Savior of the Downtrodden (Hi Res + Extra Thoughts)

This is the hi res (~4K)! Thank you so much. <3

A painting for newdarkcloud of Twitter / enigma530 of FA. The temptation of strength is strong, but mind how committed to Volpes' offer you are before taking a drink, or he'll do it for you.

Enigma has a fantastic little world-building story written up over on his submission (FurAffinity link) that you all should check out! Doing this one was a lot of fun, as I got to try to stretch both my color and render, alongside storytelling. I tried to pay extra attention to senses of scale at the start as well -- still a weakness of mine, sizing people appropriately in their surroundings, but I think this is better than I've been in the past...! And with many thanks to Enigma for being so patient with me -- this election and everything has really done a number on my sanity a bit.

Enjoy!

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WHOOF. Another one that took me a bit, mostly because of background issues. This election cycle is killing me, alongside a lot of pandemic and lockdown woes, general anxiety over the world around us, and more. As a reminder, if you're in the US, please go vote in person if you can, and make sure to wear a mask and stay safe. I truly do think this election is bigger than any other for the future.

Anyways, less about that, more about this! For this queue, I've been using people's hourly budget as a baseline and then going above and beyond. I'm doing this in part because of having less student loan worry hanging over my head, coupled with mulling over the thought of switching to a more normal, flat commission rate rather than hourly. In Myr's case, the previous painting, I think it worked out for the better. In this one, I definitely hit some large hurdles that I didn't expect -- mostly this occurred in the background, though part of my rendering and color choices also frustrated me for a bit and caused a bit of slowdown.

I think what I'm most proud of is the face, the clouds, and the anatomy of the two characters. Alongside working on these, I came across some NSFW imagery that really reinforced how much I want to get better at just general masculinity--muscular, thin, or overweight. I think these areas showcase that the best, compared to some other parts, and you can definitely see the deeper interest in making edges varied, color shifting happening, all sorts of love in there. Not to say that the other parts of the piece were unloved or ignored, just that it came easier and that it definitely felt like being at home. I know more study will help with my environments and my rendering of color, though I will also say I'm very happy with my light in this one. ESPECIALLY in the torso and face -- I think I'm finally getting a stronger grasp on contrast and edge-work.

Definitely trying to keep my head above the water, but it's been tough lately, and I think that hit me in part here too. I'm very nervous, man, I can't even put it into words properly. In my own bubble I've been good, but I definitely worry for the world around me and the people in it. I'm trying to take some of that energy and funnel it into working more though -- I'm going to begin streaming at Twitch again on the 5th, as well as taking days of the week for personal work and study, or closing all my messengers during work hours. Being 30 now, I know I'm "behind" in some ways, and I really want to try to push myself more, now that I feel more confident that work like this is what I want to do. Just gotta focus it in, dial myself in. 

Thank you guys for coming along with me on this, and I hope that it has been worthwhile. I'm trying my best, despite it all, and I hope it shows. The love you guys give me by supporting me, across this site or any other, has been so helpful the past month. I truly wouldn't be here without ya'll. Thank you. I hope we keep getting better from here.