Tag: furry

Officially lost count of how many sketchbooks have been filled!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

We’re either at 12 or 13, the most recent number I wrote down is 10. I’ve filled 2 for sure but maybe 3 since then.

I can’t recall when the travel sketchbook I finished up recently was completed, but I know for sure we finished up two (a medium white and medium black) in the last few days. I’m pretty sure we’re at 13 but I won’t know for sure until I go through the finished sketchbook bin and count!

This is such a funny milestone to reach. Only 4 years ago I had never filled a sketchbook from front to back in my life, now I can’t recall for certain the number of books I have filled.

Here is a small sample of some favorite pages from the 2 sketchbooks we just filled up. I say “we” because my partner and daughter both draw in my sketchbooks too! This time around there’s a lot of Beastars studies. I’ve been drawing from referencing the manga, I love Itagaki’s style and I’d love to emulate it in my own anthropomorphic work!

I want to make an attempt at doing sketchbook tours in video format in the near future. A lot of people are moving out of our house soon which will free up a lot of room, I’m hoping to have a place to record in private. All I have is my phone, I don’t have any fancy equipment, but I figure it’s worth a shot either way! Stay tuned…

Until next time, take care, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Meet the artist!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment
For the record, if you get confused easily like I do, >25 means older than 25. I did not want to reveal my full date of birth.

If you’ve ever been on social media, you may have seen people posting these introductory memes. My friend recently redid their take on this one, so I decided I would give it a go as well!

This ties into something I’ve been meaning to talk about too, I’m trying to create an avatar of sorts to represent me since I want to remain anonymous. The author of a manga I recently finished represents herself with a pigeon, and such things are very common among Japanese creators. More and more people are using personas to represent themselves online and I am very much here for this trend! Privacy is very important to me.

So far I’ve come up with this snowshoe cat character. I want to refine this design and try a more detailed style of drawing them. For now though, this Animal-Crossing-inspired “chibi” style will have to do. Even though I no longer play video games, I’ve spent so much time drawing Animal Crossing fanart that it’s just become second nature to me!

I consider this a thumbnail sketch, it’s very preliminary. This is my very first time attempting to draw this character, so some details may be subject to change! I think I’d like to add some asymmetry to the facial markings for a more distinct look.

Why a snowshoe cat? Well, I have a classic tuxedo cat as well as one who looks like a purebred Tonkinese cat, but they are sisters from the same litter! Snowshoe cats have the perfect cross between these two coats. I also have a separate fursona designed by the same friend I mentioned earlier, and that one is a hummingbird. Perhaps I can get permission to post it here sometime…

That’s all for now. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I will see you again soon!

Inktober 2022

~ Ari October ~ 1 Comment


To view all 31 illustrations, click here to visit the Google Drive folder!

Well folks, I did it. 31 illustrations in 31 days. Some took several days to complete, some of them I only spent a few minutes on. Either way, I got it done. Now I am exhausted and never want to look at another micron pen for the rest of my life! (Just kidding.) I’ve already complained enough about how hard this was in the previous post, so I will focus on the positives now.

I really did learn a lot from this challenge, and even walked away with more confidence in my abilities! The prompts helped me come up with ideas I never would have thought of on my own, and I got several illustrations I love out of the deal. Noticing which illustrations I enjoyed making the most was very enlightening, and I will definitely be using that knowledge going forward.

For the record, I got most of my references from Pexels and Unsplash. Some were also referenced from my own photos, (such as the shed,) and a few were referenced from my imagination or memories! Another thing I’ve learned from this challenge is just how important building a visual library through mileage is. The more you draw from seeing, the more you’ll be able to draw from muscle memory! I’ve found that I really like drawing my own memories.

While I’m really grateful that I finally completed Inktober for the first time, I’m not sure it’s something I’m going to do every year. By the time next October rolls around I’m sure I’ll be considering trying again, but I will be more willing to drop it if I feel it is doing me more harm than good.

If you have any questions or comments about any of the illustrations, please feel welcome to leave a comment! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!