kalahari

"New Kid"

Petra in her youth. Life isn't always so kind to the new kids, the foreigners, the freaks, the geeks...

Watercolor, Copic marker, and pen on 9x12″ hotpress board

"Keeper of the Mountain"

This was a rare joy, just for the amount of painting I got to do in the background. The colors came to me quickly in rough sketching and then I just needed to get the feel of the cave refined. And yeah, I've been getting on a dragon kick since there are very few rules of anatomy and they're great subjects for playing around with new shapes and figures.

Is there a story here? Well, I think you can make up one even better than what I had in mind.

"Bye"

No, don't worry I'm not leaving. Well, just a week's vacation then I'll be back. And to change things up, I'm posting this here a bit early. Enjoy!

"Lost Woods Juno"

The idea of giving Juno sunset moth wings and big, fluffy legwarmers seemed cute enough, but when I actually drew it out last year I was smitten. When I want to inject a ton of color into my art, fairy Juno is there for me! And she's got this ebullient innocence that calls for me to draw her like this more. It's also safe to say that Paul Kidd's "Whisper of Wings" informed me greatly on the wonders of fox fairies, and incidentally I would recommend it as a furry classic that you REALLY OUGHT TO ...

"Sunkissed Dyani"

Here's a watercolor/marker piece I drew for Skyler Ragnarok on FA. He's been very generous drawing my characters and including them in some of his work, so I created this just ahead of trip to go visit him.

I have some ideas for another piece using similar techniques painted in watercolor but helped out a bit with some gouache. How about a skunk laying prone in a grassy field and looking pretty??

"Good Girl"

So, I decided to go for a "sandwich" method for posting: newer artwork as it's finished, and older stuff to get caught up. That way, there isn't a multi-month delay in getting full-res versions of the newest pics! This also happens to be a good way to listen to podcasts . . .

This one was a YCH commission for DrGravitas on FA of his fox, Blythe, and it was an indulgent excuse to draw some dental detail. And so much of that detail gets lost when resizing, so this is where the original resolutio...

"Late Night Brandy"

I love porcupines -- I really do -- but they're always a challenge. Depending on the medium, the level of detail, and the angle, I have to consider every time how to draw those magnificent quills. And Brandy's a crested porcupine, so on top of everything else, the quills are patterned. Well, while I continue experimenting, here's Brandy looking super relaxed.

"Cabin Vixen"

I honestly tried to settle on a better title. But it works. This piece was a gift for Baron03 who's been nice enough to include some of my characters in his stories, and this was the idea he pitched me. A naked fox girl chopping wood by her cabin? Hell, I might have drawn this just for myself, but don't tell him. This scene was a strong reminder of just all the pitfalls that come with creating full environmental scenes in marke...

"The Worth of Water"

I kept running into references to indoor farming this year and finally decided to explore it in a picture. This ended up being a neat and intimate mixture of the highly organic and highly synthetic, which I seems to be the kind of world we're destined to live in. Sometimes I leave little random bits in my drawings, sometimes references or easter eggs, and there's a totally inconspicuous one here that you might only be able to make out in the full-res image.

Also, impalas are amazi...

"Heart of the Woods"

When I set up an art trade with LuthienNightwolf a flood of ideas came to me, all of them set deep in a very natural, timeless forest environment. How to render that environment on paper was something else though . . . I ended up settling on a combination of watercolor and marker (the latter becoming especially helpful in the darker, more saturated areas) with a bit of an emphasis on the depth of the scene. I've known Luthien's work for a looong time, and of course loved her natural (and naturis...

To my patrons

In the three weeks since I launched my Patreon I've been just amazed. I couldn't have known what interest there would be in a project like this (if any) but every time I get a new pledge notification it's a reminder that there really is support, and it makes my day! Some of you have even pledged more than the minimum; you're amazing and you leave me totally humbled!!

What's to come: I will continue to post the files for recent art (since the beginning of the year) and re-scan pieces from ...

"January"

First digital piece of 2018. And yeah, what smoldered through the final months of the previous year finally broke, and I did what I could to capture it in this scene of Petra and Juno. I somehow keep coming back to purples in my digital explorations, maybe because I almost never had the chance to play with more darkly lit scenes in traditional media.

"The Drumhead"

Getting caught up on 2018 work! Here's the first picture I finished this year, and as environments go this one was more demanding than most. Full-resolution cleaned scan of "The Drumhead" at 300dpi. This piece was drawn with Copic marker, watercolor, pen, and gel pen on 9x12" hotpress board.

"Low-Temperature Civets"

Full-resolution cleaned scan of "Low-Temperature Civets" at 300dpi. This piece was drawn with Copic marker, watercolor, pen, and gel pen on 9x12" hotpress board. Yeah, I do have a bit of a civet problem . . .

Art Batch (2017)

In 2017 I put a lot more focus on getting comfortable with digital media, and as a result most of the pics here are digital. But this also includes the start of a slowly progressing series of marker/watercolor scenes featuring Kalahari and an accommodating bear shaman.

Art Batch (2016)

Some digital art actually happened in 2016! I put a lot more time into getting the feel of a tablet and learning my way around SAI, and you can see some of the results here. I've included a .sai file with lineart for an un-colored piece, as well as the unfinished, unposted "Umbreon Shower". Lots of traditional work as well, including gifts, YCHs, and personal pics.

Art Batch (2015)

2015 saw a lot more full background marker pics with more elaborate shading. This was also the year the red fox Juno first appeared, and she's certainly gone on to get a lot of attention! Like 2014, most of the original scans from this year were lost, so they'll be rescanned and uploaded in separate posts.

Art Batch (2014)

On to 2014! I have some marker and inkwash pictures to share, but a few of my scans from this year were lost on their harddrive (you may remember a Glaceon, a couple of sharks, even a jackal). I still have all the originals, so as part of this Patreon project I'll be rescanning them at 300dpi and sharing in future posts.

Art Batch (2013)

In 2013, I spent a large portion of the year living and working away from home. With limited art supplies, I took the opportunity to better learn watercolor techniques and even incorporate them in my marker pieces (see "Olinguitos" for an example).

Art Batch (2012)

Lots to share for 2012! I did several pieces in this year with print-making specifically in mind. A mixture of commissions, gifts, and personal work, scanned at 300dpi. Mazia (the civet) gets some good attention for the first time in this year, and she's remained a favorite of mine ever since.

Art Batch (2011)

In the 2011 batch, I have a mix of pen & ink and full-color marker work. Like the year prior, my muse wasn't striking reliably; but when it did, I sank my canines in and held on for all it was worth.

Art Batch (2010)

Continuing on with 2010. I remember this as a much less productive time, but a few drawings came out of this period that I'm still fond of.

Art Batch (2009)

Hey and welcome! I had to start these posts somewhere and 2009 seems about right. There was a dramatic shift in my style just prior to this, when it started to resemble the art I do today. So here are some of the full resolution scans, all in 200dpi for some reason, which I guess felt good enough for archival and print purposes at the time.