very prominent in the wings, those the little blobs/blots. These are made more beautifully the wings. The second thought was, those plobs are magic powder.
Interestingly, the beetles and insects are hairy. This is usually seen only under a microscope. ^.^ But yeah... They have million little chitin fur and/or scute. It appears great in the artwork and on the butterfly wings.
Hmm.
He is enough strong. Mostly his the back and the shoulder. Because of this, maybe he can fly, but i'm not sure in this. 
In any case, those wings looks very well. ^.^
The next what i think... that the contrast. I mean the concept contrast.
He looks very innocent and naive. (In positive way.)
As you say: He is a nice-guy, who in same time strong and graceful.
Hmm...
The fairy and native pictures usually contain erothic theme... but this not sure... Maybe this is just associate, because of the nudity appear and the desire/lust follows it...
The clean and pure creatures are close to nature... and maybe this is just a misunderstanding. The modern famished/esurient society, just want to corrupt these clean creatures.
On the other hand... the lust and desire is a base feeling. A necessary feeling for the reproduction.
Hm... I know he is not fairy... he is a hybrid. But came to my mind, a song: Enigma Sarah Brightman Eden - I love this song, and the pictures are not bad either.
* This partly contain the visual mode what i was thought: Ori and the Blind Forest - TGS 2014 - Prologue - The start time is set directly.
I totally agree with the others. ^.^
I can't say more: This is a beautiful artwork.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
There are a lot of questions raised here; some are familiar, some are new. Used to study cognitive sciences at university - or rather, neuroanatomy masquerading behind the name of cognitive sciences; not my star subject - and was amazed at how far the quantitative methods of measuring have gotten in the past few decades, but even moreso at how much of the groundwork was lain with introspection only and confirmed far later.
I don't often look within in the moment and try to break down what I just experienced; perhaps I should. Moreoften than not, what you find turns out to be very true.
Some of these feelings, I am certain many share - at least so do I, and had them in mind when I painted him. He is a sensual creature, very much a product of life after puberty - but the processes that culminate in fantasy creatures as he do not just magically begin in one's mind at thirteen. Whether or not he could be called a proper faerie, there is certainly a great deal of faerie "lineage" in him, such as most children in the Western world would be familiar with: From an artistic point of view, he is descended from the Victorian faeries as are ubiquituous in postcards and bookmarks, the latter of which my mother (and her mother before her) had great collections of in their youth, many of which survived into my own childhood. In my parents' home there are still 1940's framed prints of faeries - a Jenny Nyström imitator, but regardless by whom, beauties nonetheless - holding court in salmon-pink rose shrubs and wearing gossamer dresses. I dismissed such pictures as a child; but while one can dismiss, one cannot avoid influence. Influences which sometimes need thirty years to mature.
Also, you are very immediately observant. They are way out of their appropriate scale, but the sprinkled flowers on his hair and chest tuft are indeed blue/pink forget-me-not flowers. Right next to a single phalaenopsis orchid flower. I used to have second thoughts about including orchids in floral arrangements, as orchids are the only flowering plants I have in my house and I am not very good at cultivating them; something about cutting the flowers for an arrangement just felt wrong. But after seeing a portrait featuring an absolutely fantastic floral crown including three large orchids (I believe it was by DanielaIvanova , but I cannot for my life find it in her gallery) a few months ago, I had to reconsider. It just looked too alluring to miss out on!
I am still very much a developing artist, so think it may be a bit early to compare concise styles, but I am both greatly honoured and more than a little flattered that you would. And I will stretch as far as saying indeed, independent of style, we do have different philosophies on how to approach setting up a painting. I am very "accumulative", working a lot with items in scenes that have histories completely independent of what is going on at the moment in the scene. Even when I do not go full on horror vacui, that quickly gets a very layered appearance; as if the painting would catch a lot of floating dust if made traditionally.
Also, I cannot express enough how flattered I am to be mentioned in the same context as Laetu Baor. In my opinion, bested only by Goldenwolf 's Heart Song, it is the single finest anthropomorphic animal portrait thus far, at least in the modern era.
Indeed, those wings are very inspired by the monarch butterfly - the references I used come from the natural history museum in Oslo, if I do not remember wrong. It was difficult finding a proper reference for the ventral side of the wings, though, with the result that the wings on the foxboy are male from above and female from below... Maybe it turned out quite an appropriate thing, considering how he is supposed to be a very attractive male: A man worth his salt should not be afraid to be feminine when it betters him. I had intended to make the wings a lot more "powdery" - have always found the shallow, coarse pigmentation to be one of the most beautiful things about butterfly wings, and have a lifelong fascination with extremely small detail - but still found no way to paint this as I please. The methods I tried did not preserve the sense of direction the more elongated specks gave. But one day or another, one way or another.
He is certainly very strong. Tried to make the lighting transitions between the different muscle groups as smooth as possible, but did not turn out quite as I planned, making the abs stand out extremely. Perhaps that is a good thing, though: After all insects are rather blocky. But if I revisit this piece in the future, the muscle texture will be among the first parts to get an overhaul. Nevertheless he is indeed an extremely powerful creature - not enough to realistically fly, but faerie tale magic takes care of that.
Had considered making his whole flying apparatus if not realistic, then at least plausibly depicted. In the butterfly study you mentioned, you probably saw there is a "chicken leg" that does not fit onto any existing butterfly. For a while I intended to clearly show how the wings attach to his back, with four such large, exoskeletal bulbs bridging to his soft endoskeletal body. I like this concept and may return to it, but in this case it did not work with the rest of the scene. Was too satisfied with the pose I got largely right way back in February last year to completely change it by turning his body.
Come to think of it, furred anthros are very convenient to fuse into faerie-like creatures with arthropod traits, since both naturally have hairy bodies. Of course the actual fur structure is completely different, but still easier to bridge than with a lot of other composite creatures.
Quite often, when I get an image without a specific story behind it in mind, it gets at least a tagline. For this fellow, it was something along the lines of "some boys just want to be pretty butterflies". There are certainly a lot of lustful themes involved, not just in the character but with flowers, golden sunlight and lush greens; all sorts of universal symbols of lust and fertility. And of course, in his presentation and accessories - with the rather innocent pose that nevertheless puts him on display, the piercings and chains, and the loincloth that is just barely hanging on - there is a lot of blatant modern eye candy; if not outright erotica, then certainly exotica. It is a subject I do not usually feel confident working in, since it requires an understanding of the inherent grace in the human body which I do not feel I have... yet. This may be a step on the way.
But also, had hoped to convey a different, more innocent kind of beauty, and am very glad to hear some of it seems to have come through. The beauty of character there is in being confident in whom one is and stand up for being it, and the beauty there is in having the strength to better oneself into something one strives to be; it is hard having the central character be even in part butterfly without there being a transformation theme. There are also a lot of difficulties in modern society concerning how one can or cannot depict male beauty - in contemporary English, one sometimes even has to use bywords to say that a man is beautiful rather than handsome or gorgeous - but the immaterial ideas of confidence and will towards self-improvement are universally attractive.
He may not be a faerie proper - at least certainly not in name - but as an anthropomorphic animal (or zooanthropic human, depending on whom you ask and what school of thought they follow), and a hybrid at that, he is very much a liminal being; the same class of creature as popularly depicted faeries belong to. Come to think of it, at least among Celts faeries and water were also considered connected, with running water thought a bridge between this world and another - but those are themes that just slipped in, perhaps by chance or perhaps unconsciously; I did not have them in mind when I painted him.
I miss that kind of videos. They used to be almost a genre proper, but they seem to have gotten rare these days.
Please forgive the very late reply. You raised a lot of interesting points and singled out some things I am surprised anybody noticed, so wanted to sit back and take the time to answer in full.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
^.^ Hmm. Interesting topics.
When i was read about the cloning, gene manipulation, dna structures, and hybrid-experiments... this theme also appeared with the intelligence and sensory organs. If someone writing a novel in such theme... knowledge of the topic is essential. Especially if you want to imagine yourself, in viewpoint of an anthropomorphic person.
But beside our sensory organs, also other senses exist. Animals often do this. Very few animals die from natural disasters (tsunami,volcano eruption, forest fire,earthquake). They feel that.
Perception beyond the senses... "Deja-vu", "intuition", "mental connections". But before i had read about this topic in deeply (few years ago)... Mostly, I realized by myself, for a part.
I must say, my lexical knowledge is very small. I think, i'm not too clever or intelligent. Rather, just too curious. ^.^
The world is a very large, difficult and complex structure... Everything is connected with each other. I'm an strange animal... I love the reality and fantasy at the same time. I love observe things, others, myself and everything. : ) Maybe this is a useless activity, but i think, it's helps to get to know the world and myself.
Self-observation on the emotional and mental plane is can be very helpful... Everyone can do this. I'm sure in this. : )
A simple example: When you feel happy or neutral.. but then suddenly you become very nervous or you get suddenly a sense of fear on the bus.
If you observe yourself, and ask to yourself: "Why?"
A few moments ago this was not the case.
If you look around the bus, you observe some people reaction... you will see, it's not your nervous and anxiety feeling. Some person feel this very strongly and give a little bit to you. : ) When you realize this, the feeling will gone, in a better case. If not, you also know that it doesn't come from you.
Mostly the fear perceptible so easy. This is a natural reaction. When we were close the natural world, this defense was very important.
If someone felt the fear, the all members listening the signal and they became much more circumspect. Or simple way, they started to ran for their lives.
It still exists today. Basic behavior of the all herbivores what living in a group. Deer, Gnu, Zebra, Ants, Birds.. ect ect.
Of course... These are not just mental signs... The most animals using different signals... body language, feromon, magnetic fields, vibrations ect. ect...
Well.. Sometimes there are also interesting cases. Animals traveling thousands of kilometers, those who finally, find their "human-family'.
These are sensitive topics in science. : )
So, somewhere after all, the "mental" (or energy) connection is exist between (lifless and/or live) things. Maybe when the "native african" or "native american-indian" shalman said that: "the stones speak"... It wasn't as metaphorical as we thought.
Your stories are always a pleasure to read.
Hah. I love when the artist tell how she/he work, and tell the artwork background story. This usually applies to demanding works. I mean... when you're not just sitting and doing something...
Okay.. it's not a problem... Sometimes birth brillant artworks in this way... I do not want to judge such works. Often the subconscious works in this case. I would say these generate a different feeling in persons.
Those works that has a story or quality time, they generate a different feeling than otherwise.
(None is better than the other. Just different.)
Well. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to recognize the true meaning of a particular thing. You're right. Many thoughts come to mind, what they said to me when i was a child. Just now realized what these things really mean. This often happens.
Very funny, when you watch a cartoon/animation movie again... with "mature" head. As if you watch a very different movie. ^.^ This also applies to books. Sometimes the feelings and thoughts more deep than we remember. The details and the inner meanings are better visible.
The movie behind the movie or the movie beyond the movie. The book beyond the book.
If i'm want to be truly honest... i'm do not know the flowers... Mostly not their names.
When i played lot of "country, city,boy, girl" in old time... these went better.
Nowadays i know because of incense. My mother favorite flower the lavender... my one of favorite incenses are the indian lotus and the vanilla, but very love also the orange and sandal cinnamon.
"Country, City, Boy, Girl" or "Country, City, Famous man" --->
"A trivia game. Random choose a letter(ABC) to different categories (country, city, famous man) each round. The players try to write things with beginning the suitable letters. What somebody else did not write is worth one point. The player collect the most points is the winner. They play in checkered booklet. You make a table... and usually the table headers are as follows: Country, City, Boy name, Girl name, Animal, Plant, Object, Famous man... But if you want, and want to more harder the game, you can also write other categories, for example: Music name, Concept, Artist, Movie, Famous brand, Chemical element, Food, Mythical being... ect ect. and if you want it to be even more exciting, you set a time limit for example 1,5 minute."
I don't know if there is such a game in another country. But certainly yes. I think.
But now... back to the flowers...
I check DanielaIvanova gallery. She have some plant pictures, that's very nice. And her style also impressive ^.^
My father loved the flowers very much. I regularly cared for him and my mother's flowers. : ) But I can't say their name. I'm sorry. XD (Here i thought... it's just a hard excuse... why not take the time for this... Saying to myself: Don't be lazy...) Hm. I surfed on the internet a little bit... Palms, and Philodendrons, Calathea sanderiana, Dieffenbachia picta, Ficus elastica, Nephrolepis exaltata.. and many others.
Currently there are some flowers in home. I love plants. The funny thing is that the cactuses never couldn't live too long time. They say the cactuses are not very sensitive plants. I didn't notice this. O_o
If flowers, Zaphkiellane immediately comes to my mind. Not is it?
Thank you for your honesty. Because if those are "forget-me-not", then my "(unconscious) observation" was not so bad.
Well. Every artist always develop. Right? ^.^ If not else, they will be faster, more patient, more precise.. or something else. Perhaps there is no problem with the comparison, if that is open and conditional.
I mean, the "brain mainly works by comparison", at least "according to the current state of science" they say this... Maybe it is a "wrong"/"trouble", if someone can't disregard/abstracted/prescind, between two things. Uhm... If someone can/do not leave out of consideration to the two *"object" separateness/independence. (Detach or separate from something.) *Object - Thing(Material/Nonmaterial), Artwork, concept, word, apple ... anything.
I don't want to tease with you, i just try to "appropriate" answer to you. ^.^
And i don't want to hurt anybody or hurt anybody's independence. ^.^ I guess, it's a natural thing, if you don't do it directly and intended. I don't like the direct comparison... Because, i don't really believe in the concept of good and bad.
Thus, it would be a lie to approach the rating from "the good and the bad point of view", because an a "object" don't be better or worser than another... Just "different".
In addition, there is infinite (plus one) aspect. Which one should choose?
If it is not necessary and vital, i usually try to avoid it.
But i think, i understood what you wanted to say.
Hmm.
Yeah. The Laetu Baor is really special piece. Goldenwolf's name always had an simple wonder effect in me. We can say that, she was my first "artist-ideal".
Pf. As you say... The reference... the endless hunt and fight...
LOL. It reminds me of what i said to my niece, when she asked for me, where get a good reference to the dragons: "Reference... Hm. Reference? What kind of animal is that?"
Of course, thereafter i showed and told her some brilliant artists. ^.^ But yeah... One would think that there is a good reference to everything... and you just have to be smart and you have to search on the Internet in good way. This is not always true, simple or possible. Often you don't even find a similar one. So you can be very happy about it, if you can find a similar reference. In such case, you have to use imagination and creativity.
Yeah, you're right! The reality... Apparently this is just an option in the art. Non-binding element.
I'm sure one day you will find the right way if about butterfly wings.
Firstly, thank you for ignore this: "The muscle is heavier than fat." This sentence it was a very big mistake... XD 1kg muscle and 1kg fat is equal... XD The muscle fibers are denser it takes less space because it is concise/solid.
So, thank you... you understood what i wanted to say.
Hm. If the wing span would be a "little bit" bigger, then it can easily imagine that, he would be able to fly. You did a great work on the muscles and him appearance, even if not visiable the "chicken leg". The "chicken leg" what connecting the back and the wings may not be so important in this concept as you say.
The butterfly-wings is very sensitive and the butterflies as symbol has many meanings. The gracefulness, sensitivity, purity and airy(light)... In the appearance of him these are all present. Maybe that's why it works so well with the wings. ^.^ Of course the pose also help to it.
So, not only in appearance, but also in terms of concepts and symbols way it is unified.
Hm. The man and beauty.
But... but then... "how dare someone say" that: the dog is nice or the sunset or a thought... O_o
- A nice dog? What is that? How and why? - The dogs "just animals"... they are all wild and hairy...
- The sunset? - Pf.. but it's just natural natural phenomenon...
- The throught.... LOL - That's just a concept... it doesn't even exist physically...
So... The beauty is a relative concept. Anything in the world can be nice, beautiful, wonderful... Sometimes i really don't understand the people...
(Very often.. it seems) The modern society more and more become extremist and limited if about the thinking and definitions. Instead of abolishing the borders/limits, they are sharply pull those. I mean here the definitions and concepts...
As if they would be afraid of the novelty(or new things)... Where is the openness and unbound thinking? ^.^
If we look this "nice-guy" or "beautiful-guy", then.. yeah... your picture carries many symbols and meaning.
Together they help to highlight the inner meaning of the image. Maybe that's why it seems so powerful.
I wouldn't be able to better describe than as your last two paragraph. ^.^
I didn't respond to a lot of things as for example the anthropomorphic animal (zooanthropic human, hybrid) and celts faeries, but maybe it would never end this comment. ^.^
(Because...Getting started with something you are touching it superficially... somehow that is not complete.
Sorry... I kept you waiting. I didn't want it. I like your expression "hectic", which you use very often...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Now that you mention it, I did once suggest "animal vision" as a possible theme for AnthroChallenge - might have been too ambiguous to pull off, though, but could not hurt to suggest. Figure it might be interesting trying to depict how some species "see" scent and sound much the same way humans mostly use our eyes.
I am quite poor at naming flowers myself - sometimes know the English name but not the Swedish, sometimes the Latin but not the English. Surprisingly rarely I only know the Swedish. One would think it should be the other way around, but apparently not o.O But do recognise the Ficus. A favourite of my grandmother and I, and headache of my mother when I was little. She has never gotten the hang of them, and now as an adult kind of understand why: Northern Europe, even indoors, is quite hostile to them.
I don't think there is anybody who is active in the anthro community today who has not in some way been touched by Goldenwolf. She is, for lack of better word, a calibrating standard.
If your niece asks again, you may be able to surprise her with a dragon tutorial from an unexpected but very credible source: Leonardo da Vinci himself.
In his notebooks (there have been a couple of comprehensive published editions - check the library) he does at one point detail his method for designing fantasy creatures, using a dragon as example. As you say, he too follows the principle that one must understand what is before combining it into something new. But you'll surely be surprised to read what sort of animals make up Leonardo's dragon!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you for your thoughts! ^.^
I checked the da-vinci "dragons". (Leonardo and cats , Dragon Striking down Lion ) But i will read more about this. (I don't know how genuine/authentic the articles are.)
Thank you very much! ^.^
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Here is to hoping it was a good day, and with many more to come *hugs*
Yesterday, no matter the winding road and long hours which at last brought him into being, the fox boy was merely wrapping. The real gift is the reminder that no matter what, though you may not always hear it said aloud, you make a difference. That of helping others dare to dream, and the world is made more beautiful for it.
That difference lasts forever.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Heh, wow! He's one attractive looking creature!
Love the detail and colouring, especially the fur.
Love that muscle-tone too... he's a pretty boy indeed!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. Rarely paint characters with a lot of eye candy, so happy to hear he came out pleasing -.o
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thank you, little butterfly.
Inch by inch, one leaf at a time, one might yet become an oak.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
They indeed will. All they have to do is stand their ground.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thank you! What I hoped to convey, summed up in one word.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
hehe well if the one word is too simple then Wonderful Outstanding Work
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Aw, you're making me blush here.
He certainly has a little of your thoughts on artistic transformation and renewal in him already - when working with a butterfly motif over a long time, how could he not? Perhaps in a few years, when I may have learned seeing things I now do not, I will give him a third and fourth pass.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, have a Merry Christmas I say that from the heart and may grace and peace cover your steps.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
This is remarkable, I've been wondering what you we're working on lately and this is beautiful. While trying to image dealing with those giant fragile wings actually frightens me a bit, the pure aesthetic appeal of this image overwhelmes that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. November and December have been quite busy months, and have juggled a few different projects while taking care of other commitments. Fortunately things may have calmed down a bit now, and hoping for a chance to finish another portrait - or maybe two - during the holidays.
The wings, like most everything about the character, are pure, unbridled eye candy. When designing faeries intended to be outside a carefully controlled scene and see fantasy action, I tend towards the classic proportions as further developed by Julie Baroh and others; with wingspans around or even slightly less than the character's height.
In short, my "plausible" faeries work on bumblebee principles: Seeing them, you would hardly believe they could fly.
Actually, tend to design those faeries with other arthropod traits as well, such as iridescent carapace, signal colours and bee-like tongues. And a bottomless appetite for sugar lumps.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What I hoped to convey, summed up in two words. Thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I had a few people I showed it to express rather similar opinions. I am only a fan of furry art if it is really extraordinary, and even then I almost never comment. This really was breathtaking in many ways.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
If you have the time, do recommend that you give my favourites a look, and of course, the artist for whom this piece was a gift. There is a lot of absolutely excellent anthro-themed art just on Deviantart alone - more than I can take in, and even then some of the best too slips me since, well, I am only human; more interested in some themes and styles than others.
But yes, can understand if they are difficult to sift out. The furry fandom has always had an image problem; maybe no worse than other fandoms, but certainly worse at handling it. If I was to trace my own "lineage" in the fandom, it would by through Freddy Milton, Eric Schwartz and Susan van Camp, whose work I enjoyed as a child and teenager and still very much do. But I will freely admit I first learned there was such a thing as a semi-coherent community through the work of Jeremy Bernal - an excellent artist, but not someone I recommend googling if somebody may be watching.
Personally find it sad how many people first realise there is a fandom seeing the more questionable material - and in some ways that there is a distinct fandom to begin with. Animal anthropomorphism is one of the oldest forms of art, and modern furries are pretty heavily rooted in sci-fi and fantasy, so would not mind seeing the fandom become less insular.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, clearly I am not as steeped in the genre as you are, but I may just have to take you up on that offer to have a look-see.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
By all means, do warmly recommend it. It is a fascinating history.
Just heed a word of warning: No matter from which side you approach, there will be porn.
Because fandom.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
So beautiful-he is amazing! Reminds me of paintings from classic old fairy tale books!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Why, thank you <3 You're making me blush a bit here.
The character himself may be a bit of modern eye candy - he is not just a composite of fox and butterfly, but of corsac fox and Ruppell's fox, and even a bit of serval in the ears; all to catch and emphasize the traits that I gather many people find alluring about exotic vulpine characters - but the scene and theme are certainly very classic. My grandmother and mother after her kept countless bookmarks of faeries from 1950 all the way back to the days of Queen Victoria.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome! That's interesting your grandmother and mother had such an interesting collection of bookmarks
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Aye, it is interesting... but at the same time, in that regard neither of them is unique -.o
Sweden is out in a corner of the Western world, so up until recently trends and fads tended to linger and resurface over here. Up until the 70's, over maybe a full hundred years, every young girl experienced a craze for fancy bookmarks with much the same motifs as her mother and grandmothers knew; gracile flowers, smiling angels and - of course - butterfly-winged faeries.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I readily agree with SouthpawLynx -- This is a really spectacular piece. Those wings are brilliantly done and delightfully unexpected. The whole reminds me of nineteenth-century English fairy paintings in its lush and imaginative quality. Concept, composition, and execution are all first-rate. Fine work, among your best if I may say so.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. While Victorian England with their complicated relationships to male beauty and Man's place in nature may not have looked wholly approvingly at a human-shaped corsac fox presented for the viewers' pleasure - with flowers in his hair and his loincloth lopsided no less - I certainly had the faerie illustrations of the era in mind. Not any particular illustrator, but the sort of images that have survived as misplaced bookmarks and holiday cards with lettering in elaborate hand. Or as the large scale prints of a female and male faerie respectively, surrounded by salmon-pink roses and mulberries which are almost certainly inherited from my grandmother, but which as long as I can remember have hung on the bathroom wall of my parents' home. When your grandparents were part of the greatest generation, this is almost invariably the model of lush fairy-tale scenery lingering somewhere in the back of your mind.
I am honoured and flattered to hear, and honestly blushing a bit. He was a treat to paint, but never expected him to be so well received.
I think I know now what my centerpiece at the upcoming exhibitions next year may be.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Holy moly.
First off, he is gorgeous but also all of this is gorgeous. The wings are vibrant and vivid with detail. The forest looks great and the lighting with the "god rays" highlights everything so well.
Amazing piece. My literal reaction was a jaw drop and a gasp.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. You are actually making me blush a bit here, for "gorgeous" was the exact word I had in mind. When it comes to lush fairy-tale scenes, especially those focused on characters portrayed as attractive or even outright alluring, I do not know of any other word in the English language that quite as well captures the atmosphere.
The wings were a real treat to paint. With the beta testing going on things have been sometimes more than just a bit tense this Winter, so spending a long while just filling in the grain, veins and powdery textures of the wings was - for lack of a better word - almost meditative. I do not think it can be overstated how good painting can be for one's health.
Hoping to finish another large-scale portrait - or maybe even two - before the new year, but they will be going back to more familiar territory for the time being. Learned a few new things while painting the fox boy, but think the most significant new experience was I have never really attempted painting a character openly intended to be eye candy before; I do not feel my grasp on anatomy is firm enough to fully do exotica as a genre justice. But sometimes, you just got to power through the doubt and get the paint on the canvas. It is worth it, every time.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It was worth it. There is that Wayne Gretzky quote of "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". Get the paint on canvas and do it. An imperfect attempt or even a failure is a step to future success, but in this case, This was a great success.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
<= Prev | 1 2