kalahari

Park Life

Mon Sep 28 00:41:03 2020

Just recently, I got the irrepressible urge to draw a squirrel. Maybe it has something to do with the thriving population we have around here. The cute little noses, the big bushy tails -- it had to be done! Not to mention their penchant for hanging around in trees. Never mind the fact that her own feet are probably much better suited to climbing than those sneakers...

I also just love the idea of "wild" animal people hanging around in the places we're likely to find them in real life.

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Bonfire

Wed Sep 16 22:15:22 2020

A celebration on the open plains, under a big sky.

So much art to catch up on! This one is a piece for Skyler, an awesome artist and friend for many years now. He's been super generous with surprise gift art of my characters, which you can find in his gallery. In fact, he's responsible for some great drawings of Kalahari looking his most tribal, and here I tried to capture the spirit of a multi-species tribe enjoying a special occasion. All this does is fill me with the need to draw more tribal Kal and expand upon the setting!

The past month has been slow, so thanks for bearing with me while I had to tend other irons in the fire, as I guess they say. But I managed to take a small in-state vacation, which hardly makes up for all of this year's canceled travel plans, but was still restorative. I have a small backlog of finished pieces now, so there should be more to come within the week!

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Van Squish

Fri Jul 31 21:50:34 2020

"Spending the night in a van is never a comfortable experience. Doubly so when you gotta sleep two. But to save a little cash on the way to Loogaroo for a weekend of live jams, Juno and Impala make do with crashing on the backseat. Maybe she'll spring for a motel on the drive back."

A piece for the amazing, awesome, friendly Herro, featuring her hyena being a real mattress hog with Juno. I'd been following her for a long-ass time and only got in contact this past year; it's crazy getting in touch with artists you've only admired from a distance!

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The Corner Place

Tue Jun 30 23:43:33 2020

While I have a huge soft spot for skunks, they rarely make it into my art projects. Looking back I can't help but shake my head at the conspicuous gap in my gallery. Kappy gave me a chance to correct that somewhat, and I drew her very own skunk girl at some street-side cafe/diner that looks just about perfect for those nights the rain holds off.

The focus this month has been making good on art trades and clearing my workspace for some more personal (and gift) art.

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Piffle

Fri Jun 12 22:14:09 2020

So, I see Vivian just strutting around the square like she owns it. I grab a screenshot and this is what happened.

ACNH has been a godsend... Very nice to have something to play in short spurts while working from home. I definitely did not put in all the initial work some seem to have, so my island doesn't even have the benefit of a fully connected path system. While I didn't really know anything about Vivian when she moved in, she's grown on me a lot :3 Don't let those eyes intimidate you -- she's a sweetheart.

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Dry Season

Sun May 31 23:02:22 2020

A couple months ago I got a new set of watercolors (rare thing for me), so I've been getting acquainted with them and doing some paintings on a smaller scale. Nice to have something to show for it after a number of lackluster practice paintings. This impala girl's on 5x7" coldpress watercolor board, which is a format I'm quickly falling in love with for this kind of work. The paints are great (Van Gogh half-pans) so it's more a matter of practicing to get some level of competence with them.

Otherwise, life carries on. No real change to the status quo, and it's the creative process that keeps me grounded more than anything. More likely than not, the next post will be something digital!

Stay safe, I guess in however many ways you might need to.

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"Inspire me a little" (2010)

Sun May 31 01:31:12 2020

Still waters run deep, as they say . . . I'll have new art to post tomorrow!

I was notified of another picture that didn't yet make it into the full-resolution folders here, this one from a full decade ago! I was pushing my colored pencils as hard as I could to get some astral, other-dimensional dream scene out of them. I was favoring markers more and more at this point, but pencil coloring would show up here and there, even though I never developed a command of the medium that I really felt comfortable with.

Original description: "Rain, in prayer, as a strawberry-scented candle burns nearby."

I updated the 2010 art batch to include it.

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Art Batch (2019)

Mon May 4 23:28:48 2020

The full-resolution files for last year's work are all put together! I know, took long enough. My little civet comic from 2019 is uploaded as its own folder, complete with no-text and colored versions.

We're already well into 2020, as much as I dread admitting it . . . seriously how is it May already?? Still, I'm working hard to make this an excellent year for art, both in productivity and growth. Where last year was more-or-less the "year of Mazia", I'm making this one the "year of Juno", giving her some extra attention and development. At the same time, I'm putting some special focus into watercolor to hone some of those skills I've put off for way too long. The support you guys offer is as amazing as it is unexpected -- thank you for going on this ride with me!

And for easy access, the image files for every previous year are here in the links:

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Genet coloring page

Tue Apr 14 18:55:21 2020

If you've got a little extra time these days and maybe in need of a stress-reducing activity, here's a coloring book page specifically for that. It's formatted to be printable on 8.5x11" letter paper (A4 works great too if you want some blank color-testing space, or you wanna crop my signature right out of there). Check out the attached PNG for the full-resolution printable file.

I call the picture "Buckley's Bight", and it features a small-spotted genet tracking down an East African sunset moth in jungles of Kenya's Pate Island.

Enjoy! And do bug me if you want to show off a colored page!

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" colored by iPoke

Thu Apr 9 21:51:15 2020

Not content with the grayscale originals, iPoke surprised me one day with colored panels of my civet-centered comic! This is someone who routinely performs magic with grayscale bases and gave Mazia and Malech some of that same treatment.

"Discover the adventure... Once again... For the very first time!"

If you haven't seen his gallery lately, do yourself a favor: iPoke on FA

I'll be posting the panels sequentially on FA and twitter, but I'm uploading them here all at once!

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"Shelter" shirt + topless version

Sat Apr 4 00:14:42 2020

Juno managed to make it to the cabin earlier than expended. There were still enough hours in the day to kick off her weekend by chilling on the porch and taking in some of the afternoon sun. With any luck, the car would just sit there baking on the gravel lot, empty for days on end.

More or less where I'd like to be right now.

Hope everyone's found someplace comfortable, if not scenic, to ride out the weekend.

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American Heat

Sun Mar 29 23:26:51 2020

First of all... who else is in lockdown? I live in one of the few cities in my area enacting this policy, which means a lot of time at home for me. Ideally, I would have imagined this would be a great time for pumping out art and getting all these WIPs finished, catching up with everyone... Ideally. The reality has involved working from home on a big writing job for an academic textbook, which I'm actually kind of excited about! That, and (I think I can be blunt here) a surprise bout of depression.

There's a handful of new art pieces underway, which should make it up here over the next week, as well as a fully colored version of my "Mangoes" comic from last year. And as for today's post...

I was pretty thrilled when I got tapped to do the cover for Heat, since I've known this magazine since... about forever! If you want to check it out and read a blurb on the picture's background, it's on the SofaWolf website. The scene came from the story "American Heat", which follows a jackal and ferret on a cross-country, post-apocalyptic trip. And the color scheme here... it was a special challenge working on an almost monochromatic scene trying to get the feeling for a HOT night in the predawn hours. I went through a dozen color palettes before settling on this one -- even a touch of blue in the sky seemed to cool down the atmosphere too much.

Stay safe everyone. Even if it's quiet and peaceful, I think we'll remember these months for the rest of our lives.

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Children of the Moon

Thu Feb 13 23:00:00 2020

"Full moon's coming up. Whaddya suppose they'd do if we just ran off for a few days. Just a few . . ."

She mused placidly, offering up the idea with just enough steadiness in the up-all-night rasp of her voice that she very probably meant it sincerely. Half listening, he traced the back-and-forth of the dancers as his mind swirled over in a kind of helical thought-paralysis and the only way to hold off the rush of being intensely present with the girl -- this real cherry of an unfettered marsupial -- seemed to just be watching those dancers through the gauzy midnight air.

". . . find ourselves a bare mountaintop, way up high. To, you know, commune with the heavens. In a big sky . . ."

Each word crept gently from her throat, bathing him in aural kind of belonging just for being the subject of her proposition. He was wound up in her like some waterlogged oligochete sinking into the slippery maw of exactly the kind of primordial business Elder Soapstone-Hopper would've chided him for. But the frazzle-furred curmudgeon was neither here nor anywhere among the tree-kees that still drew breath in the jungle steam.

". . . watching for astral travelers out in the -- hey, are you listening?"

"Yeah. Commune . . ."

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Worlds Before (2015)

Thu Feb 6 04:16:15 2020

"No one really knows where it came from," Juno mused, "but it's pretty cool, right? Seeing what we inherited from worlds before. Touching it."

She shifted her hips around on the weathered tiles. "It makes you wonder what we'll leave behind," but she smiled saying it, and her eyes sparkled in a ray of sunlight.

-----

This happens to be the first colored piece I ever drew of Juno. Her look has changed in a few ways (in particular, her face looks pretty off-model here) but the spirit's still there. My thanks to a patron who pointed out that this piece was absent from my full-resolution files. For whatever reason, I lost a few of these along the way; fortunately the original was close at hand!

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Tree-kee

Tue Jan 28 23:23:28 2020

(a heads up: I'll be posting the original for sale. It will be priced at 150USD and every bit of that will go to Australian bushfire charity efforts (WIRES). Check my FA for updates)

After sketching a bunch of tree-kangaroos (of all things) this one called out for some watercolor treatment. Expect more of these guys here and there! I've kind of fallen in love with drawing them.

Watercolor, ink and gel pen on 9x12" cold-press board

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Juno's Room

Sun Jan 26 22:23:41 2020

This one's in 4K!

I always approach the start of a new year with a few art goals in mind; chief among them this year, I'm putting some focus on developing Juno's background and character. For as much as I love drawing her, there's a lot more I could do to bring out the Juno in my head and put her to paper. A look at the vixen in her room during a moment of rest seems like a good way to kick that off. Even though she was just a wee kit when the N64 was big, she developed an appreciation for the classics when she inherited the hardware.

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Marian's Swing

Tue Jan 21 01:31:16 2020

One of my very favorite vixens ever <3 Prose generously provided by Tempe O'Kun!

-----

Spring sunlight lit the courtyard of Nottingham Castle. In the shade of an oak tree, Maid Marian sat on a swing. Her legs rocked the swing a little higher. Not high enough to draw attention from the few castle staff who might be around. But enough. Her tail twitched, lifting the hem of her dress in just such a way that the handsome tod behind her could see up it.

Robin Hood, ever observant, took note of the face that he could see the full length of her tail and the white fur of her rump. His ears sprung up, two triangles of alertness. In their few months of marriage, he had not shown any sign of being less easily scandalized glimpses of his wife's bottom.

In spite of the blush burning under her cheek fur, the vixen chuckled. "Oh! Well, something has caught your attention, my dear Robin."

A winning smile spread across his muzzle. "You always have my attention, darling."

Her ears twitched down in her hat at the flattery. "I love you with all my heart, you know."

The cockiness in his tone faded, replaced by lovestruck honesty. "You may have mentioned that during the most important moments of my life, yes."

Heart aflutter, she pressed her bare toes together as they swing above the grass. Being married meant learning to speak a language of intimacy that she'd never learned. Her fluency was not yet at the point where she could make requests with complete confidence, though her old friend proved a very attentive study partner. She gave her tail another dainty flick and rubbed her bare feet together. "And I'm quite interested in loving you with the rest of me too..."

"Is that so?" Agile as ever, he rolled to sit in front of her.

"Mmmhmm." Her paws bumped his bare knees.

His eyes flashed down to them, then back to her. He leaned back on the grass, arms behind his head. "And what did I do to merit this?"

"Why, stealing my heart." She kicked lightly off his knees, swinging back.

"A roguish deed." His hand batted playfully at her, but she kicked off him again to swing just out of his reach. "You must think me quite the scoundrel."

"You are a scoundrel." She chuckled. Her feet jostled playfully across his lap. They bumped a hint of stiffness through the fabric. "A scoundrel of my very own."

His head rose from the grass. "Yours?"

"Yes, mine." Her toes flicked the hem of his tunic. She raised a hand, letting the gold band glint in the sun. "You do have a ring on your finger. And it looks quite a lot like this one."

Glancing at his own hand, he feigned surprise. He sat up. "So I do."

She gripped the ropes of the swing and leaned forward with a smile and swish of her tail. One foot traced along the bare fur of his thigh while the other braced for another hop against his knee. "You won't be getting away from me this time, Robin Hood."

He grabbed her foot. "And you won't be getting away from me!"

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"Raccoon with a Camera"

Tue Dec 31 20:31:38 2019

One last post for 2019! For my part, I'll be happy to be done with the year. Not that there weren't some good times along the way. I drew this piece for Supi, who re-introduced me to my dslr and got me outside taking pictures :)

I have several projects lined up for 2020, including a deeper dive into the life of Juno. Her marketplace scene got some unexpected attention, so I'll be happily doing more alone those lines!

Happy new year, and thanks for the unbelievable support!

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"Karina Whitefoot" (2014)

Fri Dec 20 22:56:38 2019

Thanks to a patron for noticing that this piece wasn't in the full-resolution files! I did a fresh scan of the picture so I can correct that. It's still one of my personal favorites, and here's the original story I included with the post:


"Her name was Karina, but those close to her began to call her ‘White Foot’ after the fine, dusty sand she gathered on her walks through the dry, worn away part of the desert just outside of town. She took these little walks to greet the wildlife and feel what must be ancient, ancient stone beneath her feet, communing with the earth as it was a long time ago. But more and more, spending time in the quiet white sand became a way to reflect, surrounding herself with empty space and giving her mind the sense of solitude it needed to return to what was by comparison a very busy world. She’d be out there for hours at a time, journal in tow, ready to release unedited thoughts, putting them on paper in a cathartic process she hoped would bring her just a little more peace, make the blood throb through her neck just a little more softly. Sometimes unbidden thoughts of loss and regret came straight to her out there in the sand and she would write them out—perhaps calmly, perhaps in shaking strokes—and maybe rob them of their strength.

"It was all a process, and Karina Whitefoot began to doubt that there was really an end to it but rather a continuation that one could hope gets easier with time. Animals are a help. They have a remarkable way of brushing off the pain of loss that we might carry with us for the rest of our lives. She caught a striped lizard in the house in a way that earned her some firm but forgettable reprimand from her parents, and the little frightened creature instantly became her companion. He warmed up to the jackal in the reserved and ambiguous way that lizards do and she pondered over just what to name this creature, this home intruder that was nonetheless lovingly accepted into her family. She piddled over the sound of ‘Extaberr’ and her little brother offered ‘Snapper’, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t end up being either of these.

"Some days nothing much is done and she lies in the shade or swims in the canals, staying out of the heat of the open desert. But she reminds herself it’s a long process and remembers her father’s encouragement that she’s been through a lot and she needs to give herself credit for coming this far. Still, she planned to get her feet dusty tomorrow, and maybe there wouldn’t be any breakthroughs, maybe she would have some trouble relaxing in the bleached sand thinking of what waited back at home, but it was something clear she could do, something solid she could stand on."

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"Sea Lyin' Around"

Tue Dec 17 02:47:46 2019

I already dipped my toes into the world of furry pinnipeds with this seaside seal, and I've been dying to eager to get back to them. NorthernCrosshair offered his Sarah, stretching out and soaking up some sun in that short, short fur. Definitely an animal I want to come back to!

Watercolor, colored marker, ink, and gel pen on 9x12" Bristol board.

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"Open-Air Market"

Tue Nov 19 04:50:12 2019

While browsing her small city's naturist market in the middle of a bright, beautiful day, Juno grabs a fruit smoothie from her favorite stand.

After putting this one on the backburner for a month, I finally got back to it! What went down is I started this scene to work my way out of a short but frustrating artblock. Juno's a wonderfully helpful muse like that. Just a few days later, I was tapped by Sofawolf Press to do some illustration work for the next volume of "Heat" (!) which I wasn't about to turn down. Nothing to show for it yet, but I feel good about the work, and it should be debuting at MFF next month. With that finished, it's back to personal art for a while!

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"No Cover"

Wed Oct 2 02:11:16 2019

Thigh-high boots and gloves will class just about anyone up. And she apparently doesn't need much more. And if vodka-coke isn't your drink, the friendly company's just as refreshing.

A little gift for VinnyQ of her Afghan hound, just in time for her birthday! I was adjusting the colors till the end, adjusting them such that they evoke kind of a humid summer night, the kind we've been getting a lot of in the south (even now in October).

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"Vap"

Sat Sep 7 01:39:47 2019

It's about time I drew my favorite Eeveelution. Though Vaporeon seems to be a lot of people's favorite . . . is it that thick, huggable tail? It's certainly a draw for me. Poor Jolteon doesn't even have a tail . . .

I was lucky enough to find a big plush Vaporeon (lovingly named "Vap") at the Pokemon Center in Manhattan. She was my "personal item" on the flight home and (I'm not ashamed to say) I've made a habit of snuggling her every night.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (14)

Thu Aug 22 00:05:57 2019

The final page! It may not have been about the mangoes, but there's no reason to turn away a good find. Time to eat up!

Getting to explore Mazia and Malech with this little project has been a blast -- and at first it wasn't even meant to be a series! Thanks for taking this journey with me. Very happy I did something more with it and let these two have their fun. It's also been good to get some more grayscale work under my belt in case there's publication gigs out there that need such material.

Don't worry, after all this I'm still not sick of Mazia, or civets in general :)

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (13)

Wed Aug 7 02:18:30 2019

The civets share a nice, deep climax, with Mazia being pretty vocal about it. At first I wasn't going to include an internal shot, but I'm glad I did -- it was way too fun! I love drawing both fluffy stuff and squishy stuff, so what more could I ask for? This leaves only one more panel to go, sadly!

Fun fact: the characteristic striped collar of African civets is thought to be a visual marker for where to bite during play-fighting. This lets the civets easily nip at each other's scruff without causing harm.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (12)

Fri Jul 19 00:00:01 2019

Naked in the humid jungle with her favorite civet boy making rough, atavistic love to her . . . Mazia's basically in heaven. She very easily and enthusiastically enjoys the little pleasures in life, so naturally she's also the definition of 'happy sex'.

How a young civet manages to explore and indulge her sexuality so liberally without starting a family fairly early on requires some kind of explanation. While it feels a little lazy and derivative from a creative standpoint, an herbal birth control is easily available to the Inkasi. Apologies to those who are really hoping for Mazia to get knocked up (and I know you're reading this!) She really does want kids some day, and someday soon, but not just yet. This is taboo in itself, there being a certain pressure to settle down an produce some heirs as soon as is reasonable. This is also one of the reasons Mazia likes to be sneaky -- so her parents don't know what she gets up to when she's out mango hunting!

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"Like Wild Animals"

Mon Jul 1 00:48:48 2019

Thanks, KitsuneLegend for pointing out this piece wasn't in my high-res files! Somewhere along the way, the original scan got deleted and all I had was the FA version. Time to correct that.

While adjusting the scan, I tried an alternate color correction, something that more closely matched the warm, vibrant look I originally intended for this piece. So maybe call this a "Special Edition", but I won't be making a habit of it. I'm including this alt version in high resolution as well.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (11)

Mon Jul 8 23:59:59 2019

Mazia and Malech share some naked jungle love. The village may as well be a million miles away at this point, which means frisky civets can get as wild as they want!

Some interesting perspective issues here; it didn't come out looking right the first time . . . or the second . . . but maybe now it works? The next page is a more conservatively angled side view, but I don't think it'll be any less interesting.

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"Umber"

Thu Jun 27 23:47:54 2019

Lilly gave me an opportunity to draw one of her lovely cows (and there are a lot to choose from, so I picked my favorite). This was an interesting piece, not the least of which because I'm really rusty with my bovines, never mind udders! She's soft-spoken, hardworking, and loves tending to the crops. I only hope she doesn't snack on more than she brings home.

She also has a Patreon, so take a peek at that if you like well-mammaried critters of all sorts.

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"Staying the Night"

Thu Jun 13 22:25:59 2019

"Are you managing okay back there?"

The tuft of hair peaking from her bandanna gently bobbed as I found my target and pumped away. If there was any doubt in the extent of the shaman's invitation to relax and stay the night, it was dispelled when she rolled over on all fours under the pretense of finding another recondite manual of herbalism. But by this point, we both evolved other intentions.

Rather than waiting for an answer, she settled down on her generous chest and indulged as I enthusiastically grappled her daunting ursine stature.

"Mm, yes . . . you're managing just fine . . ."

-----

A continuation of the saga (neatly compiled on e621 with full-res images hosted here).

To all the new patrons, welcome and thank you! I'm continually amazed at the support here! I want to make sure this modest Patreon is as good as it can be, so if you notice any pieces that are conspicuously absent, let me know -- in the past some art was never scanned at high resolution, and some of that was sent off to buyers without proper scan. I'll do my best to fill in the gaps.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (10)

Sun Jun 2 00:50:44 2019

I guess they're on the same page! No mangoes yet, but hopefully the expedition hasn't been totally fruitless.

June may be the month I finish up this little vignette -- I hope you're not sick of these civets just yet! I'm very interesting in exploring their village through some other scenes, almost certainly involving Topaz again.

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"Vine Rider" (pencil and color)

Sat May 18 20:00:43 2019

Maia the kinkajou, surfing down that vine with impossible ease! I added some flat colors to the pencil work, but I'm still not sure if it really added to the picture -- let me know which you like better.

Kinkajous are a new subject for me. I love under-represented animals, and while drawing this I remembered another lesser-encountered procyonid from a while back. Not long after they were declared a separate species, I drew a couple of olinguitos hanging out in the cloud forest.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (9)

Fri May 3 00:44:05 2019

Finally, Malech's point of view.

Bending over AND lifting her tail? Real subtle, Mazia. But she knows it gets results.

Text and no-text versions included as always!

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"Fraying Colors"

Sun Apr 28 23:55:11 2019

Juno with some fun colors. She always kind of invites a more playful approach to coloring, I just had to choose a nice palette with strong hues. And I managed to fit in some of those Monstera leaves that are so popular these days.

Interestingly enough a few people mentioned this would make a good poster, so if you wanna try printing it out, go ahead! The resolution will only give you 300dpi up to about Letter size, but I've happily settled for lower resolution on posters before.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (8)

Tue Apr 16 01:42:28 2019

How much of this is Mazia being really into this cool moth she just found, and how much that she just wanted to tease Malach with an obvious tail lift? Probably equal parts.

A bit of extra background (since I like to share than in the smaller circle that is Patreon) this was actually the first pose I drew for the entire series. I had the sketch of Mazia bending forward, giving quite the invitation, but the context wasn't there yet. As innocent as she might be wiggling her butt in the air, she can also be a deliberate tease. Eight pages later, I think we're ready to see where it goes from here.

Yes, that means Malech's POV is next.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (7)

Tue Apr 9 00:08:16 2019

Having both ditched their clothes in the spirit of a more natural mango-hunting experience, Mazia and Malech run deeper into the wilds of the forest. Just a transition piece, really, and the next one up is a little more engaging :)

Once again, Mazia gets to be her untamed, spunky self, and I love drawing her this way. She rarely puts on that deliberately seductive face, but I guess she has her own means of tempting civet boys to get in trouble.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (6)

Tue Mar 26 00:41:19 2019

Just a couple civets, running through the jungle.

Really wanted to get a couple of running shots in, both as a nice transition and because I had to see Mazia in action! One more running scene to come before the tone shifts...

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"In with the Tide"

Tue Mar 12 22:24:02 2019

Aleutia, the long-tailed weasel, is prone to spending large amounts of time exploring the coast. I drew this piece for her over the past couple weeks, starting with a digital sketch and color thumbnail before drawing it out on 9x12" paper and coloring the whole thing in marker.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (5)

Fri Mar 8 00:08:50 2019

A very natural Mazia.

Since her first appearance, Mazia's figure has changed a bit. This is the first time in a while I've done a full-frontal of the civet girl, and I'm very happy to call this her 'canon' figure at this age. She's noticeably stockier than Topaz; a major part of that is species, since I want to adjust any given character's figure to suit what's typical of that animal, so a genet will tend to be slimmer, an African civet heavier.

Now the question is, will Malech join in?? I would...

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (4)

Tue Feb 26 22:45:17 2019

Now you know she's serious.

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (3)

Sat Feb 23 21:59:13 2019

It's a tropical rain forest, so I mean, of course she gets a little stuffy. This is just fine with Malech.

This little tear across the frame is about as close to a traditional comic as I'll probably get in this series, since I want each of these panels to kind of stand on their own. Text and no-text versions attached!

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (2)

Sun Feb 17 22:35:47 2019

Continuing on . . .

Only the one file for this page since there's no text. But Mazia did succeed in rousing Malech, so now they're off for their little adventure. This is sure to be a fruitful experience for him, but maybe not in the most literal sense . . .

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"It's Not About the Mangoes" (1)

Sat Feb 16 22:32:16 2019

Mazia the civet has been one of my favorite characters to draw for a long time, being as positive and playful as she is. So I'm working on a small series to give her some more attention and show just what happens when she goes off mango hunting with her favorite boy civet . . .

For this first page I've included the original hand-written text (before I decided to go with speech bubbles) and the no-text version. I've got multiple pages getting worked on at the same time, and once I've caught up a bit more I'll be posting them here before anywhere else. The next one's coming very, very soon!

Mangoes01t.png Mangoes01.png Mangoes01nt.png

"Muted Forest"

Tue Jan 29 00:46:21 2019

I drew this earlier in the month as a vehicle for evaluating Kal's design, which has been essentially unchanged (pending revision) since 2013. He was a pretty standard red fox at the time, and under exigent circumstances I adjusted his design enough so that he could stand out from a crowd. Now I want to go back and tackle his design in a more informed way. Some characters just come out 'right' the first time, and others need a little work :P

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Art Batch (2018)

Mon Dec 31 23:54:57 2018

(repost because Patreon's slow tonight and I got an upload error)

Here's the full collection for the past year in three zip files! (because Patreon doesn't allow attachments over 200MB -- if there's a better way, let me know)The image files for every previous year are now also zipped for easier download. Here are the links:

Thanks to all my patrons for an amazing year! This little project turned out better than I could have imagined, so I'm thinking of additions I can make in 2019. I wish you all happiness and success in the coming year!

-Kalahari

patreon_2018.png Kalahari_2018_1.zip (d) Kalahari_2018_2.zip (d) Kalahari_2018_3.zip (d)

"Sanctuary"

Mon Dec 31 21:59:00 2018

Tucked away in a far corner of the forest. The inspiration for this came about while arting with Katy (who has her own Patreon). The background is a mix of inkwash and Copic marker pigment, the foreground being pen and marker. When I tried to do the background wash the first time, it wasn't blending nicely at all, so I scrapped that and did mixed media for safer results.

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"Cozy Up"

Sun Dec 30 00:55:36 2018

JakeRabbit on FA won the auction for this charity YCH, which means $350 went to the ASPCA! This is now the 7th year I've done a holiday charity piece -- I unfortunately missed last year due to personal issues that cropped up around that time.

Only a couple more posts left until we begin the new year!

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"Subjects of Interest"

Fri Dec 28 17:32:50 2018

Only a few days left to post the last of the year's art, so expect more soon!

Here's the continuation of the story, this evening shared between a fox and bear in a very cozy home-den. I imagine two or three more installments will finish up this little story.

The shaman made for easy company, sharing stories of a few favorite recipes and hinting at just how much luck went into discovering them. To look her in the face I had to incline my eyes quite a bit, and feeling the potency of her earthy brew, they only begged to wander the rest of her imposing figure.

"Maybe I have something else I can show you . . ." The bear's voice warmer and smoother than her tea as she closed her personal journal and turned around to choose another volume. She certainly wasn't shy, lounging in the firelit warmth of her den, but with her little tail high, it became clearer just what she wanted to show me.

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2018 Charity YCH is live!

Wed Dec 12 03:34:14 2018

I missed doing a charity commission last year due to a few personal upheavals -- time to make up for it. This time it's a nifty reindeer kigu (that kinda looks incredibly cozy). This is also a great chance for me to keep at it with digital commissions and get a better idea of how to work with them in the future.

If you feel like having a look, you can find the YCH auction HERE!

KiguYCH.png

"Steamy Seal"

Tue Dec 4 23:47:49 2018

Seal gal, just about to go for a dip. But not before taking a quick snap.

Not content with just bears, I tried to tackle another anthro species on the larger side of the scale. I imagine she's very cold-tolerant (as seals are) so the snow on the ground is no deterrent. What I'd like to do now is see her alongside some smaller characters to get a sense of the size difference.

I’m officially really into seals now…

SealSelfie_1200.png SealSelfie_original.png

"And I don't need you"

Wed Nov 28 23:43:39 2018

This pic began life as a pose study, and I couldn't un-see someone sitting in a chair in this ridiculous way. Her face was just "generic mammal" at first, but she looked vaguely fossa, so that's just what she was destined to be. The feeling behind the scene was one of shutting the door and checking out for a while -- outside world be damned, I need some me-time. And now in glorious HD you can see all the detail a resized version doesn't permit, and lack thereof as the case may be!

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"Your Table is Ready"

Thu Nov 22 02:42:24 2018

I did this drawing just before this year's Anthrocon as a gift for my generous room mate, host, and friend! Phyerphox's Natasha in her massage therapist role. I've only had two professional massages in my life, and both were prescribed. That didn't affect how amazing it felt though :D

The background watercolor (as I love to do) and she's colored with marker. I took a few hints from earlier pieces and didn't overwhelm the value of lighter areas, keeping a little pure white.

Natasha2018_600x810.png Natasha2018_original.tif (d)

"Feast of the First Moon" + end-of-year goals

Sun Nov 18 18:25:19 2018

A lot of my early art of Topaz showed her fighting for survival in the jungle, but the peaceful moments back home are some of my favorites. She's not the most sociable girl, so it's nice to see her so enthusiastic about a feast she's obligated to attend! And the attentive eye might see Mazia just a few steps ahead of her . . .

End-of-Year Goals

I'm almost caught up on the backlog of 2018 uploads, so before the end of the year I'll have the full-res file of every one of those pieces available! I'm also working on making previous years available as ZIP files so you don't need to download them automatically -- something I should have done from the start!

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"New Kid"

Sun Nov 4 23:24:46 2018

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

NewKid_1080.png NewKid_original.png

"Keeper of the Mountain"

Wed Oct 31 02:17:41 2018

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.

DragonBath_1080.png DragonBath_original.png

"Bye"

Fri Oct 19 02:00:21 2018

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!

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"Lost Woods Juno"

Wed Oct 17 01:16:10 2018

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 READ! This drawing involved a gentler line style and a lot of overpainting to soften some of the harder edges -- some of it I liked, some of it needs work. But these kinds of dark environments benefit a lot from a painterly approach that I couldn't get with my traditional tools.

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"Sunkissed Dyani"

Sat Oct 13 21:37:05 2018

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??

Dyani_1080.png Dyani_original.png

"Good Girl"

Tue Oct 9 23:22:57 2018

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 resolution really shines. Enjoy!

Blythe_1200.png Blythe_original.png

"Late Night Brandy"

Wed Oct 3 23:02:17 2018

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.

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"Cabin Vixen"

Thu Sep 27 16:00:03 2018

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 marker -- all the white spaces to leave, all the layering and relayering, the utter loss of definition when colors bleed into each other . . . Maybe next time I'll use more acrylic and preserve my sanity.

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"The Worth of Water"

Fri Sep 7 22:00:02 2018

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 amazing and complex and beautiful <3 I never appreciated them fully, growing up in South Africa, mostly because they're the most common antelope by far.

WorthOfWater_1600.png WorthOfWater_original.png

"Heart of the Woods"

Wed Aug 29 00:25:17 2018

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 naturist) themes. The character herself is also just a joy to draw :)

For her part of the trade, she drew my Juno and her Maraschino, having fun with paint . . .

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To my patrons

Thu Aug 23 00:23:52 2018

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 previous years to fill in the gaps. I already got some feedback on which older pictures are missing, and that's very helpful. Currently there's no schedule, but expect one or two posts a week as I build up the collection here.

Thanks so much, for the support, the love, for everything. And stay awesome!

-Kal

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"January"

Mon Aug 13 23:54:13 2018

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.

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"The Drumhead"

Thu Aug 9 00:32:38 2018

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.

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"Low-Temperature Civets"

Tue Jul 31 23:27:12 2018

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 . . .

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Art Batch (2017)

Tue Jul 31 02:02:10 2018

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.

patreon_2017.png HyenasInTheWater-original.png KalBear2-original.tif (d) KalBear_original.tif (d) BrandyBeach_original.png ChonaPawing_full.png JunoAcidMothCA.png JunoHiking-full.png JunosPussy.png KalForest.png LeilaniJuno_original.png JunoSelfie-original.tif (d) NakedFireFull.png PetraCoffee_original.png VineFox_original.png PetraBoobSuckFull.tif (d) WildClover_original.png NocturnalGirl_full.png

Art Batch (2016)

Tue Jul 31 01:52:25 2018

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.

patreon_2016.png CoyoteGirlLrg.tif (d) IceTypePerksLrg.tif (d) MaziaMalechCumshotLrg.tif (d) Samantha-FULL.png SoWhyNotNow-Lrg.tif (d) AnastasiaButt_original.png AnastasiaLaptop_original.png JackalCoding.png AshPorcupine_full.png KalButt2_full.png OtterBoy_full.png RaccoonSwingInkLrg.png UmbreonShower_full.png rudderbutt_full.png RaccoonSwing.sai (d) AleutiaTailHug-original.tif (d) JunoWall-original.tif (d) PorcupineChick-original.tif (d) BrandyGettingReady-original.tif (d) JunoPetraHike-original.tif (d) SakeCafeLrg.tif (d) StrappedInSleighbells_original.tif (d) TopazHunting-original.tif (d) AleutiaTailHug_scan.tif (d)

Art Batch (2015)

Tue Jul 31 01:33:08 2018

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.

patreon_2015.png BuffBuffLrg.tif (d) NudeBeachBarLrg.tif (d) AnastasiaHug_original.tif (d) AreYouSureItWasNothing_original.tif (d) AnastasiaSweater_original.tif (d) DoeButt_original.tif (d)

Art Batch (2014)

Mon Jul 30 02:53:17 2018

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.

patreon_2014.png DayOfCelebrationLG.png GazelleGirlLG.tif (d) HerSpotsLG.tif (d) AryaTheGenetLG.tif (d) IndiLG.tif (d) XenShiaLG.tif (d)

Art Batch (2013)

Mon Jul 30 02:45:50 2018

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).

patreon_2013.png DelLG1.tif (d) JenscaLG.tif (d) BeachLG.tif (d) NaturalLightLG1.tif (d) RocLarge.tif (d) OlinguitosLG.tif (d) zen%20aelius.jpg SomeNightsLG.tif (d) SnowedIn.tif (d)

Art Batch (2012)

Mon Jul 30 02:39:12 2018

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.

patreon_2012.png BuffyLG.tif (d) CivetsAtPlay.tif (d) FieldworkLG.tif (d) FG42LG.tif (d) GoodMorningLG.tif (d) FortyFive.tif (d) KalKnife.tif (d) HawkinsLG.tif (d) MaziaNudeGraphiteLG.png OhStopItLarge.png RadosLG.tif (d) LadyFantasyLG.tif (d) Kalimantani2012.tif (d) RaqRatLG.tif (d) SA6SLG.tif (d) SnowDogLG.tif (d) SolitaireLG.tif (d) ThePartisanOfPineridgeLG.tif (d) WandaLG.tif (d) VZLG.tif (d)

Art Batch (2011)

Sat Jul 28 03:07:42 2018

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.

patreon_2011.png BrushingUp.tif (d) JodiLG.1.tif (d) Cola.tif (d) FocusColor.tif (d) LebenMinniLG.tif (d) TeaLG.tif (d) OnTheRidge.tif (d) StarsAndStripesLG.tif (d) YouCantGoHome.tif (d)

Art Batch (2010)

Fri Jul 27 01:28:29 2018

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.

patreon_2010.png RecruitingPosterLG.tif (d) Spartan2010LG.tif (d) am%27caizha.tif (d) Neakal2010.tif (d) TopazInRiver.tif (d)

Art Batch (2009)

Thu Jul 26 03:20:05 2018

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.

patreon_2009.png GunnerGalLG.tif (d) DesertRainLG.tif (d) Thunder.tif (d) Fisher.tif (d) Hunt2.tif (d)