This painting was a small side project I indulged in to disperse some pressure while working on another bigger painting. At the time, I was contemplating what I could offer on Patreon to motivate others to support me financially. With the goal take my mind off worries about the future and finances, I decided to find inspiration in art, which I thought my followers wouldn't be interested in seeing me create; preempting all expectations by creating what I wouldn't post anyways. To my surprise, my friends voiced appreciation for this piece. That's why I decided to share this with everyone, instead of keeping it private like I originally planed.
In the center of this painting is a character who isn't based on any real animal. I focused on the individual features and what impression they would give about the character and chose to skip referencing anatomy for this particular piece. The posture and body language where inspired by two art pieces. https://twitter.com/sirpangur/status/1227280551645732865 and (NSFW) https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34461427/ . I was recently told that my paintings convey dignity and used this opportunity to try to see how far I could push that impression. Another inspiration was this painting: https://twitter.com/ovopack/status/1209174396356554758 and how it's able to convey a playful character without adapting a silly nature. There are more I looked at for inspiration, but they only had a minor impact on this painting each.
Without the encouragement of friends, I would have had a lot of reasons for why I shouldn't post this painting publicly. It's not as original as my other works. Many parts of it aren't rendered. As a whole it doesn't look like it carries a lot of meaning. And I see many parts I could solve better if I spent a bit more time working on them. Those who follow me know that I post art very infrequently and the high expectations I place on myself play a big part in why I post so little. I desire to be taken serious as an artist. This lead me to place too much value on the appearance of professionalism. However, can something as deeply personal as art ever be fully professional? Can something professional be meaningful without the personal? And can a piece that was personal in an effort to run counter to professionalism be without meaning? This painting is an expression of my efforts to imagine myself being happy. You can learn more about who I am from looking at what inspired me, which parts of the sources I emphasized and which ones I left out. Worrying about how people perceive what I make changes what I do. In the worst case, it makes me do nothing. I watched the following video recently and I would link it for you too, to end this post on an open question: https://youtu.be/2MqvfyEZJGM
