Quartz Blog Post -- February "Social Implications in the Furry Art Industry"

Social implications, mmmm!

Growing up as an artist gives you a lot of space, a blank arena for you to navigate about with your own diligence, and your own proprietary motivation. You have everything you need within you to be successful, and that can be heard in any field you apply yourself to. If you love it, grab it by the reigns and try as hard as you can, because if you fall, you’ll fall knowing you have every second of your divine love to what pushes you, to the queer excellence that motivates you to stay up in the depths of night painting that which envisions your bliss.

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Art of course comes in all shapes and sizes, and so do we, ourselves, a reflective expression that can move mountains. Art can be broken down into so many fields, and directions, as I’ve come to realize while fleshing out my first-ever art class, Digital Art 101, art in the furry community. I wanted to use this space in the Quartz blog to flesh out the social implications of doing art in the furry community. In a way creating transparency in my creative process, in a way that illuminated the passing of the torch. The brink of the months end is upon us, and I have an exclusive to provide for you all this upcoming week. I have two commissions I want to start and finish in these last two weeks of this month.

This month started out turbulent, I recently left my partner of six months, and had to create space to heal from that proximity. There are so many factors that go into ‘social implications’ whether it is mental or physical health, down to twitter algorithms, There are ebbs and flows to creation, and the dimensions around us directly affect our expression. Naught to say the abstract artist paints less but his medium changes and so does his rhythm. I would like to start with bringing up one of my personal pet peeves, which I do not know will be met with similar rapport from others; I do not like painting pieces for partners of our individual characters together. For years now I have believed this, “-better to commission someone else that work ''. There is explicit intimacy that exists when an artist paints out of love for a partner. Naively it may be concluded that the greatest paintings were created from love, but I reckon not, in the recollections of art. I believe the love we share with another is so limiting to the artist who peruses his inner labyrinth with divine love. This is just a simple example of how ‘social implications’ effect an artist, their judgement and their work subsequently.

The furry community is layered with it’s own self compelled drama (which I believe comes from how many people there are under 25, and that everyone is having sex with each other) there are many things to consider beyond that mundane relationship of what we understand as drama.

Drama is an interesting concept, that which has been revered since the dawn of humanity as a human experience; an experience that is divine and intertwined with the muse of life itself. Might be why there are stereotypical art students with works created to cause a guttural reaction. There is no escape from it. No matter how hard you try... even a hermit yells at the birds in their swamp, the ant pissed that you stepped on their home, or the drama that exists in our community. There will always be a flair, and truly how you react to it can make a world difference in your life. A modern world-shaker could be callout and canceling culture. It surrounds us everyday, a stepping stone to visibility. Even though it is toxic, it is so important to protect others from perpetrators. Melanie Martinez is a prime example of how a whole life’s career can be ripped from someone’s hands... How someone will have to eventually fall.

Ebbs and flows surround us all, Banksy was a fine before it was a dollar, and it will be a dollar until it isn’t fine anymore. Some ‘mistakes’ are outright outrageous though such as tacklebawk’s cp scandal, or the overlays of zaush’s work. Everyone climbs, and I’ve got high-high hopes for the living. (Pacing yourself takes so much discipline, work, and we are remembered by the risk we took.

“Alright twitter what are we mad about today?” @hexumfox

It is so easy to say do not be problematic, however the climb should not be over eggshells, it should be strutted with confidence and pride; you can certainly avoid drama though, and avoid the drama that could cost you your career. It becomes quickly real when a sticky situation means your whole practice could go down the drain; One needs to act with wisdom, diligence and humility.

It means refunding work you cannot do, for whatever reason, it means providing customer service and biting your tongue when you need to, and stepping on what you need to too. One of my favorite teachers/mentors once said the way to be successful in life is to “not be an asshole.” I think about this very often. It means taking the bullet and falling when you fuck up, but picking yourself up in humility and grace, and walking through the right metaphorical door of your reemergence.

We all fuck up, and that is a condition of the human experience. Truly, the best way to deal with drama is not to hide in the shadows and writhe like a hell bent gremlin; but mayhaps dealing with the cards at hand efficiently, quickly, diligently, confidently, not being an asshole. I’ll admit, it is easier said than done, you’d be surprised what a year does to someone. I assure you as long as you are not in Kero’s position, you will go far with little dirt on your back. Arguably even Kero has room for redemption, but that is his own work, and it is again... easier said from compassion and human love, rather than divine love and change.

Starting, climbing, changing, I’d so hard. Personally, I am completely out of the closet as a gay queer person, but I cannot was fully out of the closet when it comes to being a furry. I consider myself in the furry closet with my family. Although I have nothing immediate to lose about being transparent with my family, something deep down touches a string of insecurity and a feeling of self repulsiveness. A sort of internalized disgust for my own community. It is not an internalization of hate, rather that of fear. I believe a lot of furs are similar to that feeling. Our community is one of open arms in a lot of respects; inclusive, despite the cliques, (which is a human phenomena, not just a high school groupie thing, by the way) however it is met by the general public with tremendous fear. Fear that can drive some to hate. A prime example of this being the gas attacks of the MFF convention. In a lot of respects our community experiences a lot of similar things akin to the queer community, (which I also believe some conservative furs jimmies are extra rustled by, the echelons of queer identity and representation in our subculture), we are subjectively terrified by our own difference, and come together with indifference over vast diversity.

Simply put imagine coming out to your family as a furry artist, let alone a NSFW furry artist? This industry! What the hell do I tell my family? Right now I am personally happy with not, but their perception of me is different, and they will never truly know how much I love what I do if I hide. This is another example of a social complexion that one runs into when they are making digital art in the furry community.

It can really mess with your head when layers of yourself are now cross exposed over a whole subculture, and form an ethnographic perception. Mental health is a major and integral factor to successfully and efficiently creating your best work.

Art requires self discipline, whether you wish to be a sole proprietor or not, being able to navigate how you feel, work through your trauma and efficiently love yourself is another huge social implication to being a creator.

Therapy, self care regimens, psychiatry, and organization are all keen examples of how to keep your ears and not eat paint. I've mentioned before on the Quartz blog that art is and can be a self destructive path (It really is what you make of it); I've mentioned how art can take from you, being it is a sedentary craft, one that keeps you glued to your chair and wanting to munch on potato chips.

Not only do you have to worry about the business, emotional, social and economic aspects of being an artist, you have to maintain your health, which for me is more work than painting will ever be, if you can't take care of yourself, and smile in the mirror, you have already done half the battle. 

Arguably, physical and mental health can be the most quick to think of when it comes to social barriers and issues in choosing art as a career in the fandom. Physical and mental health, I have found, are the hardest fields to satiate. Focusing your love and attention on those two subjects should be one of your highest ideals. Self preservation is the ultimate goal of the artist, one way or another. It is one thing to strive for popularity and fame and sacrifice what you can (cough, ok miley) or strive for permanence and solid works of art that last through time and inspire others to create and even be the root of someone's aspirations and career.

Another equivocal social implication is something that you can see superficially in media platforms in many artists. The cycles of creation. I honestly think you are some next level shit if you streamline piece after piece with consistency. Rightfully so! It takes years to move to a space as a creator in this fandom where you know yourself enough to be productive and consistent whilst providing high quality pieces. One of my favorite artists who does this is Bobby Lontra, who is a professional illustrator in the furry fandom. Regarding everyone and even the most devoted of the few, we all share something in common, the creative process. Every artist can choose how to work through the problem solving of creating a new work. For some of us it comes naturally, and for some it is arduous work. Some of that hard work could mean breaking through hard spells in our creative cycle or facing emotional and psychological barriers. We create, we rest, we destroy, and we start all over again. A weird infinite dance that can be drawn down into the explanation of the cycles we see in content creators of the fandom.

A simple example would be the holidays; for Christmas there is a massive uptick in creativity, and during January we seem to all rest. I was very doodily this January, and I took it slow myself. Holidays and events such as conventions center us as a community, and as a culture. These patterns reverberate through our psyche and can really help push or pull us to regenerate, meditate or to exonerate and create actively.

It takes a very disciplined and aged artist in our field to listen to these ticks, the heartbeat of the fandom, and use it to create henceforth.

Trend calendars exist both from the business end of twitter, and personally from our fandom. These 'holidays' such as shark week provide the cement or pudding that holds us together as creators, and helps us stand out individually. Twitter algorithms are certainly a huge motivation as well when it comes to creators, especially newer creators, as they dictate our visibility and exposure to the overall fandom. Networking and consistency, I would argue, are the best ways to hone your craft. Meticulously spending hours scratching your head at the twitter codex is not as productive as these simple terms. Posting towards the weekend, and during the evening or morning doesn't hurt though!

We have reached far and wide, and in time you will make a name for yourself and carry yourself through the fandom with your work. Furries are going mainstream by the minute! As we animorph into mainstream culture, the process will become easier, and you will find your personal niche.

I would like to lastly touch upon professionalism and the topic of being a sole proprietor as a freelance artist. If you have the ability to safely become a full time artist, go for it! However starting a business, especially in art can be extremely daunting. "How much do I charge?" i personally have found an easy way to value my work as someone who is doing this full time, I charge 10$ an hour of work, give or take, but mostly give. You may find yourself putting in over 80 hours in one week, and get 10 likes on a painting. Personally I have felt overall that this experience has been like rolling a snowball up a mountain. If this is what you love, you will find value in the community, your work and your demeanor as a professional entity before you become concerned with the value of how much you charge.

The money will come, but you need to show up first, with vigor and confidence, even when the well is dry and give your 110 percent. There are so many resources out there as well that help with invoicing professionally. I like to believe to use your intuition when handling clients on a personal basis. Everyone is different and to that note their needs are different too. A lot of commissioners who actively commission have been hurt in the past by artists who conducted themselves unprofessionally. Some even lost long term relationships with artists due to any number of reasons. To that I say that you will have to handle baggage when working with clients and reassure them and provide. Create a reference point that you'd love to come back to, one you'd enjoy every second of wait time, and you can mark yourself successful. Many artists now-and-days have eclectic methods to making money, whether it be commissions, Patreon, dealers den at conventions, badges, pins, prints, consulting, a part-time job and more. There are so many ways to get to "point B" and still survive as an artist.

Those are just a few of the social implications that arise when it comes to being a creator in the furry community, and there are many more out there. You will come to see the community first, and then yourself through it, and then yourself of it. I will be teaching this blog post in my "Digital Art 101; furry art in the community" class next week. As one of the founding members of the furry club of Rutgers University, I will be hosting it on campus. I will be touching other skills beyond social skills. Stay tuned as I will most likely stream and record the 4 hour lecture via Webex.

I hope you enjoyed this snippet from the lecture, and take home something from it, thank you again for subscribing to the Patreon, Quart Blog.

Again, I will be working on this month's Patreon exclusives and uploading them ASAP.

In regards to Patreon, the discord server has reached 50 individuals. Roles and permissions have been fixed, and I want to thank Chazzy for the suggestion this month for our exclusive. Please join us on movie nights on the "uwu" open ended discord server. I am on it, on voice, nearly 24/7 (sometimes even snoring on it). If you have any recommendations, critiques, or complaints, bring it up in the discord chat or call me. I will pick up or answer you with due diligence.

Thank you again, I hope you have a great rest of your February, and cheers to the leap year and march!